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Skillshare

Shooting a Character Documentary

via Skillshare

Overview

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Everybody has at least one exceptional character in their life: your eccentric Aunt Tilly or the mailman that hasn’t stopped whistling for 20 years. “Somebody should make a documentary about her,” you think to yourself. That somebody is you.

In this 45-minute class, you’ll learn the step-by-step process for producing and shooting a short character documentary that educates, inspires or makes your audience smile. Award-winning documentary filmmaker Danya Abt and cinematographer Zac Halberd will share their process for developing and shooting a impactful documentary.

A video camera and basic editing software is required for this class and an external microphone is highly recommended. By the end, you’ll have your short documentary in-the-can and ready to edit.

Syllabus

  • Introduction
  • Shooting the Character Documentary
  • Finding your Character
  • The Logline
  • The Treatment
  • The Interview
  • Intro to Camera and Sound
  • Prepping Your Equipment
  • Setting up the Camera
  • Setting up Sound
  • Fundamentals of the Image
  • Fundamentals of Sound
  • Shooting the Interview
  • After the Interview
  • Establishing Shots, B-roll, and Verite
  • Closing Thoughts

Taught by

Danya Abt & Zac Halberd

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