Producing with Passion. Dorothy Fadiman
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Название: Producing with Passion

Автор: Dorothy Fadiman

Издательство: Ingram

Жанр: Кинематограф, театр

Серия:

isbn: 9781615930449

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      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      This book is the outgrowth of thirty years of filmmaking. I am deeply grateful to hundreds of people for their commitment to working with me to produce twenty documentary films. The full list of those who’ve given hands-on help, financial contributions, and advice would fill a dozen pages.

      This list is only partial. Almost all of these are people worked directly on more than one film.

      Videography and editing: Amy Hill, Blake McHugh, Bob Moore, Bridget Louis, Clemencia Macias, Cotton Coulson, David Espar, Daniel Meyers, Henock Hailu, John V. Fante, Kristin Atwell, Katie Larkin, Lise Braden, Matthew Luotto, Michael Carrier , Mika Ferris, Nila Bogue, Peter Carnochan, Rick Keller, Robert Pacelli, Roopa Parameswaran, and Shenaz Zack.

      Music and sound: Alex de Grassi, Dave Nelson, Erika Luckett, Jan Lovett Keen, Stephen Hill, and Stephen Longstreth.

      Images: Barry Brukoff, Dean Cutler, Jeanette Stobie, Ken Jenkins, Peter Girard, Sisse Brimberg, Stephen P. Mangold, and Wernher Krutein.

      Production and outreach collaboration: Anilise Hyllmon, Beth Seltzer, Bruce O’Dell, Danielle Renfrew, Gayle Whitaker, Kat LaEstrange, Kathy Kneer, Katie Peterson, Laura Wigod, Matthew Segal, Melissa Wener, Molly Tanenbaum, Rob Cohen, and Tashana Landray.

      Additional support, from personal guidance to pro bono volunteering to funding assistance: Dr. Agonafer Tekalegne, Carla Henry, Danny McGuire, David Andrews, Davidi Gilo, Diana Bebbington, Don Lauro, Dorothy Lyddon, Ekta Bansal, Eve Eisenberg, Foster Gamble, Freddie Long, Gopi Gopalkrishnan, Jim Fadiman, Jim Moses, Jo Killen, Joan Armer, Jonathan Simon, Karen F. Grove, Maribea Berry, Mary Anne Raywid, Mitchell Block, Nesru Oumer, Oz Crosby, Peggy Kenny, Phyllis Cole, Rita Thrasher, Robert Levenson, Sarah Jane Holcombe, Shamaya Gilo, Sharon Bergeron, Susan Thompson, Terry Beresford, Theron Horton, Tom Layton, Victoria Nichols, and to the hundreds of people who allowed me to interview them.

      A special thanks to the people who read the manuscript-in-progress: David L. Brown, who offered many suggestions that improved the manuscript greatly; and to Jane Kinzler, Jennifer Myronuk, Kacy McClure, and Kristen Schulz Oliver.

      Thanks also to Patsy O’Sullivan and the people of Bonane, County Kerry, Ireland for giving a warm Irish welcome and opening their homes to our crew when we shot a documentary to test the advice and how-to instructions in this book.

      And with deep appreciation, I thank Michael Wiese, who said to me thirty years ago, when I was struggling to write a book about light, “Did you ever think of making a film?” His question gave birth to my first film, Radiance.

      INTRODUCTION

      HOW CAN A FILM

       MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

      1. A film that reflects your true passion can have an impact for generations. This book gives you the tools to envision, produce, and finish such a film.

      2. As a documentary filmmaker, you have the means to open people’s eyes and bring them into another world.

      3. One of the major challenges in making your film will be keeping your focus from beginning to end.

       4. This book is divided into three parts:

       a. Getting clear about your vision

       b. Sustaining your intention as you produce the film

       c. Launching your finished movie

      A film that reflects your true passion will carry with it a special energy, a vital sense of purpose that can have an impact for generations.

      Today, after working on the script of my latest film Stealing America, one of my interns sat with me and we reviewed the master DVD for the re-release of my “oldest” film, Radiance, which was made three decades ago.

      This fall, we are going to be offering Radiance in packages of a dozen for people to give as Christmas gifts. We already have orders for the package.

      I didn’t think of making something that would last generations when I made Radiance. Instead, I only tried to do one thing — to tell what was true for me.

      This book tells you how to make a film about what is true for you.

      We will show you how to harness your inspiration, make a documentary, and finish it, with your vision intact.

      Each chapter takes you on a journey along well-traveled filmmaking highways, as well as little-known byways. All these roads lead to resources that will help you stay true to your vision as you face the inevitable challenges of filmmaking. Why is this so important? With every hard-won step forward, you realize more fully, every day, that it is your vision that will breathe life into your completed work.

      When you make a documentary, you hold the potential to open people’s eyes and take them beyond their usual way of seeing the world. A filmmaker possesses the means to draw viewers in as a story unfolds and introduce them to other realities. Whether you are documenting nature, human nature, or the latest technology, the audience enters another realm through your film.

      Several years ago, I produced Woman by Woman, a film about village couples living in rural India, who provide social services to their communities. As my cinematographer and I drove down dusty back roads, passing ox-drawn carts and one- room mud huts, I was struck by the challenge of reaching audiences in the West with a story set in this “other world” separated from modern life in so many ways. Throughout our time in India, I stayed alert, determined to find moments that would bridge these worlds.

      While filming an interview with a newlywed husband, the answer appeared. He spoke about not being allowed to meet or even see his bride until their wedding day. He confided to us during the interview how nervous he was about finally seeing the woman he was to be with for the rest of his life.

      During the editing, we crafted the scene so that the audience could enter his demanding day to day world, in which there is no electricity or running water. At the same time, we wanted viewers to empathize with his human feelings, which are universal. When the film is screened, we first see him cut his crops with a scythe, and carry them to his shed on his head.

      Then, he sits down and explains his arranged marriage. It’s clear, at first, that Western audiences feel uneasy with his tradition, of not looking at his bride until they are married. (When viewers shift in their seats, it is a sure sign of unrest.) Not seeing the person you will marry is so different from the Western ideal of falling in love. Then, when he goes on to describe lifting his bride’s veil, he breaks into a huge smile. It’s clear that he likes what he sees, very much! When people see his delight, they sigh, chuckle and relax, as they share in his feelings of relief.

Images

      As the filmmaker, you have the tools to bring people into another world, in this case a rural scene which has remained virtually unchanged for centuries. At the same time, you can invite them into the present with a universal human experience, like Pawan’s smile. The decisions you make about how to choose, and then juxtapose, the elements in your film are what will make the final piece yours.

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