So here’s a fact: documentary films are not true to life. Yes, they are supposed to be nonfiction films, “documenting” the lives of the people who are their subjects.  But, in actuality, they are manipulations of the truth, based on the perspective, vision, and, in some cases, biases of the producer (see Michael Moore). Even those documentaries that clearly don’t have the Michael Moore slant...

I’ve talked a bit about the importance of b-roll.  And in an ideal world, there is the time and the opportunity to film b-roll so that your video producer has choices when he/she is trying to edit your video together. But you know what?  If getting b-roll is not possible, no need to fret.  I’m biased, of course, because I always feel that good video b-roll makes a video worth watching.  However,...

I was talking to a fundraising consultant the other day who asked, “Why do my nonprofit clients get quotes for video that range from very low to extremely high?  Why the discrepancy in prices?” That’s a very fair question, though she kind of answered herself when she mentioned later in the conversation that some of her larger non-profit clients feel like they need a ‘high-end’ production...

The first thoughts clients have when they are conceptualizing a video for themselves is:  “Who are the people we should interview for the video and what should they talk about?” This makes total sense.  Afterall, unless you want your video to be in the vein of a Frederick Wiseman documentary, you have to have people describing what you’re all about.  So let’s say that you’ve decided on your...

Here’s a lively subject of conversation that we often have with clients: how many people get to be on camera? Okay.  I get it.  It’s important to give everyone his or her “air time.”  I’m sympathetic to that – you want everyone to feel important and no one slighted.  So there is definitely some diplomacy that sometimes has to be undertaken if certain people get invited to participate...

A confession: activist causes sometimes make me uneasy.  Perhaps it’s because I feel guilty for not having my own cause that I fight for.  So I had some reservations before watching The Cove, a film about the efforts of a group to expose the slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Japan.  Watching cruelty inflicted upon animals is also never appealing. For those who might have the same doubts, fear not. ...