Creating Documentary Short Films with a DSLR Camera

Creating Documentary Short Films with a DSLR Camera

“Helo! Now we have reached the end of our course. I hope you enjoyed and learned some useful tricks for telling a story with your camera. I'm curious to see the final result of your mini documentary and the decisions you made to develop your video. I believe that everyone has a good story to tell. But summarizing it in a few minutes is a big challenge. Therefore, I will reinforce some important points so that you can successfully complete your final project. • Research about your character: personality and your business (if you have one) and, with this information, elaborate your filming plan. Imagine which cover scenes would work to tell your story. • Introduce your protagonist and how you imagine illustrating this story. The more coverage plans you have, the more material you will have at the time of editing. • Remember that objects and details that show the person's intimacy tell a lot. • Get organized when you arrive at the interviewee's home or another agreed location. • Configure your camera to achieve the best framing. For each scenario you will need to find a different solution, according to the light and the plan you want to carry out. There is no magic formula! Test different settings and choose the one that works best for you. • You also saw how I do the interview with my character. I never show my questions before, to maintain naturalness and capture more authentic reactions. • Remember the importance of coverage images. They are essential elements that show details of our character's life, serve as a transition plan and enrich the story. • Organize your material and edit your mini documentary. Preparation of the set and equipment

Some angles while shooting In this course, I produced this project on my own, but I usually count on the help of other collaborators. Therefore, always participate in the forum, create a network of contacts with other creatives who can help you produce your final project. In your final project, I am especially curious to know: what was your initial filming plan, what were your questions, what images did you choose to support your video narrative and the final result. My last piece of advice is: be original! Search for references in both the digital and analog worlds. Certainly, your parents, grandparents, a friend, a neighbor or a local merchant keep an interesting story that can serve as an inspiration for your final project and can even be the beginning of a new job. I will answer your questions on the forum whenever I can, but I ask for patience, as my job often requires me to be completely off the air. I stay here and I hope to be able to see your mini documentary soon centered on an unusual, fun and, above all, authentic story of your character. ”

Partial transcription of the video

“Final project Hello. Now we have reached the end of the course. I hope you enjoyed and learned some useful tricks to tell a story with your camera. I'm curious to see the final result of your mini documentary and the decisions you made to make this video. I believe that everyone has a good story to tell, but summarizing it in a few minutes is a big challenge. So, before I say goodbye, I will go over some important points to help you in carrying out your project. I started the course by showing a DSLR camera, how it works and the equipment I use to work. To make my mini documentary in Madrid...”

This transcript is automatically generated, so it may contain mistakes.

Course summary for: Creating Documentary Short Films with a DSLR Camera

• Level: Beginner
• 98% positive reviews (156)
• 4184 students
• 4 units
• 18 lessons (3h 9m)
• 5 downloads

• Category

  Photography & Video

• Software

  Adobe Premiere

• Areas

  Audiovisual Production, Film, Filmmaking, TV, Video, Video Editing