Filmmaking Craft
Boom mic and shotgun microphones for small documentary crews
Boom mic technique for small documentary crews: shotguns on camera or on a pole, boom stands, 32-bit float recorders, closed-back headphones and room tone.
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Every review, essay and guide we have published, newest first. 31 pieces so far.
Documentary
Chernobyl documentaries worth watching, and what each one shows
Four films for anyone choosing a Chernobyl documentary, what each one shows and leaves out, and how the 2019 HBO drama differs from the archive record.
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Filmmaking Craft
What is B-roll, and how documentary editors use it
B-roll for documentary makers: where the term came from, A-roll versus B-roll, how editors cut with it, and the moment cover footage starts to mislead.
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Filmmaking Craft
Lavalier microphones and wireless kits for documentary interviews
How to choose and hide a lavalier microphone, when wireless beats wired, and how backup recording, headphones and batteries keep a documentary interview safe.
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Canadian Cinema
Indigenous documentary in Canada, from Obomsawin to a new generation
From Alanis Obomsawin and the Indian Film Crew to Isuma and Tasha Hubbard, a short history of Indigenous documentary in Canada and where to start watching.
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Documentary
Consent, safety and anonymity when filming survivors
How documentary makers can protect survivors of violence on camera: ongoing consent, the right to withdraw, disguise methods, secure footage and aftercare.
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Filmmaking Craft
Editing a documentary: finding the story in 200 hours of footage
An editor's method for shaping 200 hours of documentary footage into a film: logging, selects, paper edits, structure, honest cutting and when to lock.
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Canadian Cinema
Quebec's direct cinema and the handheld revolution
How Michel Brault, Gilles Groulx and Pierre Perrault took light cameras and live sound into Quebec life, and how cinéma direct differs from vérité.
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Culture
Songs from the sidewalk: music documentaries and the street
Music documentaries about buskers and outsiders: how they record sound on the street, the ethics of filming people without homes, and three films to start.
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Festivals & Distribution
After the premiere: the long life of an independent documentary
Sales agents, broadcast windows, streamers, classrooms, impact screenings and archives: how an independent documentary keeps working after its premiere.
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Culture
Rep cinemas and film societies: how small screens survive
How repertory cinemas and film societies keep going on members, volunteers, smart programming and good rooms, plus a plain guide to starting your own.
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Documentary
War through children's eyes: documentaries about childhood and conflict
Six documentaries about children and war, from Promises to For Sama, and the safeguards that should govern any film that asks a child to bear witness.
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