Documentaries

Andy Glynne

• Publisher: Creative Essentials
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9781842433652
• eBook ISBN: 9781842435229
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Film & Video

Andy Glynne subjects the whole documentary process to scrutiny with advice on:

• Developing your concept
• Funding
• Writing pitches and treatments
• Interview technique
• Narrative
• Writing commentary
• Dealing with ethical issues
• Camera technique
• Sound
• Lighting
• Post-production, editing and grading
• Marketing and distribution
• Film festivals
• The history of documentary

With additional interviews with industry insiders and award-winning filmmakers who contribute their tips,tricks and advice, as well as layouts for budget spreadsheets, release forms, contracts and more...

SECTION TWO
PRODUCTION

7. THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING: WHO DOES WHAT

When some of us have an idea for a documentary film, we get passionate, almost obsessive, and want to rush out and make it as soon as possible. The easy access to cameras, sound equipment and editing equipment has made it increasingly easy to be a lone ranger, travelling to other countries as a one-man band to make our independent feature documentary. And although this role is becoming increasingly common, it’s also true to say that, in the world of broadcasting and feature-film funding, it’s rare that you will ever truly be that alone. Part of this is due to the nature of the business – there are distinct roles within the documentary filmmaking industry; but, also, working as part of a team can be an extremely rewarding endeavour, often leading to a filmmaking process that is less stressful and a film that is richer in content. I want to spend some time in this chapter explaining what these roles are, and then talking about the new emerging role of the ‘multi-skiller’. Most of these jobs, with the exception of the commissioning editor, come under the umbrella of an independent production company.

THE COMMISSIONING EDITOR

Some might think it odd to include this in a list of production roles of a documentary film, but, more often than not, it is the commissioning editor who has given you the money to make your film. Most, but not all, documentary films these days are made for television and it’s the commissioning editor who decides what gets commissioned and what doesn’t. Even on the big screen, there are still people in a similar role who will decide whether or not to fund your film and, as such, will have ultimate control over the film.

Commissioning editors are a mixed breed. Some of them have a long history as documentary directors or producers, others have come by different routes. They are interested in documentary films and will definitely play a role in helping you make a great film. However, they have another agenda – to ensure that the films they commission also bring in an audience. So it’s not just a question of whether you have a good idea for a film or not. They take into account the needs of the broadcaster, viewing trends, costs of the production, and, of course, whether there are any legal risks if your film is made.

THE EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

The executive producer is, effectively, the overall boss of your production. He or she usually runs the production company that you may be attached to. They oversee the whole production and often act as the interface between the filmmaker and commissioning editor; they often have the unenviable job of trying to please both groups of people, even though they may have polarised views of how they want the film to be. Executive producers are frequently the people who get a film commissioned. They may come up with the idea and look for a director to make the film, or they may be approached by a filmmaker and help get funding for the film. If you have a good executive producer (often known simply as ‘Exec’ or ‘EP’), then this is the person you turn to when you are having moments of crisis, want advice, are concerned about the script, or just need someone to tell you that you are doing okay. They also have a wealth of knowledge about media law, including issues of compliance, copyright, finance and commissioning. They will be involved in your production at various stages, often have vast experience, and will help you make your film work. Productions are, in theory, hierarchical, although in practice a good production team works in an egalitarian way. But, just so you know, the executive producer is the boss.

THE PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR

I’ve put these two roles together because, depending on which country you are making films in, and what kind of films you are making, they can often be one and the same. In the world of feature documentaries, there is often a separate producer and director, and the same goes for the documentary industry in mainland Europe. But in the UK, North America, Australia and some other countries, there is a growing trend for the two roles of producer and director to be undertaken by the same person. On documentaries with a small crew this is actually a benefit, as the director becomes directly involved in the day-to-day running of the production, rather than two people constantly overlapping.

In larger-scale productions, the producer effectively acts as a manager of the production, co-ordinating the finance, the crew, the shooting schedule and general day-to-day business of the production. Producers vary from film to film: some are much more hands-on and are the driving force behind the look, feel and narrative of the film; others stay much more in the background and deal with the business side only.

Directors are responsible for the overall creative look of the film. They are responsible for the story or narrative, the way it is filmed, the script and commentary. Directors will work closely with the producer and executive producers, as well as with the cameraperson, sound recordist, production manager, researcher, editor, and other members of the production team.

ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS AND ASSISTANT PRODUCERS

As the names suggest, these two roles involve working under the producer (which of course, may also be the director, but let’s not confuse things). In small crews, the associate producer (or ‘AP’) will help organise shoots, as well as maybe doing some of the interviewing and camerawork. They may also double up as a researcher, if appropriate. On large-scale productions, they may be the primary contact during production, will liaise with subjects, arrange shooting and will assist and co-ordinate final delivery of the film. Assistant producers will usually work on a specific aspect of the production and will work under the associate producer, often taking on a research role.

PRODUCTION MANAGER

To me, a good production manager is the backbone of the production team. They will examine all aspects of production, including budget, production schedule and legal issues arising, crew contracts, insurance and Occupational Health and Safety. Any query as to whether one can film in a specific location, how much the crew needs to be paid, what types of insurance are needed and whether the film is on budget – all these are down to the expertise of the production manager.

Being a production manager is the most fun you can have with your clothes on. If the job suits your skills and abilities – you need to have a feel for figures and be anal about details – it’s the best job in the world. When you get up in the morning you never know what the day is going to bring. Will you become an expert in spitting snakes in order to do a risk assessment for the crew going off to shoot in Africa, or will you be fluent in pidgin French so that you can track down and order a brace of helicams in Toulouse?

