Here comes the sun—and, with it, the Spring 2014 issue of Documentary magazine!

Yes, it's been a long, cold, lonely winter, but as sure as the jacarandas and cherry blossoms will brighten the landscape again, so will the latest issue, where we offer you tips about Making Your Doc Abroad.

Working with crews, translators, expeditors and fixers...shooting in dangerous places...securing the right insurance for you, your crew and your doc: These are some of some of the many things you need to know about before you pack up your gear and venture into foreign territory in search of the truth. Filmmakers Jehane Noujaim, Ross Kauffmann, Rachel Beth Anderson, Marilyn Ness, Sebastian Junger and Linda Goldstein Knowlton, as well as experts from ProSight Specialty Insurance, share their experiences and insights.

And that's not all!

China is the fastest growing economy in the world, and it's also a looming presence in the documentary community. We take a look at some of the key players in this vital market.

Finally, Ramona Diaz shares her impressions of Morocco, where she shared her film Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey with a range of audiences, and taught an intensive doc-making workshop, all under the auspices of the American Film Showcase.

Elsewhere in the Spring issue, we also talk to Oscar-nominated filmmaker Rithy Panh about his upcoming release, The Missing Picture; educators/media artists B. Ruby Rich and John Jota Leaños talk about their SocDoc masters program at University of California, Santa Cruz; and IDA Award nominee Jason Osder writes about how Jeff Malmberg's Marwencol inspired his filmmaking career.

So stow away your parkas and boots and embrace the season of renewal; join IDA today and get Documentary magazine year-round: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter!

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 create a truly cinematic documentary experience.

THE MISSING PICTURE, directed by Rithy Panh and winner of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard program, will be the film to launch the series on Thursday, February 20, 2014 at 7:30pm. The film recounts the director's firsthand experience of how his family and friends suffered at the hands of the Pol Pot's communist regime. THE MISSING PICTURE is a unique documentary that manages to recreate a historical moment that would never be told if not for the sheer creative mind of Panh's innovative storytelling method.

THE NAKED ROOM, directed by Nuria Ibáñez and winner of the Morelia International Film Festival prizes for Best Feature Length Documentary and Best Documentary by a Woman, shows a whole world without leaving a single space: the examination room in a children's hospital in Mexico City. Listening to the children, their parents and the doctors during consultations allows us to have a more profound and complex view of our social reality and of human nature. THE NAKED ROOM will screen Thursday, March 13 at 7:30pm.

SACRO GRA, director by Gianfranco Rosi and winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival 2013, the film tells the tale of a part of Rosi's own country where he roamed and filmed for over two years in a minivan on Rome's Grande Raccordo Anulare, or GRA. Elusive characters and fleeting apparitions emerge from the background of this winding zone. The film will screen Wednesday, March 19th at 7:30pm.

For more information on all the films in the series and to RSVP, please visit The Art of Documentary.

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 moment or, at best, make its sound stick out like a sore thumb because its imperfections are so obvious. Often in this case, the change in sound quality can pull an audience out of the film.

I believe that it pays for itself to include a seasoned location sound recordist on your team. These people have the experience and hardware to compensate for the most challenging recording circumstances. An added bonus is that there is one less thing for you to worry about, so you can concentrate on the other tasks at hand.

If you're unable to hire a recordist, all is not lost. Be sure that you know how to patch together and use your microphones and recorder. Do a test with all of your equipment before you go out to shoot. Make some test recordings and listen back to make sure that the sound is clear and not full of noise or distortion. When you get to your shoot and have your equipment set up, you should perform a confidence check. It's not enough to trust what you are hearing in your headphones. Record a short test section of material and play it back.

Many filmmakers augment their lavaliere and boom microphone setup with a small, portable recorder. Units like a Zoom H4n are used as a backup recording in case something goes wrong with their primary setup. Who knows, it might save the day if your subject hits the lavaliere microphone or the boom operator isn't pointing the microphone in the right direction. (Don't laugh; I've heard this.) Be sure that the recorder is placed close to your subject and is hidden from the camera.

While you are on location, be sure to capture wild sound and room tone. Especially if you are recording in an exotic location such as a tropical island or isolated rainforest village, spend some time recording the ambience of the place. Establishing shots can be greatly enhanced by an accurate, unique sound bed. Your sound designer is not likely going to have that Bolivian Masked Gnatcatcher in his library, nor is that going to be easy to find. And if you are going to film an old bus passing by for your B-roll, please record sound at the same time.

Room tone is used to help smooth out edits in the production sound. Your sound editor will want you to provide an organized collection of room tones. Simply naming conventions like "Flaco in red shirt" or "Dr. Conroy's office" will help your editor to quickly match up the room tone with the appropriate scene. Not everyone remembers to record room tone, and to be honest, it's not always a good match. Often, a background will change over time. Traffic outside the window may increase in intensity, as it gets closer to the evening commute. The same can be said for insects. As night falls, many insects (and frogs) become very vocal. The best room tone can be captured during gaps in the production sound. That is why you give your sound department long handles when you export your OMF (open media format) or AAF (advanced authoring format) file from your editing system.

