So I've decided to take my career into a new direction: documentary non fiction. I also hear that in this day and age having 5 careers ain't no thang. And, what better city to start this career in than Toronto? Home to not only the Toronto International Film Festival but smaller identity-based festivals, which include a plethora of non-fiction and run the gamut from Palestinian, Latin American, Jewish, Italian, and Asian to queer and feminist festivals. Of course we cannot forget the godfather of non-fiction documentary film festivities in Toronto: Hot Docs (which I attended and I have to say that you should stay tuned for Over the Hills and Far Away when it comes out on DVD). And as an FYI, if you have the time and have a love for film, you can volunteer for any of these festivals and watch the films for free and sometimes schmooze with directors!
So how does someone like myself with no prior experience in film kick-start my career?
- Pick up a camera (don't buy a second-hand video camera off of Craig's list though- big mistake), start shooting and practice editing. I did this last summer. I'm teaching myself to shoot, interview and edit with a movie about the Annex. If you're a U of T student, you can use the media labs at OISE to edit your movie with final cut pro or iMovie software for free, which is what I do...even though I'm not a student anymore (work the system!)
- Take affordable informal workshops! I'm kind of fond of the Hart House Film Board. For a $80 fee (for non-members of Hart House) you can take a 4 week course and learn how to be a documentary film-maker. They also have editing labs there. The workshop I'm currently attending is taught by a real film-maker, who is experienced and clued-in to the industry. He is not only teaching us about different genres of doc. films, but how to actually make and pitch documentaries to funders and broadcasters. We have also been given the low down on where to find funding for films, small and wide in scope. The ideas people have pitched are really interesting and it's fun to sit around and change them into movie ideas. The Hart House Film Board also offers follow-up courses on editing, and tons more on movie-making, including one-offs which give you waaaayyy more technical tips on movie-making in 3 hours than you paid for.
- Good sound is key. You can have mediocre visuals but without perfect audio, your movie basically sucks. (Which sucks for me, because when shooting my Annex movie this past summer, I filmed everyone without a microphones, outdoors, in really noisy places...and the final result is that it sounds pretty bad).
- Documentaries have to be really well-planned and organized before you start filming.
- You don't need to be skilled in the art of camera and video to be a film-maker. You just have to posses knowledge of the industry, and have a well-researched and unique idea.
S.
1 comment:
well if you ever need an actor, you know who to call!
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