Module 6: Mini-Documentary
Reading
The Bare Bones Camera Course for Film and Video
Chapter 7: Lighting
The sun is the most powerful and common source of light, but it's always moving, thus making it more challenging to use as a primary source in film and television. Recording video in sunlight can be difficult, especially if the sun's rays aren't directly facing your subject. Without direct sunlight highlighting the key areas of your composition, the sun's intensity as a backlight or sidelight creates harsh shadows. However, these shadows can be filled in with reflectors or fill lights. Using a foil-covered or whiteboard, you can reflect sunlight into shadowed areas: this is known as a reflector. Fill lights need a power source but can put out a significant amount of light anywhere and at any angle. Fill lights are also less portable since they will need to stay within range of a power source, but a reflector depends on the sun to bounce an adequate amount of light.
There are three common lights for interior lighting that use tungsten quartz halogen bulbs: focusing quartz, broads, and soft lights. Like a theatrical spotlight, the focusing quartz is the most common light since they are highly versatile. The operator can easily manipulate the light for sharpness, use barn doors to limit the reach of the light, or soften the light with diffusers. Broads are non-focusing lights that produce an even light over a wide expanse of space. Unlike focusing quartz, they can't be manipulated to illuminate specific subjects. Finally, soft lights consist of lamps facing inward toward a curved scoop that bounces light towards the subject instead of direct and harsh lighting. As a result, they are more portable and convenient for on-location filming.
Most interior filming uses a basic lighting setup: key light, fill light, and backlight. Some shoots might also use a background light. The key light is the primary source of lighting in a shot and should be placed to one side of the camera about 45 degrees above your subject. The fill light should only be bright enough to partially fill in the shadows produced by the key light and placed on the opposite side of the subject. Some shadows left by the key and fill lights give a sense of depth and add definition to the subject. Shadowless lighting from heavy lighting is known as flat lighting. The backlight illuminates a subject's head and shoulders from behind to separate them from the background. Background lights can also distinguish the subject from the background.
Chapter 9: Doing it
Before heading directly into filming your project, ask yourself a few simple questions:
How do you want this project to look?
What story do you want to tell?
Who is your target audience?
What resources do you have available and when?
With your answers, make a shooting plan for each location by deciding where your camera and subject will be for each shot. Also, consider shooting out of sequence to minimize time spent moving the camera equipment, cast, and crew. Using a slate for identification at the beginning of each shot will later help with editing. For longer or intense projects, keeping a detailed camera log with scenes and take descriptions can help you find your best takes after shooting. You can also create a shooting script that details how you plan to shoot each scene and how the camera will shift or respond to the scene's dialogue.
Research to Inform
Clip from Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre on the History Channel
The History Channel premiered this documentary on the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre. My sophomore year of high school (2012) was the first year in Oklahoma history to publish the massacre in our textbooks. Even then, it was dubbed the "Tulsa Race Riots" to discredit the reconciliation of the Greenwood community since "riot" implies the community provoked the tragedy. As a sophomore, I was appalled, not only by the tragic events but also by the intense efforts of the city's leaders to suppress information spreading about the massacre. As a result, I devoted an entire semester's project to researching and presenting information about the occurrences on that devastating night and the events that followed. Still, I received backlash from other students, a teacher who told me to "consider the consequences" before continuing with an uncomfortable subject, and a family that wanted my quest for the truth to end. Nonetheless, I wrote a short story for the Tulsa City-County Library youth competition that same year, and the board rejected my entry for "sensitive material."
When this documentary was released in 2021, I was ecstatic that the Tulsa Race Massacre was brought into the public eye. In this clip from the two-part documentary, there are filmed sequences of the staged events to move the story along and interviews by historians. Since the tragedy occurred 100 years before, there were no recordings of the events. However, the film uses still photographs from the massacre and the Greenwood community. Later in the full documentary, there are interviews with the pastor of the Vernon A.M.E. church, one of the few surviving buildings, and local residents. There is also a filming of the excavation of a mass grave in Oaklawn Cemetery, where nineteen bodies were found.
The House With the Whispering Walls on Timeline
This documentary of the Whisper Estate uses beautiful videos and still shots of the interior and exterior of the house and the neighborhood. There are also several interviews and recordings of people who experienced "sightings" or heard whispering from the paranormal residents.
The Trials of the Pendle Witches on Timeline
The trials of the Pendle Witches occurred in 1612 after Jennet Device accused her mother, family, and neighbors of witchcraft. They were all hanged, and, years later, Jennet was tried for the same crime. This documentary is interesting and follows a great storyline with several interviews with historians. There are also several creative animated effects to move the story along. However, many shots are unsteady, and the shaky frames are rather distracting.
Create
This week I'm creating a short documentary about my father's production company, Rothline Entertainment. He established the company over two decades ago for film and video creation as a hobby. He now creates several videos each week with the ever-changing social media platforms. Many include his Marty J. Maxwell comedy skits, while others include tales of urban legends.
So far, I've created a pre-production plan and storyboard. In addition, I've started working on a shot list and production schedule for recording. Unlike previous projects, I challenge myself by limiting the documentary to less than 90 seconds. I tend to focus more on details, so this particular challenge is intended to make me focus more on split-second decision-making and problem solving rather than complete perfection.