Find the Right People to Work With

Just as some cinematographers are better for certain films than others, the same holds true for the sound team and composer you choose. Ideally, your composer and sound house should be experienced at working on documentaries. Although there are similarities to working on narrative films, there are aesthetic differences that apply to the sound for a documentary.

Narratives, typically, have clean dialogue and surround-sound ambiance. Many documentaries are shot vérité style and have a rougher, "as it happened" quality to their sound. Actually, a few imperfections can legitimize the audio as being just "like it happened." Stereo or surround ambiances, if not presented the right way, can tip your hand that you are embellishing the audio, making it seem less realistic and less legitimate.

There are other audio skills that are utilized more often in documentary films. An experienced documentary mixer will be familiar with the art of creating and mixing sounds so that they sound like they were part of that footage. This is useful when a film uses a lot of vintage or newsreel footage, because the sound that accompanies archival newsreel footage is often married to an announcer's voice. Perhaps the most valuable skill a documentary mixer can have is being adept in salvaging bad production sound. As much as you can try, there will be times that your audio is less than studio quality. Problems like a noisy environment, wind noise or distortion can make it hard or impossible to use important sound. A skilled mixer will know what is possible to fix and will know how to do so quickly.

Collaboration and Communication

Filmmaking is a collaborative art form. It's imperative that you find people who are a good fit for you. Talent and experience are important, but it's crucial that you find folks with whom you can communicate. They need to hear what you are saying and should have something to say in return.

A thorough and lively communication between the filmmaker and the sound folks can go a long way toward getting a great sound mix for your film. The more you understand what they will do with and for your sound and the more they understand the desires and needs for your film, the better. To paraphrase Martin Mull, talking about sound isn't quite as difficult as dancing about architecture, but it can be hard to talk about something that you can't see.

Who will you be talking with? On some films, the same person is the sound supervisor, sound designer and mixer. Each job has its own set of tasks.

A sound supervisor's primary responsibility is hiring the crew, managing the budget and making the arrangements that keep the sound machine rolling forward. Many times they are also the lead artistic connection that the crew and filmmaker has before the mix. When that is not the case, it's usually because there is a sound designer on the show.

Most people think that a sound designer only creates new sounds such as the vocalization of a dinosaur or the mechanics of a robot. And that might be the case on some big-budget action narratives. In documentaries, it's more common for a sound designer to look at the film as an overall concept, and look after the artistic choices made in all of the sound departments. However, their greatest influence can be heard in the sound effects and the mix. This focus on the added ambience and sound effects is one reason that a lot of sound designers are also mixers.

The final interpreter of the filmmaker's vision for the sound is the mixer. The mixer executes the presentation of the sound, keeping in mind the emotional and technical needs of the film. Each film has its own character. Some documentaries are edited aggressively, some are sumptuous (full of lush landscapes and ambiences) and some can be realistic and gritty. The mixer needs to treat the audio with the visual and editorial style of the film in mind.

The mixer needs to find the right balance among all of the audio elements in the film. I tell people that my job as a mixer is to make it effortless for the audience to hear the film. In fact, I need to be their advocate. Here's an example: By the time of the mix, a filmmaker will know all of the dialogue by heart. The audience, on the other hand, is hearing the words for the first time. I have to listen and mix as if I am hearing it for the first time as well. This means making sure that the wonderful music that has just been added to the film doesn't overpower the audience's ability to make out the words. On the other hand, that wonderful score needs to be present, otherwise it can't do its job.

The mix should be a time of artistic satisfaction and excitement (the good kind). You should always feel like you are well supported and that your ideas have been given the opportunity to be heard. You aren't there just to say whether it's too loud or too soft, but to consider all aspects of the mix. You want to pay attention to things like how gracefully a sound is introduced, whether or not it's the right sound, or if something is missing or could be better.

The time available for a mix is often short, but with good preparation and a competent mixer, you should see (and hear) your film gain a level of completeness that was missing before. If you start off with good production sound and find people to work with who are capable, you are bound to be happy with the final mix.

James Lebrecht is president and lead designer of Berkeley Sound Artists.

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 enhance the power of a documentary. 

There is no reason a filmmaker should view the scoring process as any more of a challenge than other aspects of post-production. There are more similarities than differences between the editing process and scoring a film. In editing, you are developing a narrative through characters, voiceover, images and sound. I think of music as an emotional/non-verbal aspect of storytelling—a kind of punctuation to add layers, interpretation and/or accent to what is already coming from the screen. It starts with understanding the vision for the film as a whole, and then working toward that with every decision—whether it be choice of shot, narration, use of sound or the emotional tone set by music.

There is a tendency to work on sections of the film, going from cue to cue. But it's important to maintain an overview of the score throughout the film, just as you build your storyline throughout the editing process. You wouldn't want to repeat shots or skip portions of the story, making it hard to follow. If you consider music in this holistic way, you'll see that you can build the score by applying the same criteria you use to make editing decisions. Is music necessary? Will it enhance and/or support the intent of each sequence that has been selected for a cue? Is there a good structural flow and pacing to the score? Is it distracting? Is there too much music or perhaps too little? Or too much time between cues? And finally, does the music feel appropriate, integrated and well composed?

