The 30th edition of Sundance Film Festival opened on the day of the Academy Award nominations, and, perhaps to tie the two occasions together, four out of the five documentary feature nominees— Twenty Feet from Stardom, Cutie and the Boxer, Dirty Wars and The Square—had premiered at Sundance the year before, while two of the snubbed titles- Blackfish and Stories We Tell—also figured in the Sundance 2013 mix. For much of the past 30 years, and certainly over the past decade, the road from Sundance to the Oscars has for many documentary makers formed a grail-to-grail arc. Not to hyperventilate
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'CaveDigger' screens March 1 at 1:10 p.m. as part of IDA's DocuDay.
We're happy to announce a new showcase for exceptional international documentary film! Supported by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, The Art of Documentary will screen three award-winning international documentaries at The Landmark Theater in West LA. This screening series showcases films that each represent masterful filmmaking craft and a unique and artistic approach to nonfiction storytelling. Recognized by film festivals renowned for showcasing significant filmic achievement, the films in this series each unite compelling real-life stories with exemplary filmmaking technique to
Heading to Finland voluntarily in the middle of winter might seem a crazy move, but if your destination is the DocPoint—Helsinki Documentary Film Festival, you've got a good case for sanity. Now in its third year, the festival is capitalizing on the country's devotion to the documentary genre, and the home-grown talent that has made much of Europe sit up and take notice. I first became interested in Finnish documentaries several years ago after catching Susanna Helke and Virpi Suutari's The Idle Ones, a visually stunning feature documentary that succeeded in making the aimless lives of a group
On Simon Pummell's 'Bodysong'
On 'Super Size Me' and 'The Corporation'
James Lebrecht. Photo: B. Doug Jensen Whether you are a seasoned documentary filmmaker or in the throes of your first film, your project can rise or fall on the sound of your film. There are many things you can do to improve your chances of getting a great sound mix. What follows is my advice from the standpoint of experience as a sound designer and mixer. Record the Best Sound You Can The fast-paced, tight-budgeted world of documentary filmmaking is not the best breeding ground for capturing great audio. The lack of a good sound recording can make it impossible to use an otherwise wonderful
In today's fast-paced and budget-conscious entertainment industry, increased programming and production opportunities in film, television, radio and other media have given rise to a fertile environment for production music libraries. Music is a critical component of storytelling. The fact remains that while the appetite for music among filmmakers and producers has increased, budgets remain static. As a result, music libraries are becoming an increasingly integral resource for storytellers and content creators. In the digital age, where the landscape is fast becoming saturated with content
'12 O'Clock Boys' opens January 31 through Oscilloscope Pictures.
Filmmakers have often told me that they find the scoring process to be one of the most daunting aspects of making movies. Even some seasoned directors admit everything from discomfort to panic when they try to explore ideas about music for their film. In the documentary world, these feelings can be even more pronounced, the fear being that musical accompaniment to real-life footage can be inappropriate or manipulative. But one need only look at such stellar examples as Aaron Copland's score for The River or Philip Glass' soundtrack for The Fog of War to realize how much the right music can