About this column: Many filmmakers ponder in anguish, How do other people—celebrated people—do it? Am I taking too long to make this documentary? Does everybody spend as much money as I am spending, or am I spending too little? And when filmmakers share their lessons learned in interviews in the glossy trade magazines, their tales seem to follow the arc of otherworldy heroes rather than real documentary makers, i.e. human beings like you and me. So each month, the Doc Doctor will go out into the world (this real world) of filmmakers who are successful and find out how they made it. The "Anatomy of a Film Column" is a chance to learn from filmmakers' hits and misses in real life examples. —Fernanda Rossi, story consultant a.k.a. the Documentary Doctor
Documentary
The Doc Doctor's Anatomy of a Film: "Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea"
Chris Metzler and Jeff Springer braved camera-melting heat to film their documentary
May 6th, 2008 | Fernanda RossiTo Shoot "Flying," Jennifer Fox Gave Up Control of Her Camera
An interview with filmmaker Jennifer Fox about her six-part documentary series "Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman"
May 2nd, 2008 | Michele Meek
As an award-winning director, producer and camerawoman, Jennifer Fox is certainly well-versed in all the conventions of ‘proper’ documentary filmmaking – introduce the camera slowly, don’t talk about your own life, “create a neutral plane they can project on,” as she says.
The Doc Doctor's Anatomy of a Film: "The Longing"
The deeper she got into shooting, the more emotionally engaged filmmaker Gabriela Böhm became in her subjects' plight. The result is a very different film from the one she set out to make
April 5th, 2008 | Fernanda Rossi
About this new column: Many filmmakers ponder in anguish, How do other people—celebrated people—do it? Am I taking too long to make this documentary? Does everybody spend as much money as I am spending, or am I spending too little? And when filmmakers share their lessons learned in interviews in the glossy trade magazines, their tales seem to follow the arc of otherworldy heroes rather than real documentary makers, i.e. human beings like you and me. So each month, the Doc Doctor will go out into the world (this real world) of filmmakers who are successful and find out how they made it. The "Anatomy of a Film Column" is a chance to learn from filmmakers' hits and misses in real life examples. —Fernanda Rossi, story consultant a.k.a. the Documentary Doctor
The Peabody Award Winners: Watch Trailers and Clips
This year's winners include "Taxi to the Dark Side" and "Silence of the Bees"
April 4th, 2008 | Mike Hofman
The full list of 2007 George Foster Peabody Award winners was released on April 2. The winners include films such as Taxi to the Dark Side and To Die in Jerusalem, as well as popular television programs such as Dexter, 30 Rock, and Project Runway.
The Doc Doctor's Anatomy of a Film: "I Was a Teenage Feminist"
Therese Shechter talks about where the idea—and the money—came from, for this very personal, irreverent film
March 19th, 2008 | Fernanda Rossi
About this new column: Many filmmakers ponder in anguish, How do other people—celebrated people—do it? Am I taking too long to make this documentary? Does everybody spend as much money as I am spending, or am I spending too little? And when filmmakers share their lessons learned in interviews in the glossy trade magazines, their tales seem to follow the arc of otherworldy heroes rather than real documentary makers, i.e. human beings like you and me. So each month, the Doc Doctor will go out into the world (this real world) of filmmakers who are successful and find out how they made it. The "Anatomy of a Film Column" is a chance to learn from filmmakers' hits and misses in real life examples. —Fernanda Rossi, story consultant a.k.a. the Documentary Doctor
Alex Karpovsky's "Woodpecker": The Perfect "Ficumentary"?
Filmmaker Alex Karpovsky marries documentary and narrative to create a whole new genre of filmmaking
March 5th, 2008 | Nikki Chase
Filmmaker Alex Karpovsky is sure to leave reviewers scrambling for a dictionary in an attempt to define the hybrid genre of his latest film, Woodpecker.
Watch Clips from the Oscar-winning Docs, Shorts, and Animated Shorts
A look at the categories that matter to independent filmmakers
February 25th, 2008 | Mike Hofman
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
No End in Sight (Magnolia Pictures) A Representational Pictures Production
Filmmakers: Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
The story: Former Bush administration officials drop a film's worth of dimes on their former bosses, outlining what went wrong in Iraq.
To learn more, click here.
The Doc Doctor's Anatomy of a Film: "51 Birch Street"
Doug Block talks about the making of his hit documentary about his parents' marriage
February 10th, 2008 | Fernanda Rossi
About this new column: Many filmmakers ponder in anguish, How do other people—celebrated people—do it? Am I taking too long to make this documentary? Does everybody spend as much money as I am spending, or am I spending too little? And when filmmakers share their lessons learned in interviews in the glossy trade magazines, their tales seem to follow the arc of otherworldy heroes rather than real documentary makers, i.e. human beings like you and me. So starting this month, the Doc Doctor decided to go out into the world (this real world) of filmmakers who are successful and find out how they made it. Each month, her "anatomy" will be a chance to learn from their hits and misses in real life examples. —Fernanda Rossi, story consultant a.k.a. the Documentary Doctor
Mastering Archival Footage: How to Find It, When to Use It
To make "Doc", a film about her father, Immy Humes had to master of a mountain of source material
January 22nd, 2008 | Mike Hofman
Immy Humes is adept at bringing a light touch to dark subject matter as she did in her Oscar-nominated 1991 short A Little Vicious, about a dangerous pit bull and the family who loved him, and 1996’s Lizzie Borden Hash & Rehash, about the abiding fascination Americans have for the New England spinster who was accused of being an ax murderer.
Writing a Companion Book to Your Film
Charles H. Ferguson, the director of "No End in Sight," talks about his award-winning documentary and the follow-up book due out this month
January 8th, 2008 | Mike Hofman
An examination of how the Iraq War went so wrong, Charles H. Ferguson’s documentary No End In Sight is by turns forensic and surreal, a synthesis of devastating facts, damning archival footage, and poignant interviews with well-placed Iraqis and Americans who tried in vein to keep catastrophe at bay.
