Articles
Considering FCPX, a year later
Apple’s Final Cut Pro X was met with a lot of upset when it was launched announced a year ago (and launched in June 2011) at a price point significantly...
Blackmagic: Building from the computer out
For years, Blackmagic Design has been associated with products meant to help connect the camera to the computer — basically unassuming tools that...
‘Surviving Progress’ tackles a global question
Montreal-based director Mathieu Roy is not afraid of tackling huge and existential questions within the wrapper of an 86-minute documentary. That he begins...
Getting that documentary out to the right audience
Sheri Candler and Jon Reiss always have great advice for DIY filmmakers working to get their project to its audience, especially when it’s a film...
A New Hand Dealt Defines ‘All In: The Poker Movie’
In the documentary world, filmmakers rarely know what they’re making when they start making it. Instead, they move through time, chronicling changing...
Four times better?
The release of the new Canon EOS 5D Mark III has HDSLR filmmakers poring over specs, trying to decide if this release is something incredible, or something...
‘Happy’ Day
World Happy Day was cold and a bit snowy in Newport, RI, when we attended the screening of Happy, Roko Belic’s documentary on the science and practice...
Kickstarting the cheetahs
One of the skills that have always been required of documentary filmmakers is fundraising, and in this digital landscape that’s become both easier...
‘More Than A Month’ Channels Moore, Spurlock and Woody Allen in Journey to End Black History Month
Some time ago, the book reviewer Sarah Goldstein came up with a term for a type of book which the author sets on a particular mission, the definition being,...
Oh, those celebrity documentaries
I’m always leery about documentaries made by celebrities. I’m not talking about people who are celebrities because of the docs — the Moores, Burnses...
Stacking two EOS cameras for a light travel kit
I’m going to LA to shoot two interviews this week, and I’ve been sorting out how to do the best possible setup that is easiest to carry. I...
New Oscar Eligibility Rules Could Shut Out Great Documentaries
I sometimes wonder not only if the Academy of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences realizes it’s imposing 1930’s sensibilities on a 2012 world, but if...
2012: What’s In Store for The Filmmaking 99 Percent?
When I watch a documentary these days, it’s usually on TV or on a DVD, and it’s rare that I can tell what kind of camera was used. That’s a good...