My documentary film

[Royal Ass.]

Hey, I don't know if this is against the forum rules, but I wanted to post a link to a trailer for a film that I have been working on for over 2 years about Italian folk music.  Not really related to Magic other than I can say that the "plot" progression for the film was heavily influenced by the quixotic storytelling style used in the original Arabian Nights tales.  Currently submitting to film festivals.... It's a process.

David

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pa4W7iA5So

[Bram]

Erm, that's totally awesome. I'm insanely jealous now, since I'd love to do something like that more than anything in the world. What do you shoot with? And where did you learn how to?

Good luck on the film festival circuit. You should totally submit it to the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).

[Royal Ass.]

Bram - Thanks for the reply.  Shooting the film was one of the best experiences of my life.  I shot the film on a Canon HD (xh-a1) camera that I attached a pair of stereo condenser mics onto.  I was a one man crew and it was a lot of work, not to mention it was like 45 degrees C the whole time and I wanted to die.  I actually taught myself how to shoot.  I used to do still photography in high school and was always pretty good at it.  Actually I did the whole film while in law school... Basically to keep myself from going crazy.  (I passed the bar last July)   I've learned so much in the process - how to film, editing. etc.  Now I'm trying to deal with the whole film fest circuit and trying to find a distributor.   I've been playing italian folk music for several years now - the italian bagpipe called a zampogna.  Im italian american. Ciao

[Bram]

I'll say again, that's totally awesome.

And inspiring, as well. I've had my heart set on documentary filmmaking for a few years now, but I just never got around to it (a little something I like to call atychiphobic procrastination ). I too have taken several courses in still photography ever since the arrival of the first digital SLRs, and I'm still quite an avid amateur photographer. Ever since getting my Msc in engineering, I've been dabbling in the arts of journalism, publishing a popular scientific article on average once a month or so. Obviously, that didn't quite pay the bills, so I took up a PhD position (which in The Netherlands, is an actual job ).

I just never got the "media bug" out of my system. I've seriously considered going to the New York Film Academy once I finish my PhD-thesis, for their 1-year documentary filmmaking course, but it's probably prohibitively expensive for me at this point in my life. It's great to hear that someone with photography experience and a good eye for framing is able to teach himself to shoot and edit documentary. And it's even more inspiring that you actually did it parallel to your education!

You use a pretty nifty camera there, by the way. I've been looking into camera's myself for a while now, and the XH-A1 seems to score very highly. The professionals all say it's increadibly low-priced for what it offers, but it's still a little over my current budget. Is this the first cam you used, or was it an upgrade from something that might fit better with my current budget? Also: what do you edit on?

Congrats on passing the bar, by the way

[Royal Ass.]

Bram,
Essentially the xh-a1 is the first camera I used.  I had done a lot of playing around with little cheap miniDV cameras, but the xh-a1 is the first HD or serious camera I have used.  It is a wonderful camera and I would highly recommend it if you are thinking about making a film on a budget.  They have a improved it quite a bit with the xh-a1A, which has mic limiters. If you get one just make sure you calibrate it properly otherwise the picture will look like crap.

I edited on Final Cut pro.  I had an editor who did the project with me, but as I learned more about the program during the edit, we turned into co-editors.  I edited the trailer you saw.  I have never taken a film class.  I'm sure it would help, but I also think filmschool can possibly corrupt your thinking about film by making you think a specific way.   I often felt like I had to re-educate my editor to get him to do things the way I wanted becuase of how he had been trained.

If you really want to make a film, go for it.  Just understand that it is a long process. It will take years.  I have been working o my film for over 2.5 years, and it is still not out of my hands.   Like in the trailer the guy says "If you have passion you can do anything you want." 

David

[Bram]

Like in the trailer the guy says "If you have passion you can do anything you want."

Yeah, I was actually thinking about my own documentary ambitions when I heard the guy say that. It sounds even more true in Italian. OK, maybe not more true, but at least more beautiful. And as well all know, there is in fact truth in beauty!

Thanks for the tips. I need to get Final Cut pro...I hear it's what all the cool filmmakers use. First, I need to figure out if it will run on my new Macbook Pro, or if I need new hardware. I saw a really well-equipped "old-model" XH-A1 on the Dutch equivalent to e-bay for a good price...I might pick it up off my Christmas bonus. I'm perfectly fine with filming being a lenghty process. I don't need to shoot it, I just want to, I guess.

I think it's beautiful how you chose to explore your cultural heritage through film. The Zampogna hook you use seems perfect, since it symbolises endangered local traditions, contrasts with modern life, makes for a great soundtrack and above all, has a personal meaning to you as a player. It's probably similar to writing - shoot what you know!

Additionally, I find it an interesting instrument in itself. I had never heard of it. I thought bagpipes were exclusively a Scottish phenomenon. It may help that I visited Sicily a few years back and became quite infatuated with the place. Good job adding your trailer link to the wikipedia page for Zampogna, by the way

I showed the trailer to my girlfriend yesterday (who, unlike me, has an actual artistic background) and she loved it, as well. I can't wait to see the whole thing - I hope some distributor picks it up!

[Royal Ass.]

Thanks Bram, really appreciated all the stuff you said. 

Picking up a used xh-a1 is definitely not a bad idea. I would just make sure you are ready to start shooting when you get it. Dont get one to let sit around and collect dust as they are always updating the technology. 

Yeah, playing the zampogna has opened up a whole world to me of culture and music.  I'm one of only a handful of people in the US who play the instrument.  In terms of making a film it was a great subject for conveying the sentiment of dying traditions and culture like you mentioned.  Here is a link to a website that has a page on my film.  This website has a lot of info about world bagpipes if you are interested:
www.hotpipes.com/zampognafilm.html

I believe there is or at least WAS a dutch bagpipe. 

[Royal Ass.]

Facebook fan page up and running with totally awesome custom url:

http://www.facebook.com/italyfilm

[FAVO!!!!1]

As someone who use to work for a film festival, I can honestly tell you that it is a daunting task to make it in. Most small festivals have a crew of at most 12 people, all doing multiple jobs. In the two years that I have watched independent films, I have watched close to 1000 films and can probably say only 10 of them were really worth watching. My festival has only accepted a total of 400 movies in its two years of running (which is a lot, I know... But we have several criteria that we grade things on.)

As for my suggestions: Make sure your content is interesting. As a documentary, your content has to be deep while providing outlets to making your audience want more. Try not to veer too far off the path. I have seen one documentary where the camera crew was messing around for ten minutes in the middle of a movie, giving me nothing on the actual subject of the movie. Also, try to avoid making your documentary longer than an hour and a half. Most audiences refuse to sit through a documentary that is longer than that. And more often than not, they are instantly declined without even watching. I can tell you for a fact that Sundance follows this criteria, and it wouldn't surprise me if more than half the running festivals are doing the same thing.

Good luck man. Its a harsh world, but a rewarding one if you spend your time well ^.^