I always like to start at the beginning and work my way through a film organically. Early in my career, I would blaze through the entire film, hoping to develop my ideas fully before sharing my work with the director. Over the years I've discovered that it is much more productive to share as early as possible to make sure I don't waste time developing  material that the director will never be on board with. Building on ideas that work is my motto. What I need from the director is input and serious consideration of musical ideas I present. Together we can explore the elements of a cue, discover what supports their vision and move forward with a fruitful and enjoyable collaboration.

Enough philosophy; here are some ways of being proactive in getting the best possible score for your film: Thorough preparation, realistic budgeting of time and money, careful selection of a composer and investment in the creative collaboration all play a crucial role in making the best music with your composer.

Don't Underestimate Your Music Budget

The film scoring process begins with the initial budgeting; make sure it's realistic—wishful thinking will get you in trouble down the line. Do your research: Talk to composers, music supervisors and other filmmakers and look at some music budgets of films you like. Do you envision an electronic score, a jazz band, ethnic music or an orchestra? Do you want to work with a well-known composer, or are you willing to take a chance on someone less experienced and pay a lower fee? Do you need to license a popular song? How big a part will music play in your film? Answers to these kinds of questions will help you assess your financial requirements and ennsure you'll have the resources and time you'll need for a good, effective score.

Editing with Temp Music

Although filmmakers should start thinking about music as early as the budgeting phase, most don't really focus on it until they're editing. I've worked with editors who have an amazing internal rhythm and can cut without music, but most prefer to find  temporary compositions that inspire the editing and inform scenes. Time and budget permitting, the composer can also begin to be involved at this point, and in my own experience this is a fantastic way to work. I can supply click tracks or simple beats, or I can actually start composing. Typically, we'll discuss some concepts, I'll write a piece of music, the editor will lay it in, start cutting and send it back to me for conforming. We'll go back and forth as the film takes shape. Rather than getting attached to temp music, the filmmaker can thus take advantage of all the composer has to offer, which can lead to a truly original and affecting score.

The other common way to work is to offer the composer a cut with a temp score. You can temp with other music written by your composer, or with any music that inspires. I personally prefer that temp music doesn't come from me, as it's way more interesting to do something new for every project. Referencing my own music from another film carries baggage; I'd rather have a fresh approach. Whatever music you choose to temp with can save time for a composer and provide creative direction early on. It's important that you convey to the composer what you like and don't like about the temp music so that there won't be any confusion.  Time spent discussing these details will yield great benefits throughout the process..

Trusting Your Taste

Before you begin working with a composer, though, it helps to hone your own sense of what music might work in your film. I always tell filmmakers to trust their ability to discern what feels like it's working and what doesn't. After all, you wouldn't be making films if you didn't have strong ideas. So spend time thinking about what styles of music resonate with your vision for the film. Analyze films with scores you like. Throw some music samples up against picture. Begin a creative dialogue in your mind. Even if you don't know much about music, you can begin to experience the effect different approaches can have on a scene. This will help develop confidence in your ability to provide solid direction for your composer.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

When you choose a composer, the relationship you establish with that person will set the tone for all the creative work that follows, so look for someone to whom you can relate, not just a music machine. Even if you're drawn to someone's music, don't underestimate the importance of your rapport. I'd also suggest you look for someone who not only is talented, but has an equally strong collaborative spirit. If so, you're more than likely to have a creative and dynamic experience.

Film and TV composers are used to tight deadlines and strict budget requirements. Regardless of the parameters of the project, our role is to support your vision, flesh out your ideas and bring all our experience and musicality to the table. Together, we can develop a language for communicating about non-verbal, emotional and abstract ideas. But while your composer is willing to make a generous contribution of time and talent to a collaborative effort, you as a filmmaker should be realistic about your expectations and respect your composer's boundaries. Most documentary scoring budgets are not going to afford the composer a lot of room for financial gain, so good will goes a long way in encouraging our best efforts. And the more satisfying the working relationship is, the more open a composer will be to spending time fleshing out your ideas and achieving what may have seemed out of reach.

Knowing What to Look for

But how do you find this fabulous person? You can start by noticing who wrote the film music you recently enjoyed. Ask other filmmakers you admire for referrals. Then go online and Google them. Most professional composers have well-developed websites with lots of examples of their work. Remember, it's critical to distinguish between general musical ability and actual film-scoring talent and experience. Your brother may be a great guitar player with a home studio, but that doesn't necessarily mean he can take direction or has the sensibility or technological know-how to compose and synchronize music to picture (let alone deliver on a fixed schedule and budget). Just as in the rest of the filmmaking process, there are complex levels to film scoring, both creatively and technically. They include communication skills; an ability to organize, plan and budget for the overall project; compositional skills; music preparation (scores and charts); and an ability to work with musicians, handle union issues, produce sessions and record and mix the score to the technical specifications of the post house. And all this must be done on time. So be sure to check the breadth and depth of your chosen composer's experience.

