Category Archives: Film

Dear Documentary Filmmakers: Resist the foolish desire to film yourself introducing your doc to the viewer.

Like Tuesday’s DDF, this one also takes off from the same previous post about directors making themselves the subject of their docs. Indulge me, there’s unfortunately more to be said about this unfortunate trend.

Admittedly, this is less prevalent than filmmakers appearing in their interviews, but I’ve come across it enough times in recent months to inspire this post. This should really only apply to beginning filmmakers or perhaps to those who have come from an institutional, industrial, or educational film background but are now trying to reach a broader audience. In the case of the latter, there can be different conventions in play that make filmed hosted introductions acceptable, but this is not really appropriate for films that go out on the festival circuit or onto potential distribution or broadcast.

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Dear Documentary Filmmakers: Reaction shots of nodding interviewers look lame on the news. They look super lame in docs. Don’t.

This DDF is essentially a short subset of a previous post, but I’ve seen it far too often recently that I have to spend a couple of paragraphs on it.

Laying aside the larger issue of including yourself in your doc in the first place, if there’s one thing that I can say pretty certainly is that you should not be in the frame when you’re interviewing your subjects or reacting to what they say when you’re interviewing them. The audience doesn’t need to see you on the screen holding your microphone and/or camera. We don’t think this person is just speaking off in the distance about some issue unprompted – we know you are there and making a film. Unless you are Barbara Walters and filming a TV special, I fail to see why you think you should be on camera with your subject. It doesn’t create visual interest, it creates visual distraction and a cluttered, TV news like feel.

I’m especially taken aback when I’m confronted with reaction shots – the cut away to the nodding interviewer I reference above. Just don’t do this. Your audience will nod their own heads if they feel like it – they don’t need to model their responses to what they’re hearing by watching you. It’s unnecessary and it makes you look either egocentric or amateurish, and both undermine your interview and your interview subject.

The point is your film itself is your voice, your presence, your reaction to whatever issue or subject matter you are addressing – you don’t need to include yourself literally to offer commentary. You do this by selecting the topic and approach in the first place, by including the specific interview subjects that you do, by making specific editing choices, etc. If you worry that you’re viewpoint is not being conveyed properly, there’s probably a larger problem with your doc than can be solved by filming yourself interacting with your subjects.

Dear Documentary Filmmakers: Do your research on what kind of films fests/broadcasters accept. Don’t waste your $ & our time.

This one’s short and simple, and really should go without saying, but unfortunately I’ve seen more than enough evidence to the contrary: Do your research before sending your film in to a festival or a potential broadcaster. While many are open to a variety of films, some are instead very very specific about what they do and don’t show. Don’t submit your film everywhere. Read up about a festival before submitting your film for consideration. Go through their submission guidelines. Make sure your film fits their criteria so that it has a chance of being selected. If the festival only considers films made within the last year, don’t submit your film that’s been on the circuit for the past three years. If they only accept feature-length projects, don’t mail in your short. If they are focused on social issue docs, think twice before sending in your portrait of your quirky aunt. If they only accept general entries from local Mexican documentary filmmakers, don’t submit your US-made project.

Festival submission fees add up quickly. Even if you’re independently wealthy, why waste the money? Beyond that, if you have plans to make another film, why take the risk of giving a bad impression to festivals or broadcasters who you could potentially work with in the future?

Your impulse, after months or even years of making your film, is to get it out there. That’s understandable – but do so strategically. Come up with a plan, and constantly reassess and adjust that plan as you receive decision notices from the festivals to which you’ve applied. Just as not every film is appropriate for every festival, not every festival is appropriate for every film. The same thing can be said for broadcasters. Be smart about how to position your film to give it the best chance of getting the exposure you want for it.

Dear Documentary Filmmakers: Endless dance/theatre rehearsal scenes are of primary interest only to those in that discipline.

While I’ve previously written about doc makers who don’t successfully convey why their audience should be as enamored with their musician or visual artist subject as the filmmakers are, this DDF is a bit more specific to performative art topics, such as dance or theatre. I’ve run across scores of films that go behind the scenes of these disciplines, to show the development of a modern dance concert or the new staging of a classic play, for example. I enjoy being afforded a privileged look into the creative process – this can be illuminating, pulling back the layers between what the final version shown to the public is and where the project began.

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