Producing with Passion. Dorothy Fadiman

you off track, and will tempt you to spread your interests, energies, and time. Your goal should be to protect and nurture the heart of the story that you want to tell.

       A film project has the potential to absorb all of your money, all of your time, and all of your life. Your job is to set limits.

       The frame for your film will change and evolve as you work.

       Write a one-sheet project description to frame and define your project.

      CHATER 3

      KNOW YOUR SUBJECT

      1. If you want to make a vibrant film, you must have a genuine understanding of your subject.

      2. Background research is what you do when you immerse yourself in the material and document what you learn.

      3. The types of information you will probably use are: books, articles, films, public documents, private documents, and people.

       4. When you talk to people you might be:

      • Gathering information

      • Pre-interviewing potential interviewees

       5. Watch for what I call “The Universal Matching Grant Service.”

      To create a vibrant documentary, you need a genuine understanding of your subject. Only then will you be able to use the most relevant facts, find the people who tell the story best, select the ideal images, and locate the places that will give your film depth and dimensionality.

      For every subject, there usually already exists a body of information, or at least bits of information, discovered and assembled by people who have studied the topic. Your job is to learn as much as you can about the subject, from their work and on your own. At every step along the way, from fundraising to attracting staff, when people sense that you’ve done your homework, they will be more open to sharing what they have to offer with you.

BACKGROUND RESEARCH

      Background research involves immersing yourself in the subject of your documentary. At some point, you start to see a pattern. When you first begin, explore widely — read books, see films, surf the Internet, maybe visit museums, and, above all, ask for and listen to people’s ideas and opinions.

      Research will continue throughout production, but at some point you begin to put the pieces together.

      When I was doing research for Why Do These Kids Love School? I studied different approaches to progressive education. I learned that moving freely (discouraged in strict classroom settings) is an integral element to holistic learning. One scene of the film shows fourth graders stretched out reaching across a table doing math together.

      That scene is both “authentic” and, at the same time, visually engaging! I was able to bring together my research (about whole body involvement and collaboration in learning), my purpose (to show this kind of education), and the footage.

      When your research gives added relevance to actual footage, that synthesis gives the project vitality. If something “grabs” your interest, follow the lead. Filmmaking is a voyage of discovery — relish the search and be open to the possibilities.

       How One Filmmaker’s Research Gives His Films Vitality

      Ken Burns’ films are monuments to the value of background research. His Civil War documentaries are so meticulously researched that historians are said to use them as reference material. Burns does exhaustive research of actual photographs and diaries from the era he is documenting.

      Burns has a small research staff that has worked together for years. I think that the quality and quantity of the background research that Burns does contributes greatly to the appeal of his films.

      The Civil War (2004), Ken Burns. (A digitally re-mastered set of DVDs was released in 2004.)

      You will be surprised where your investigations may lead you. While researching “light” for Radiance, I learned about Kirilian photography, which captures images of energy emanating from living objects. With some effort, I tracked down the woman who conducted the original research. In response to my inquiry, she sent me a stack of slides that showed bristling electrical energy radiating from humans and plants. She invited me to use them at no cost because she wanted them seen and used.

KINDS OF INFORMATION

      With the Internet and low-cost digital media, one of the hurdles to overcome is that there is so much information. Never before have scholars and lay researchers faced this magnitude of resources. Your challenge, then, is to find the nuggets and trusted sources.

      Places to which I turn when researching a film, in roughly the order that I use them, are:

       The Internet

       Articles

       Informational interviews

       Public and private documents

       Books and films

      I used to spend weeks on end at the library, making requests on little slips of paper. The librarians used them to find and bring out books, articles, newspapers, and microfiche. Now I do most of the initial research on the Internet.

FINDING PEOPLE AS SOURCES

      Once I have done basic Internet research, I come up with a list of names of people I want to try to reach. I say “try” because some of them are essentially “unreachable.” But I try.

      How do I find these people?

      Once I’ve identified the people I want to reach, I go back to the Internet. I search for e-mail addresses, articles they’ve written, groups they belong to, places they’ve spoken: anything that might lead to contact information.

      Sometimes it is simple, for example, if an individual publishes a newsletter with contact information. Sometimes I have to pick up the phone and start calling people.

      I ask, “Do you know so and so?” or “Do you know how to reach so and so?” or “Do you know anyone who knows,” etc. Ninety percent of the time, I eventually reach the person, but not always. Finding people can be a laborious process. Be prepared for mostly hits and some misses.

      Once I make contact, I either e-mail or call the person, and usually get a response. Sometimes, I need to repeat the contact several times before I get an answer. I introduce myself with as many credentials as I can put together, including my interest in that person and the subject.

      If I reach the person, I ask if this is a good time to speak, or shall we make a telephone date, or if they are nearby, a time to meet. For this “informational interview” I am prepared with brief, specific questions. While the person answers these questions, I am also listening (or reading, if an e-mail) to see if this might be an appropriate interviewee for the film.

      As with every other step in production, good relationships are at the heart of filmmaking.