Composing Credibility

But how can you assess the qualifications of your potential composer? As I said, the process usually starts with a recommendation or by hearing some of the music this person has written. But then, even if you've seen a film that person has scored, request a sample audio reel (and video, if you like). Listen to it with an open mind; get an overview of the work, and don't expect to hear the perfect music for your film. This reel probably reflects what the composer has already done for someone else, and he/she may be second-guessing what you want to hear.

Nonetheless, does what you hear move you? Does it stay with you? Even if the selections seem way off the mark for your film, if you can't get the music out of your head, then take a meeting with the composer. Find out more about this person. He or she may have other work that more closely resembles what you want—or has the ability to stretch for what you want. Don't underestimate the creative connection that may be unexpectedly forged.

Your Place or Mine?

You should meet at a potential composer's studio to get a better sense of the person and how he/she works. Also, check out the gear. Does it look professional, well maintained, up to date? Get a feel for how the person thinks: Do you like his/her ideas? Bring a copy of some part of your film and discuss some of the musical ideas you've been exploring on your own. See how the composer reacts and what is offered in return. Play some of your temp ideas to illustrate what you like.

If a filmmaker doesn't offer me any musical direction in our first meeting, I have developed ways of assessing taste. As we get deeper into a discussion, I'll start playing either my work, or music from other film scores or CDs in my collection to see what makes an impression. Is it orchestral, classic, contemporary, groove-oriented, ethnic, edgy? If the filmmaker is totally visual and has no musical vocabulary, I try to identify sounds or textures that get a response. As long as we can relate the music to a desired emotion or interpretation, I'll find the sound and instrumentation that will evoke that feeling or sensation.

If you take a second meeting with your potential composer, take it in your editing bay. There, you can begin to analyze scenes and see how the composer relates to your editor and other members of your crew. When you're ready to make the hire, have a candid discussion about what is possible within a range of budgets and just how flexible a composer can be.

Actual Budget           

Let the composer know early on where you stand monetarily so that no time gets wasted on either end. But don't rule out the possibility that you may decide to raise more money if someone really inspires—or that the composer has been waiting for an exceptional project like yours and agrees to work for a lower fee than usual.

Nowadays, most indie and doc budgets are "package" or "all in" deals. A savvy composer will outline what is possible for what you've offered. This can vary dramatically from composer to composer, based on experience, schedule, resources and approach. Different composers offer different levels of service and collaboration, so be sure to fully explore how your chosen composer works. The music package provided usually includes one or more spotting sessions (meetings with the director/producer to decide where and what kind of music), composing, review and approval meetings, music preparation, musicians, recording sessions, the music mix and, finally, delivery of a finished music master synchronized to picture. Be sure to clarify how many, if any, live musicians are possible within the budget.

Clearly, a composer who has his or her own studio has a budgetary advantage. Nonetheless, it still costs money to record, even in one's own studio. Sometimes I suggest various possibilities to meet a filmmaker's budget. I'll start with a basic fee, then build in possible future contingencies so there won't be any surprises. As we move along in the scoring process, I may suggest that for "x " amount more, we can add a cellist; for "xyz" amount, we can add Yo-Yo Ma! I've seen possibilities for enhancing the score sometimes inspire filmmakers to raise more money. Stay on top of what your composer is writing. If it's turning into an orchestral score, make sure you can afford to actualize the concept. Remember that every additional service and musician adds cost. Changes made after the recording sessions have occurred or picture changes after the music has been mixed can also add expense. Delivering a great score on a limited budget requires lots of advance planning, so stay involved and informed as the score evolves.

Music Rights and Wrongs

What kind of deal will you make with your composer regarding ownership and rights to the music?  Will this be a "work-for-hire" where you own the copyright and/or publishing or a synchronization deal where you obtain a license to use the music within certain parameters?  Many filmmakers aren't familiar with the way music copyright, publishing and synchronization rights work. It is not necessary that you own or even control the rights to the music in your film in order to have what you need to distribute your work with its wonderful original score.

The concept of work for hire came into being during the heyday of the Hollywood studios because they actually had music departments with composers as salaried employees. This included support staff, engineers and musicians,  and all expenses were paid by the studios to complete the score. Thus whatever was created in that context was a work for hire and owned by the studio. In today's world of package deals, composers often function as independent contractors who agree to deliver a final product on a fixed budget. In this context, it's fair to say composers own what we create—and can negotiate those rights based on what we get in return.  An ample budget that includes enough money to pay the composer and the production costs might make a work-for-hire deal more attractive. And, if there's likely to be significant royalties from broadcasts or theatrical distribution, a composer may be more open to negotiating some rights. Remember, there is room for negotiation, but not necessarily a reason for a composer to give up their music rights by accepting a work-for-hire deal.

