Making documentary films and reality videos : a practical guide to planning, filming, and editing documentaries of real events / Barry Hampe.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 326-327) and index.

Filmography: p. 319-325.

Table of Contents

PART I: MAKING ANALOGS OF REALITY 1 (90)
1. It Looks So Easy 3 (12)
It Takes More 4 (1)
The Camera Won't Do It for You 5 (1)
Good Images Don't Just Happen 6 (2)
A New Interest in Documentaries 8 (1)
Documentary Genres 9 (3)
About This Book 12 (3)
2. How Things Got This Way 15 (15)
The Hollywood Model 16 (4)
Breaking the Rules 20 (2)
Cinema Verite Changed the World 22 (1)
The Reality Problem 23 (4)
Two Major Approaches to Documentary 27 (3)
3. Reality Is Not Enough 30 (6)
The Form of Reality 32 (1)
High Degree of Abstraction of Film and Video 33 (1)
Digitally Enhanced Images 34 (1)
Every Frame Requires a Decision 35 (1)
4. Recording Human Behavior 36 (13)
What It Takes 37 (1)
How Not to Record Behavior 38 (3)
A Set of Ideas about Documenting Behavior 41 (8)
5. Visual Evidence 49 (20)
Miss Darling and the Scene That Wasn't There 50 (2)
Keep It Visual 52 (1)
When Is a Film Not a Film? 53 (2)
Gathering Evidence 55 (2)
Behavior as Visual Evidence 57 (1)
Recording Visual Evidence 58 (3)
Editing Visual Evidence 61 (2)
Interviews as Visual Evidence 63 (1)
When Pictures Contradict What Is Said 64 (2)
Unreal Images 66 (1)
Visuals, Empty Shots, and Visual Evidence 67 (2)
6. Verisimilitude in Documentary 69 (8)
Verisimilitude in The War Game 70 (1)
Verisimilitude in a Documentary 71 (5)
Verisimilitude and Editing 76 (1)
7. Ethics in Making a Documentary 77 (14)
The Question of Releases 78 (1)
The Need for a Documentary Ethic 79 (4)
Informed Consent 83 (1)
The Eye of the Beholder 84 (2)
Areas of Confusion 86 (2)
Making Our Own Ethical Judgments 88 (3)
PART II: PREPRODUCTION 91 (106)
8. Steps in Producing a Documentary 93 (10)
Preproduction 93 (4)
Production 97 (1)
Postproduction 98 (5)
9. The Documentary Idea 103(16)
What Is the Concept? 103(6)
Conventional Concepts 109(3)
Planning 112(3)
Documenting Behavior or a Unique Event 115(4)
10. Writing a Documentary 119(23)
What Does the Writer Do? 119(1)
The Writer's Gifts to the Production 120(6)
Proposal Writing 126(1)
Treatment 127(1)
Film Treatment: A Young Child Is... 128(5)
The Script 133(3)
Writing the Words That Are Said 136(3)
Suggestions for Documentary Scriptwriters 139(3)
11. Scouting 142(9)
Lighting 143(3)
Sound 146(1)
People and Things 146(1)
Fees, Permits, and Minders 147(1)
Convenience 147(1)
Crew Comfort 147(1)
Out-of-Town Locations 148(1)
Location Costs 148(1)
General Considerations 149(1)
Planning for Spontaneity 150(1)
12. The Documentary Crew 151(13)
Who Does What on a Production 152(7)
Who Will Do What on Your Production? 159(2)
Finding and Choosing a Production Crew 161(3)
13. Equipment 164(9)
Film or Video? 164(2)
Camera Equipment 166(1)
Sound Equipment 167(2)
Lighting and Grip Equipment 169(1)
Miscellaneous 170(1)
Should You Rent or Buy Equipment? 171(1)
Be Sure You Have an Equipment Meister 172(1)
14. Scheduling 173(12)
Preproduction 174(1)
Production 175(2)
Location Shooting 177(1)
One Day in a Hospital 178(5)
Then There Are Those Other Days 183(1)
Scheduling Postproduction 183(2)
15. How Much Will It Cost? 185(12)
Factors Affecting the Budget 186(2)
Above- and Below-the-Line Costs 188(1)
A Budgeting Checklist 188(9)
PART III: PRODUCTION 197(80)
16. Recording Picture and Sound 199(19)
Zero-Level Knowledge 199(3)
Recording for Editing 202(1)
A Documentary Is Made with Light 203(4)
Camera Work 207(6)
Documentary Sound 213(5)
17. Working on Location 218(4)
Preparation 218(1)
Be a Good Visitor 219(1)
Time Off While on Location 220(1)
Clients, Friends, and Family 220(2)
18. Building an Invisible Wall 222(13)
Documentary Situations 223(3)
Temptations 226(4)
What about a Hidden Camera? 230(5)
19. Directing People Who Are Not Actors 235(12)
Hold Auditions 236(1)
You Have to Be the Professional 237(3)
Acting Natural 240(2)
Seven Deadly Sins 242(3)
Learn from Working with Children 245(2)
20. When You Must Work with Actors 247(16)
Casting 247(2)
Auditions 249(3)
What Does a Documentarian Know about Actors? 252(1)
Costume and Makeup 253(1)
Directing Actors 254(3)
One-on-One 257(4)
Film and Video Acting vs. Stage Acting 261(2)
21. The Documentary Interview 263(9)
What Is an Interview? 264(1)
Preparation 265(1)
On Location 266(2)
Shooting Options 268(2)
Ask the Right Questions 270(1)
Practice 271(1)
22. Some Other Production Considerations 272(5)
It's Hard, Physical Work 272(2)
Your Hotel or Motel 274(1)
Be Truthful and Be Punctual 274(1)
Write Thank-you Letters 275(2)
PART IV: POSTPRODUCTION 277(38)
23. Preparation for Post 279(8)
Protect Your Original Footage 279(1)
Get Organized 280(1)
Logging Footage 280(4)
Narration, Graphics, Animation 284(1)
Doing a Paper Edit 285(1)
How Long to Allow for Edit Prep 286(1)
24. Editing the Documentary 287(22)
Transcript Editing 290(1)
Using an Editor 291(1)
Editing from the Script 292(1)
Work on the Whole Documentary 293(3)
The Importance of a Good Opening 296(4)
Middles 300(4)
The Ending 304(1)
Seven Sins of Editing 304(2)
Fine Cut 306(1)
Getting Feedback 307(2)
25. Finishing the Production 309(6)
Approval Showing 309(1)
Final Elements 310(1)
The Video On-line 311(2)
Finishing on Film 313(1)
Going to Distribution 313(1)
Enjoy It--and Move On 313(2)
Appendix 315(4)
Filmography 319(7)
Bibliography 326(3)
Index 329