10. Ghosts – Although this is more of a docu-drama and not strictly a documentary. Filmmaker, Nick Broomfield (Kurt & Courtney. Biggie and Tupac, Sarah Palin: You Betcha!) brings his documentary expertise to the story of a young Chinese girl is smuggled into the UK so she can support her son and family in China. The use of non-professional actors brings a cinema-verite fell to the film. http://nickbroomfield.com/

9. How the States Got Their Shapes – Based on the book by Mark Stein. America’s first century was defined by expansion and the negotiation of territories among areas colonized by the French and Spanish, or occupied by natives. Amazom.com

8. Sicko – Michael Moore had the most number of films on the “50 Docs” list (Roger & Me, Bowling For Columbine & Fahrenheit 9/11). Sicko is a documentary comparing the highly profitable American health care industry to other nations, and HMO horror stories. Whether or not you agree with Moore’s philosophy, his filmmaking style worth noting. This movie as well as Capitalism: A Love Story should also be added to your list must see docs. http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/sicko/

7. Word Wars – In this character-driven documentary, filmmakers Eric Chaikin and Julian Petrillo follow four “word nerds” through their fastidious preparations and smaller tournaments that lead to the national championship Scrabble tournament in San Diego in 2002. http://www.wordwarsmovie.com/

6. I.O.U.S.A. – Filmmaker Patrick Creadon (Wordplay) interweaves archival footage and economic data to paint a vivid and alarming profile of America’s current economic situation. The ultimate power of I.O.U.S.A. is that the film moves beyond doomsday rhetoric to proffer potential financial scenarios and propose solutions about how we can recreate a fiscally sound nation for future generations.
http://www.iousathemovie.com/

5. The Cove – Academy Award® Winner for Best Documentary of 2009, THE COVE follows an elite team of activists, filmmakers and freedivers as they embark on a covert mission to penetrate a remote and hidden cove in Taiji, Japan. The team uncovers how this small seaside village serves as a horrifying microcosm of massive ecological crimes happening worldwide. The result is a provocative mix of investigative journalism, eco-adventure and arresting imagery, adding up to an unforgettable story that has inspired audiences worldwide to action.
http://www.thecovemovie.com/

4. Afghan Star – After 30 years of war and Taliban rule, Pop Idol / American Idol has come to Afghanistan – people are risking all to sing. www.afghanstardocumentary.com/

3. Wordplay – An in-depth look at The New York Times’ long-time crossword puzzle editor Will Shortz and his loyal fan base. Featuring Jon Stewart, Ken Burns, Bill Clinton & more. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0492506/

2. Where in the World is Osama Bin Ladin – I think this film is more relevant now with 20/20 hindsight. Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold) travels to Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Afghanistan, Pakistan amongst others to try and locate the man who eluded the American army for nearly a decade.
http://www.whereisobl.com/

1. We Live In Public – Winner of the 2009 Sundance grand jury prize for U.S. documentary. Ondi Timoner’s documentary chronicles a decade in the life of Internet pioneer Josh Harris, who instigated an “artificial society” experiment in which more than 100 artists lived under 24-hour surveillance in an underground compound in New York City. www.weliveinpublicthemovie.com/
Currently available on Hulu

What docs are on your list?

Göran Olsson (director) of The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (Sweden)

Interview with Göran Olsson (director) of The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (Sweden) a feature documentary film that screened in the World Documentary Competition of the Sundance Film Festival 2011 and at the Berlinale Film Festival.

The footage was shot by a group of Swedish journalists whose footage had languished in a basement for 30 years which has been constructed into a mesmerizing journey through the Black Panther activities during that era.

Executive Producer: Mike Smith
Producer/Host: Sue Lawson
Camera/Editor: Bruce Himmelblau

Indie Film Nation Video Podcast #045: Interview with Lilly Scourtis Ayers(director) and Danielle Bernal (associate producer) of Last Fast Ride (2011), USA, documentary feature film recorded during the film’s world premiere in the documentary competition of the Slamdance Film Festival 2011.

Last Fast Ride chronicles the life and times of Marian Anderson the would-be rock star who was one of the Bay Area’s most provocative and controversial lead singers of the ’90s punk scene. The fetish model and dominatrix quickly became known for her wild and lewd live sex acts during performances, which often involved other women and bananas. Narrated by pop-culture icon Henry Rollins.

Producer/Camera: Mike Smith
Co-Producer/Camera: Bruce Himmelblau
Host: Sue Lawson
Interview shot on Panasonic AG200A & Sony NEX-VG10, edited on Final Cut Pro

Michael Barnett (director) and Zimmer (superhero) of Superheroes (USA)

For our Sundance & Slamdance coverage for the Indie Film Nation podcast, one of the films that was on my must see list was this independent documentary film called “Superheroes”.

On this episode, I interview Michael Barnett, Co-Writer/Director and Director of Photography of Superheroes (USA) during the film’s world premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival in the Documentary Competition of the festival.

Michael Barnett is joined by Zimmer, real life superhero, as they discuss this incredibly engaging and enjoyable documentary that takes into the world of those people who patrol the streets of USA cities dressed in homemade costumes. The names of Mr. Xtreme, Master Legend, Thanatos, Zetaman, Life, Dark Guardian, The New York Initiative and Xtreme Justice League may not be as iconic as the fictional superheroes created by Stan Lee but it’s worthy of spending 90 minutes with on this adventure on the mean streets. They have no special powers but strong sense of justice, at times misguided but at least their honest and genuine souls.

Superheroes was shot on Canon 5D which Michael Barnett demonstrates what powerful camera can be in the hands of very clever and brilliant cinematography.