Filmmakers do not pay music performance royalties.  Broadcasters (including radio, and in some cases, internet providers), theater owners and live venues do.  The world is split into territories, which are represented by Performance Rights Organizations (e.g. BMI, ASCAP, SESAC in the US, PRS in the UK, SASEM in France, etc). Professional songwriters, composers and publishers affiliate with a PRO, granting permission to collect music performance royalties on their behalf. Royalty income derives from fees paid by these broadcasters, theater owners and live venues worldwide to obtain blanket licenses from the Performing Rights Organizations for their entire catalog—music of all their affiliated writers and publishers. The PROs then distribute the funds to their affiliates as royalties based on the number and types of performances. This business model has worked well since the early days of our industry and has resulted in a robust music community. As music budgets have gone down in a tough economy, more and more music creators rely on the backend royalties to stay in business.

A composition is divided into 100 percent writers and 100 percent publishers share. (But even in the work-for-hire model, the composer is supposed to retain writer's share.) When a film is distributed or broadcast, performance royalties are generated and collected on behalf  of whomever owns the writers' and publishers' rights to the music. How much income depends on the success of a film and is paid out based on the way the writers' and publishers' shares are split. For a filmmaker, this can work to your advantage and may help you interest a composer you might not otherwise be able to afford. There is room for negotiation: Do you really need to own the music by using a Work-for-Hire Agreement?  Do you even have a functioning publishing company?  If you don't, then a well negotiated Synchronization Rights Agreement and Master Use Agreement will get you what you need. Synch Rights grant you a publishing license to use the compositions in the score, and a Master Use Agreement grants you the rights to use the recorded music

There are negotiable aspects to these agreements as well: Are the music rights exclusive to this film? Is there a time limit on that exclusivity? How many years before the composer can repurpose that music, if ever?  How else is a filmmaker allowed to use the music—for ads, or different versions of the film? Or even for another project? These should all be discussed and agreed upon prior to working together. By negotiating these issues and creating a win/win, you may open up more possible choices from which to select your composer—or perhaps find a composer who wants to do your film, but might otherwise consider the budget too low. I, for one, have been able to put more money into the production value of my scores because I know there will be income down the line if I retain my rights to the music. This gives me even more incentive to work hard to contribute to your film's success.

Happy Together

As I've said, once the scoring process starts, it's important for you as a filmmaker to stay on top of what the composer is doing, so that time isn't wasted on unproductive tangents. Sometimes I write some music without picture and send it to the editing room to see if I'm on the right track. With today's midi, digital audio, video and Internet, filmmakers can get a sense of how the music is working with picture very early on, well before any recording sessions (after which, changes will be more difficult and expensive to make). I often make changes while the director is sitting next to me in my studio or even on Skype; that way we can re-shape the score together. Even though you'll be incredibly busy with other aspects of post-production, it's well worth spending time with your composer. It's worth mentioning, though, that some composers prefer to wait until the film is more defined before getting involved, while others won't even start composing until picture has locked. The composer's work style is something you want to explore before you hire someone.

The Film Comes First

What happens if you're working well with a composer but suddenly you find you hate some of the music? First of all, don't panic. Composers who work in film and TV understand that not everything is going to be what you want (even if we think it's great!). Think of your editing process and how many times you make changes before you get it right. As a filmmaker, you should foster a safe environment to discuss these matters and work them out. This is the essence of creative collaboration; there is no absolute right or wrong. There may be a really effective compromise that will serve the film, a solution that evolves from this kind of creative tension. But in the end, there must be a singular vision for a successful film, and the filmmaker has the last say. To me, nothing is worse than a director hemming and hawing, trying to find a polite way to tell me he/she doesn't thing a cue is working. Remember, you're dealing with professionals. We accept that sometimes our favorite cues get thrown out, so we're not too attached to each musical idea. The film comes first.  

All's Well That Ends Well

I've had experiences in which we've made it through the whole film, and there's still one cue that isn't cutting it. The music is due the next week and it feels like it'll never happen. But we just keep plugging away—and magically it comes together. The last time that happened, my director shed tears of joy. That made me cry. Isn't that why we all do this?

Miriam Cutler has been writing, producing and performing music for over 20 years. Her documentary credits include American Promise, Ethel, Poster Girl, Kings Point, Vito, Thin, Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, Scout's Honor, Desert of Forbidden Art, and Lost in La Mancha.  www.miriamcutler.com

SIDEBAR:  The Music Story Arc

Setting a film to music is a creative and rather instinctive process. Music expresses the emotional tone of each aspect of the story, and it's critical that composer and filmmaker are on the same page.  While there are no hard and fast rules for scoring a film, there are considerations which can inform decisions about how to utilize this powerful element. 

With some colleagues, I have been developing a customizable Excel document as a tool for improving the ability of filmmakers to explore on their own, better communicate their ideas to a composer, develop a language for working together, and keep a perspective of how the score relates to the storytelling throughout the entire film. Using basic Three Act Story Structure and Character Arc as its foundation, all musical decisions can be assessed within the context of how each cue serves the story, cue by cue, in each act, and finally in the film as a whole. The Music Story Arc is a holistic approach—the intersection of the composition of the score and the film's story structure. This perspective helps composers understand the filmmakers' vision on a deeper level and gets us closer to telling the same story. Having a one-page overview allows us to take in the relationship between the story and the music of the whole film at a glance—how much music there is and where. It's easy to determine visually if there is too much or too little, or places where the music is too fast, or bogging the film down. Or too repetitive. The detailed page for each act fleshes out the characteristics of every cue by identifying themes, emotion, intensity, instrumentation, tempo, placement and length. As much or as little of this information can feed into the Film Overview Page.

