Author Archives: basiltsiokos

Dear Documentary Filmmakers: Watching someone else’s therapy sessions isn’t necessarily as interesting as you might think.

I appreciate the various forms that non-fiction projects can take – from social issue-oriented docs to essay films to guilty pleasure competition docs. That said, there can come a point where the personal doc crosses the line from potentially interesting and relatable to a wider audience to a completely self-indulgent vehicle that’s only going to be of interest to the filmmaker. I want to be clear here – I’m not even talking about films that are “commercial” or “non-commercial,” as in what will or won’t potentially sell. I’m just talking about films that can successfully engage a viewer who doesn’t happen to be you, yourself. You can certainly make films which are really just for yourself, but, if you choose to do so, you have to keep in mind the very distinct possibility that no one else is likely to get much out of them. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make these types of films, but it does suggest that maybe they’re not something you should necessarily share with others, or expect others to embrace. I liken these types of films to diary entries or therapy sessions – I love that making these kinds of projects help you sort through some personal issues, but unless I happen to know you really well, and know what your issues are, I’m not likely to appreciate them or want to spend time watching them. Bottom line – seeking festival/broadcast audiences for your film suggests that you think an audience will get something out of your project, so be reasonably certain that your project reaches beyond yourself to involve others – otherwise, it’s likely to fall on deaf ears.

Dear Documentary Filmmakers: I don’t have to like your main subject, but you need to engage me enough to care what happens next.

Viewers don’t necessarily have to like your protagonist (I actively dislike a lot of them…) but s/he has to inspire some emotion or at least have a story that’s intriguing enough to keep an audience watching. This is character fundamentals 101 – as a documentarian, at some point, you became convinced that this subject was worth filming for some reason – most filmmakers don’t select bland, boring protagonists. Over the long process that it often takes to get your film made, don’t get too close to your film and lose sight of that initial spark, and, especially, don’t forget to convey it to the viewers – otherwise, we may fail to connect with your subject the way you did, and we may ultimately give up on your larger story.

I’ve taken a long break from tweeting/posting new entries in my “Dear Documentary Filmmakers” series, but that doesn’t mean I’ve been idle. Over the past several months, I’ve been busy watching a lot of documentaries, for various purposes, and a fair amount of these films have inspired a new cycle of DDFs which I’ll be expanding upon here. I should note once again that I never identify what films inspire my DDFs, nor for which entity I was considering them. I take pains to make them general because, more often than not, the issues I have with one doc show up in other films as well, so I’m not interested in singling out the shortcomings of a specific film or filmmaker.

As I’ve explained in the past, while there’s bound to be a certain amount of snark in these tips on occasion, ultimately, they’re meant to be instructive or at least to provide a much-needed reality check.

That brings us to today’s:

Dear Documentary Filmmakers: Your collection of random YouTube videos is not a doc. At least not a good one. Stop it.

I mean, really, this almost says it all, but let me briefly expand. In its five years of existence, YouTube has emerged primarily as a place for short form content. Some users have been successful at building followers by posting series – confessional or diary-like vlogs and the like. Yes, it’s in the realm of possibility that some talented filmmaker out there might be able to craft an intelligible documentary out of a series of shorter pieces originally posted to YouTube or a site like it. However, that’s not what I’ve been seeing – instead, neophyte (at least I hope so) filmmakers have simply burned a series of unconnected or loosely connected pieces together with absolutely no rhyme or reason (or maybe the reasoning is that if it’s feature length, it must be a feature?) on a DVD and submitted it as a “feature.” Doing something like this neither results in a feature, nor in a documentary, that is well-crafted or is likely to be seen outside the confines of YouTube. It betrays a lack of filmmaking skill and a lack of understanding of the kinds of projects that are typically considered by festivals or broadcasters. Plus, while it might be mildly amusing to watch Charlie biting my finger on YouTube for a minute, it would become incredibly tedious once expanded to feature length…