Behind the Scenes
For the interview, we set up in the green room/party room at the Slamdance Film Festival for the interview. After moving some chairs around to take advantage of the Slamdance background, we discovered that the area needed lighting. Since we were doing the interview with both the director, Michael Barnett and one of the featured superheroes from the film, Zimmer, we needed more light than the small LED light could supply. We spied a floodlight on the far end of the room. Unable to move it, we ended up just pointing towards our set-up. Sue Lawson and I swapped our usual roles, putting me in the position of interviewer and her as camera person on the Panasonic HVX-200A. Our director/co-host, Mike Smith provided his unique perspective as 2nd camera with his Sony NEX-VG10.

Back in the studio, we had very little trouble working with the radically different formats. Since I am from the US, the HVX-200A P2 camera was set to DVCPRO HD 720/30PN NTSC and since Mike is from Australia, the Sony NEX-VG10 was set to 1080/25i PAL and recorded in AVCHD. We knew that the AVCHD footage had to be transcoded in order to work with it at all. So we chose to correct the difference on frame rate and size during the transcode. Although there was still a difference in the look of the two cameras, a little color correction helped to close the gap. Also, because the two cameras were recording in different frame rates, the audio was off a bit as well. I used the audio from the 200A and used short segments from the VG10, so the audio didn’t drift more than a few frames per segment.

At this year at the Sundance Film Festival, in addition to scheduling and shooting interviews, we managed to see a number of films and catch some parties, including the “Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, premiere featuring The Roots.

While wrapping our up for our interview with the director of “Superheroes” at the Slamdance Film Festival, we learned that the publicist’s agency for “Superheroes” also represented a few films that were screening at the Sundance Film Festival. One of those films was “Being Elmo“. After a few phone calls, we had our interview set up with director, Constance Marks. The film had been receiving a lot of good buzz around Park City and we looked forward to sitting down with Ms. Marks. When we confirmed the interview, we they told us that Kevin Clash would also be available.

When we got to the interview, we learned that Kevin was on a tight schedule and that we could talk to him first and then Constance. While we were setting up, everyone in the room was checking their emails and voice mails. Kevin Clash was listening to his messages and started cracking up. It was a message from his daughter who warned that if he wasn’t really busy working that he was in trouble.

True to his nature, Kevin offer sit down and do the interview before calling his daughter back. But, we all insisted that he return the call and we could do the interview with Constance first.

At the end of the interviews we asked them to do the stand-up for our show opening. To our surprise, Kevin reached into a bag and brought out his alter ego, the little red monster, Elmo.

Interview with Constance Marks (Director) and Kevin Clash (Elmo) of Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey (USA) feature documentary during the film’s world premiere in US Documentary Competition at the Sundance Film Festival 2011.

shot on Panasonic HVX-200A

Exec Producer: Mike Smith
Producer/Camera: Bruce Himmelblau
Host: Sue Lawson

Producing videos for music, promotions, electronic press kits, entertainment and more has grow substantially in the past few years. For those videos that are targeted toward consumers, 22% of video viewers make a purchase, 25% of video viewers visit a store and 23% of video viewers request more information. Adding video to your website will help increase your site’s ranking on most search engines. So, when your potential customer visits your site, you want your video to look as good as it can be. Even after investing the time and money to create an outstanding video, it can be destroyed by bad video compression.

Here is a recent video that we produced for WEVA International. Even though the series is targeted towards wedding & event videographers, it contains information that’s valuable for both people in the video production industry and those that work with them.

WEVA News podcast interviews Final Cut Pro guru, Larry Jordan about his weekly live webinars and tips about compressing video for the web.

My advice to any filmmaker has always been that Behind the Scenes should be included in the beginning stages of budgeting the film.  Major motion pictures hire a team of experts to produce, shoot and edit the EPK. It should be no different for a low-budget independent film. Although there may not be money in the budget for a team, there should be an experienced group of 2 or 3 people in charge of the Behind the Scenes. The job of producing the EPK should not be assigned to an enthusiastic PA or actor with a minor role. Shooting and editing the “making of” a film is a documentary. And like a documentary, it has to have a story and explore character relationships. To hold the audience’s interest it should also contain some dramatic conflict as well as some light hearten humor. It takes an experienced producer to capture the footage and ask the questions needed to tell the story. On more than one occasion Lindsey has said that “how the movies get made is often times better than the actual movies themselves.”

For small independent films, including a behind the scenes can help sell the film to a distributor. It not only aids in promoting the film, but being able to include the Behind the Scenes in the EPK package can also increase sales of the DVD.

The key is to start working on the Behind the Scenes before principle photography begins. Because as with most documentaries, it’s difficult to try to recapture an emotion or an incident that happened during the filming. Although some interviews with the cast and crew are shot after the film has wrapped, the on-set interviews with the actors, while they’re still in costume with the set in the background are the most intriguing.

Some films are making their behind the scenes doc available online and as shorts on cable, like HBO’s First Look. But they are also including extra content that’s not available anywhere else on the DVD and Blu-Ray. The movie trailer is designed to get people interested in going to see the movie, while the Behind the Scenes can help sell in a slightly different way, by getting audiences to connect with the cast and crew both before and after they have seen the film.

www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2540311/

Mention that you heard about it on the EPKproducer blog.

I worked as the EPK producer, camera and editor on “The Christian Fury”, a short zombie film earlier this month. This was the 3rd film where the character of the Christian Fury appeared in a Buckley Brothers Production. Even though it was a low budget film, they shot with the RED digital cinema camera. After talking with the director, we decided to take a non-traditional interview style. Instead of sitting down with the cast and crew under controlled circumstances, I hooked up a shotgun mic on the JVC GY-HM100U and caught them between shots. I discovered that they were a more relaxed on camera. Here’s a clip from the behind the scenes doc with the director, Vincent Buckley and the 1st AD, Justin Lothrop.