The Music Story Arc is very flexible, allowing each team to build on their own way of thinking about this process. But the main idea is to give composers and filmmakers a common point of departure and framework for discussing the music in the film. Together they can create this document and update it however they want.

As I said, first this approach can be used for analyzing and understanding the temp score—what the filmmaker likes about the temp and what isn't working can both be noted. The filmmaker can create an overview of their ideas in putting together the temp music, and this can be a foundation for discussions during spotting sessions with the composer. 

Then, as the original score evolves, either a new document, or some kind of update can be generated to help maintain an overview of how music is being used. It's very easy to get caught up in individual moments in the film, working cue by cue, and lose track of how it all fits together as a whole—especially when everyone is on deadline. Being able to see the whole film at a glance will help identify potential problems and provide a common framework from which the entire team can collaborate.  

Below is a Music Story Arc in progress for my current project, The Genius of a Place, directed by Sarah Marder/OLO Creative Farm in Italy. I started collaborating with them to create a map of the temp music, the purpose of each cue, energy/tempo, tone, any notes she might have about these cues. That was our starting point and it gave us a lot of concrete ideas to talk about. From there, the Music Story Arc continues to evolve as I am gradually replacing temp music with midi mock-ups of the original score. We're currently about halfway through the film and we already see patterns emerging. 

Once I've sketched out cues for the entire film, we'll use the document to give us a sense of how we've paced the music, how it relates to the unfolding story, plus how the musical themes play out and fit together over the course of the film. It will also serve as a handy, orderly place to share notes for cues that need to be altered before we begin recording. It prints on 11 X 17 paper and there's room on it for written notes.

My hope is that thinking about the score as a well-integrated layer of the narrative will help filmmakers build a strong, clear foundation for a fruitful, and enjoyable collaboration with their composers, enhancing their use of music as another powerful filmmaking tool. 

Special thanks to Carla Patullo and Zacarias de la Riva for their contributions to the Music Story Arc format.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This post originally appeared on the Motion Picture Editor's Guild website. It is republished here with permission from the author.

In mid-December, the International Documentary Organization (IDA) rounded out its 2013 Doc U series of educational seminars with Point of View: Editors on the Art of Storytelling. This lively discussion on the crucial role of editing in documentaries was held at Cinefamily, formerly the Silent Movie Theatre in Los Angeles, and moderated by Editors Guild member Lillian Benson, A.C.E. (Wounded Knee, Craft in America). The first African-American woman member of American Cinema Editors (ACE), she was nominated for an Emmy Award for her work on Eyes on the Prize II in 1990.

Joining Benson on the panel were Guild member Yaffa Lerea (Project Runway, Ken Burns' Baseball), Johanna Demetrakas (Crazy Wisdom: The Life and Times of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Angels in the Dust), Maya Hawke (Plimpton! Starring George Plimpton as Himself, Cave of Forgotten Dreams), and Kim Roberts, A.C.E. (Inequality for All, Last Call at the Oasis).

IDA Director of Educational Programs and Strategic Partnerships Ken Jacobson opened the program by polling the audience that filled the theatre for their professional designations. This revealed largely even numbers of documentary editors and producers, along with some writers and students.

From left, moderator Lillian Benson, Kim Roberts, Johanna Demetrakas, Yaffa Lerea and Maya Hawke.

Jacobson then introduced Benson, who said, "Everyone here on the panel came straight from the editing room, and I checked with them because documentarians always tell the truth." She went on to ask the panelists how they got into documentary editing.

"I went to the Documentary Masters Program at Stanford and got into editing afterwards," said Roberts. Noting that she has only edited documentaries, she said, "It's like being in grad school. You are always being immersed in other countries, other lives, other subjects."

Demetrakas started out as a painter. "Then I fell in love with movies and then I fell in love with a cameraman," she said. This led to work in low-budget features and eventually into editing. She continued, "Like painting, you do it alone. In the editing room, you are alone most of the time."

During the editing process of a film production class, Lerea recognized, "That's where the story is told, so that's what I wanted to do ,and I got calls to work on features." She quit work as an assistant editor on Elaine May's Ishtar (1987) to work on Voices and Visions (1988), a PBS series about American poets. Later, she moved from feature documentaries to reality TV.

"I started editing when I was 12 years old," said Hawke. Her father was a cameraman who taught her in a unique way. "We took still pictures at a zoo and then went home and put the photos in order." Only recently, after working in editing for over 15 years, she said that while editing Baltimore (to be released this year), "I realized that editing was what I wanted to do."

Benson herself earned a Fine Arts degree at the Pratt Institute in New York and became a public school art teacher. Later, a filmmaker gave her work as an intern on a documentary about a labor union and then helped her get her first couple of jobs as an assistant editor.