I couldn’t believe my luck when I got my first job in TV and, on my first day at LWT, I was sent to Harrods with a large wad of cash to pick up a luxury lunch hamper for a crew filming for a documentary about the return of eels to the Thames. And even though those spendthrift days are over, the fun, camaraderie, hard work, new challenges and learning curve continue unabated.

OK, I know that sometimes it’s hellish and you want to smack the arrogant director and knock heads together and shriek – but when it all threatens to get too much, hopefully a sense of humour and repeating the holy mantra, ‘It’s only telly, it’s only telly’, to yourself somehow gets you through it.

You should be getting reasonably well paid (you deserve it!), you may get to travel all over the world, and you will have a degree of autonomy that many others can only dream of. You meet a variety of different people, you see your name whiz up the TV screen, there’s a new challenge every time you start a new project and, perhaps, after you’ve sacrificed a year of your life to bring the series or programme to the screen, your best friend – when you ask if she enjoyed watching your ‘baby’ when it went on air the previous evening – says, ‘Oh, was it last night?!’

What other job could be so satisfying? Building a good team and getting them to work together, and have fun doing it, organising recces and shoots so that nothing (well, hardly anything) goes wrong, or, if it does, you think on your feet and put it right, bringing the project in on budget – or a little bit under so you can throw a decent wrap party… it all makes up for the long days, worked weekends and sleepless nights. Who wants to retire? Bring it on.

LINDA STRADLING, Production Manager and Producer

RESEARCHER

There’s a common belief that researchers are the most junior part of the production team and, whilst it’s true that they may often be little more than glorified runners, a lot of the time researchers are an invaluable and much-needed part of the production. They often liaise directly with the producer/director and not only hold a lot of information in their heads about the subject matter of the film, but often may add creative input into it as well. Some researchers have specific specialities, such as archive or historical research, and they are often integral, giving weight and accountability to a documentary.

RUNNER

A runner does all the odd jobs from making coffee to assisting on a shoot. They might sometimes do research, they will undertake administration tasks, and they will also help lug equipment from one place to another. It sounds a fairly boring and menial job, but, to be honest, you can learn a great deal in this role – especially if it’s with a nice and friendly production team. Many people who started as a runner on films I have been involved in later went on to work as an assistant producer and director. Another bonus is that the production company might let you use their resources (edit suite, cameras, etc) in ‘downtime’.

CAMERAPERSON AND SOUND RECORDIST

A production is nothing, of course, without the crew. The main two roles here are a camera-person (often known as a ‘DP’ or director of photography) and a sound recordist. The skills involved here will be discussed in much more detail further on in this book. Both sound recordists and camerapersons are often freelancers; they are brought in for the duration of the shoot and then they will go off and work on other projects. A good DP will not only bring technical excellence to your film; s/he will also be able to help bring life to it. Likewise, a good sound recordist is worth their weight in gold; it is often one of the most important, and overlooked, areas of the filmmaking process.

EDITOR

Editors, when they are good, are as important as the director in post-production, bringing structure and narrative to a bunch of rushes. Both the director and editor are going to be spending a long time together locked in an edit suite, so the relationship between the two is really important. Most editors work on one of two software suites – either AVID or FINAL CUT PRO – but, again, we’ll discuss this later on in the book.

JACK-OF-ALL-TRADES

Within production companies, tighter budgets often mean the teams are becoming smaller and smaller so there is often significant overlap between roles. It’s not unusual on a small production for one person to be the producer, director, cameraperson, and sometimes more. There is also a trend, recently perpetuated by the BBC documentaries department, for directors to do a rough edit of their film. This means that we are becoming multi-skillers, which can also translate as being jack-of-all-trades and masters of none. Whereas a cameraperson may have been trained for years at film school, and an editor the same, now we are often required to do both these roles, and more besides. This leads to a different kind of filmmaking, and this is most noticeable on the various documentaries we can see on television. Also, there are both distinct negative and positive aspects to this. The negative is obvious – we lose the professional expertise of dedicated, skilled craftspeople, and potentially make our job much more stressful. The good side, however, is that we can now make much more intimate films with a level of control that we previously might not have had. If we are filming overseas, or filming sensitive subject matter, we can effectively be a one-man crew, which not only keeps costs down, but can also make us much more flexible, because we don’t have to book in crew for specific times.

On Multi-skilling

For a few years I have been making films on my own, something into which I fell by need more than by choice… For years I convinced myself that this was the easiest, most practical and best way to get close to those intimate and truthful moments that all documentary filmmakers aim at. And clearly the benefits of this approach outnumbered the potential deficits; or so I thought.

Recently, while making a film in Iraq about the trial of Saddam Hussein, some of these preconceptions have been challenged by specific situations I have encountered.

Let me explain: from my personal experience, there are two different situations for a filmmaker wherein the ‘on your own’ approach will have different results.

The first one is when recording a purely ‘observational’ situation. In this case this approach has great benefits, as yo...

Table of contents

• Cover
• About the Author
• Praise
• Title Page
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• CONTENTS
• LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
• INTRODUCTION
• SECTION ONE PRE-PRODUCTION
• SECTION TWO PRODUCTION
• SECTION THREE POST-PRODUCTION
• SECTION FOUR SOME UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
• SECTION FIVE CAMPAIGNING DOCUMENTARIES
• SECTION SIX MULTIPLATFORM – WHAT IT ALL MEANS
• SECTION SEVEN INTERVIEWS WITH FILMMAKERS
• SECTION EIGHT RESOURCES
• SECTION NINE THE SHOOTING GUIDE
• SECTION TEN GLOSSARY
• Copyright