How to make a trailer Under all the pressure of university, I'm also working on several video projects outside of my coursework. So many projects in fact, that I've used one of my other projects as a presentation for this documentary class. One of my favourite vloggers recently put up a trailer to his series WhatImDoingRightNow, a showreel of all the best or most interesting...

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How We (re)Unite It only took a month, but it's finally done. How we (re)unite is the second instalment of the Family Chronicles. This is the first video in which I used After Effects extensively. I've learned how to create a mast around an image, how to write on an image and how to make them move. I've use the colour correct tools...

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It's going to be a long, long editing process So, my choice of animating part of my family tree means that I will have to learn how to use after effects. But the first step; making my family tree. I've gotten all the information, now I just need to make it into a graphic I can use. I've learned how to use the...

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I think the most annoying/difficult part of this editing process currently is having to hear myself speak Dutch. I don't think many people would understand my dislike towards my mother tongue. I've also been editing more in After effects, but realised that the edit I'd been working on for weeks didn't really fit the video. So now I'm back to just normal editing in Premiere. That's not...

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How to tell a story only using audio As this course is called New Media Production, I believe there should also be some interest in the newish media of Podcasts. 99% Invisible 99% Invisible is a San Fransisco based podcast, about architecture and design. The combination of interviews, voice-over by the host Roman Mars and soundscapes creates and immersive storytelling experience. The love...

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I may have started a bit too fast again. My first recordings for my second video happened before I got the brief of what we should be doing. All I knew before recording is that we needed to use none state actors (so people who aren't professionally trained). And, in this case, to continue my exploration of family, these 'actors' are my family. Even though I...

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How do you interview someone? As the next project is about non-actors in film, I want to try and interview people on the subject. To get a better idea of how a good interview works and how documentary filmmakers usually interview people, I will once again look at several documentaries and try to find their similarities and differences. The September Issue Although most of...

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How to use Archive footage Many documentaries use some sort of documentary footage, it being CCTV, interviews or old news reports. I've decided to look at some examples of this, to see how this works and why it works. The first movie I looked at is 'There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane' by Liz Garbus. It is both a reconstruction using archive footage...

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For the love of (fa)mi(ly) For the love of (fa)mi(ly) is a labour of love and grief. After going home during the summer only to go to another funeral just after arriving back, the constant realisation has driven itself home again. I am surrounded by death. I am 22 and surrounded by death. But I've learned to instead try and see the good times. See all...

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The title of my video is not yet determined, but the conceptual title is 'For the love of (fa)mi(ly)' Pitch: I am going to sketch an image of how family influenced me using archive footage and old photographs. I will be mixing this with footage of me in my current life. Treatment: The video will start with the quote "All memory is individual,...

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During the first edit of my family/identity video I figured that even though I have a lot of footage on my external drive, it's not the right footage. I will need to put more footage on it. So once again I'm compiling a list of things I need. Luckily, I have most of this on my laptop, however, some of it will have...

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I'm working on the first cut of a three minute documentary. All I can currently say is that I'm crying my eyes out sorting through the footage. It's the last footage ever shot by my mom and the last footage with my mom in it. It's grainy and out of focus, but it's there. It's been years since I've heard her voice.  I...

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I have a lot of footage of myself and my family at my disposal. The main thing to do when making a documentary is sorting through it all to find the important bits and make decisions in what to show and what not to show. There is also of course the fact that a storyline is more interesting to viewers, so creating one...

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What is it like to make a documentary? In order to figure out what I'm doing or how I want to make a documentary, I need to know what a documentary can do. How do the great documentary makers do it? Are there certain ethics or philosophies that I need to keep in mind to make sure I don't cross a line I...

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The Sunday before class ended with a Documentary without knowing that I would be shooting one myself. The 50 Year Argument has been on my list since I was that Susan Sontag attributed her book 'Regarding the Pain of Others' to Barbara Epstein. Now, I've never read the New York review of books, this however did not stop me from enjoying the documentary a whole lot....

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