The panelists then treated the audience to clips from their films to demonstrate the qualities of editing special to the documentary. Describing herself as working in “issue ghetto,” Roberts shared a sequence from Jacob Kornbluth's Inequality for All (2013) which follows former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich in his efforts to spread awareness of this country's widening economic gap.

"It's a challenge to distill a really complicated topic to be really understandable, and I worked with archival footage researchers," said Roberts. She cut the film in Los Angeles with fresh, live-action material coming from Berkeley, where Reich teaches and the producer is based. The footage mounted rapidly with three or four cameras shooting each of Reich's classes and she used ScriptSync to do searches through it all.

She also worked a lot with graphics in the film. Roberts said, "I work with an assistant to temp out the graphics and the graphics person takes it to the next level. Then the assistant would put out string outs of material. I'm very assistant-dependent. My assistants do more graphics than regular assistant work." Benson added, "Graphics are important for an assistant's skill set."

Demetrakas screened a clip from a film for which she was nominated for an Emmy — Lee Hirsch's Amandla!: A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony (2002). Shot in 1994, while Nelson Mandela was running for President of South Africa, she said, "The movie showed how they overcame apartheid, but it's really about the music and the lyrics of the movement's songs. As the songs went around the country, the word of what was happening got around."

Intercutting high-contrast black-and-white photography with color, the sequence chosen recalled the prison experience of African National Congress member and freedom songwriter Vuyisile Mini, who was arrested and killed in 1964. The scene included a remarkable humanizing interview with the "gallows man" who performed the execution. Demetrakas commented, "If you don't want to demonize, you look for something inside. You have to have an attitude inside to find a way to make that the whole story."

In response, Benson said, "Part of the reason we work on docs is because we want to change the world for the better. That's part of the gig: truth-telling and making things better."

"I looked for music that was sad but I couldn't find any," Demetrakas continued. "No music that came out of this movement had defeat in it." Benson noted, "Like spirituals from American slave days… And now to the brave new world of reality."

With that, editor Lerea introduced two examples of her work to offer a striking view of the similarities and contrasts between unscripted television and documentary. The first of two clips she brought was a precisely constructed sequence developing the characters and rivalry of the fashion designers in an episode of Project Runway (2011-13). Her second clip was from Joseph Aguirre's Next Year Country (2010), a verité documentary following three farm families facing a drought in rural Montana over six years.

"Reality producers appreciate what I did in documentary and I wind up doing documentary structure for them," said Lerea. "It's hours and hours of footage of designers putting their designs together — cut down to show the various story lines of work."

The audience then viewed a harrowing sequence from Mary Posatko and Emily Topper's Baltimore, revealing continuing racial tensions underlying a murder that took place in 1972. This was panelist Hawke's first solo credit as editor.

Describing her transition from assistant to editor, Hawke said, "It comes down to love. You have to work with people who value you and whom you value. Over all the things you know — story and structure — you need to find that one other thing."

Moderator Benson screened a sequence from her current work-in-progress: Lyn Goldfarb and Alison Sotomayor's Bridging the Divide: Tom Bradley and the Politics of Race. The film chronicles Bradley's life — including his rise from the Los Angeles Police Department to his 1973 election as the city's first black mayor — intercutting contemporary interviews with archival material encompassing film, photographs and newspapers.

Addressing the issue of how much the editor contributes to the writing of a documentary, Benson said, "On Bridging the Divide and Eyes on the Prize, I had to work on historical process, so there was a factual timeline as a guide. Directors are writers with verité films, but when the directors are not there, you work with the raw material which you might write yourself as editor."

Roberts responded, "I've almost never worked with a writer. At the end of the day, sometimes the editor will get a writer's credit. You make a rough cut and then it's all about refining the structure. Unless you have a narrator, there really is no writer. It's the editor and the director together." Demetrakas stated bluntly, "The editor is the writer making the story." Trying to sum things up, Benson said, "With team efforts, it's a dilemma."

A question from the audience arose about working with first-time doc directors. Lerea replied, "You have to get to know them and get a sense of their passion and clarity about what they want to do, so you can share in that passion."Demetrakas added, "And you must have good footage."

Looking at the entire life of a documentary project, Roberts said, "There's the movie you think you're making when you're planning it, when you're shooting it and when you're actually editing it. They're not the same."

Asked about the structuring of a documentary, Benson provided a general perspective: "First and foremost, it's a story and the directors tell us what they have in their head and you take it from there. It's simple but profoundly difficult."

For specific situations when the editing process is bogged down, Demetrakas suggested, "Start somewhere in a scene that you like; where it's cutting smoothly and saying something." Hawke offered, "When I find myself just shuffling things around in the timeline, I get up and try to come up with an idea, a through-line, some kind of coherent thought that will pull it all together." Lerea agreed: "When I need a fresh approach, definitely walking away helps. I get my best ideas in the shower, in the car."

Someone from the audience asked Lerea directly about reality TV's influence on documentaries and their audiences. She responded, “Reality TV does influence documentary audiences. Docs have more life now with audiences appreciating the stories in people's lives, but I don't know if reality shows are affecting documentary filmmakers.”

With time running out, Benson introduced another clip from Amandla!, closing the program as a tribute to Nelson Mandela. It depicted a song sung to Mandela at a 1994 campaign rally hailing him as "a Solomon…a Moses." It also brought the program back to a key theme of the seminar, as expressed by the moderator: "Is this film going to make the world any better?"

Edward Landler is a filmmaker, media educator and film historian. He made I Build the Tower, the definitive feature documentary on the Watts Towers, and is currently writing a cultural history of film. He can be reached at edlandler@roadrunner.com.

Remember the time you were up until the wee hours of the morning the day before a grant deadline? The stress you endured, the pots of coffee you consumed trying to format an unwieldy proposal that just wouldn't behave. What about that time you discovered the perfect grant for your film but realized you'd missed the submission deadline...by a day?
 
As we are probably all too aware, not staying abreast of what's happening in the fundraising landscape could result in missed opportunities or unnecessarily driving yourself and your team into a panicked frenzy trying to meet a cramped deadline. How can you minimize this in the future? One idea is to create a quarterly--or even yearly--outline of grant opportunities for which you plan to apply, including deadlines. Think of it as a calendar of opportunities!

When planning your strategy, be sure to give yourself enough lead time to find out of a particular grant is right for you. It's smart to speak with a grant officer at the organization to ensure that your documentary is eligible for the grant. Many foundations have restrictions that might include geographic location, budget size or population served. Taking measure to verify eligibility will save you time and effort in the long run. This is especially the case when thinking of applying to government or state agencies since those grants tend to be pretty intensive. Again, contact a grant officer at the agency. It's well worth the conversation.

As any seasoned filmmaker or fundraising professional will tell you, start planning your fundraising strategy months in advance. To help get you started and stay in the know, we've put together a list of upcoming documentary specific grants. Maybe one or two will end up on your calendar this year!

GRANT & EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

IDA'S PARE LORENTZ DOCUMENTARY FUND
The Pare Lorentz Documentary Fund will provide annual production grants totaling $95,000 to be used in the creation of original, independent documentary films that illuminate pressing issues in the United States.  Grants will be made to up to 6 projects that tell a compelling story and focus on one of Pare Lorentz’s central concerns—the appropriate use of the natural environment, justice for all or the illumination of pressing social problems.
Deadline: Letter of Intent, March 31, 2014

CATAPULT FILM FUND
Catapult Film Fund provides development funding to documentary filmmakers who have a compelling story to tell, have secured access to their story and are ready to shoot and edit a piece for production fundraising purposes.
Opens December 16, 2013. Deadline: January 31, 2014

SUNDANCE INSTITUTE DOCUMENTARY FUND
The Sundance Institute Documentary Fund is dedicated to supporting nonfiction filmmakers worldwide in the production of cinematic documentaries with contemporary social relevance. Grants ranging from $10,000 – $50,000 are awarded in development and production/post-production categories. Grantees become eligible for year-round artist support activities of the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program including creative Documentary Labs, Fellows programs at the Sundance Creative Producing Summit and the Sundance Film Festival, Work-In-Progress screenings, and editorial and creative support.
Deadline: February 4, 2014

GUCCI TRIBECA DOCUMENTARY FUND
Provides finishing funds to feature-length documentaries which highlight and humanize issues of social importance from around the world. For films, based anywhere, that are in production or post-production with the intended premiere exhibition. Grants range from $10,000 to $25,000.
Opens December 5, 2013. Deadline: February 5, 2014

NALAC FUND FOR THE ARTS (NFA)
The NFA is a national grant program open to US-based Latino working artists, ensembles and Latino arts organizations that demonstrate artistic excellence in pursuit of social justice through the arts. Grants range from $5,000 to $15,000.
Deadline: February 6, 2014

FLEDGLING FUND
Supports innovative media projects at an advanced stage, designed to help ignite social change. Seek films that create a specific understanding of social problems and inspiring concrete action. Seek well-structured and creative community engagement initiatives to move people from awareness to action.
Deadline: February 7, 2014

OPEN MEADOWS FOUNDATION
Open Meadows Foundation is a grant-making organization for projects that are led by and benefit women and girls, and that reflect the diversity of the community served by the project in both its leadership and organization. Open Meadows Foundation funds projects in the U.S. and abroad that are run by and for women and girls.
Deadline: February 15, 2014

FILM INDEPENDENT LAB
2014 Fast Track: Fast Track is a film financing market that takes place during the Los Angeles Film Festival designed to help narrative and documentary filmmakers move their current projects forward.
Deadline: February 24, 2014

WORLD CINEMA FUND
The World Cinema Fund works to develop and support cinema in regions with a weak film infrastructure, while fostering cultural diversity in German cinemas. The World Cinema Fund supports films,  either in production or distribution, that could not be made without additional funding: films that stand out with an unconventional aesthetic approach, that tell powerful stories and transmit an authentic image of their cultural roots.
Production Grant Deadline: February 27, 2014
Distribution Grant Deadline: Ongoing

CREATIVE CAPITAL
Creative Capital is one of the only national nonprofit organizations that awards grants to individual artists through an open application process. They are a premier provider of risk capital in the arts, taking chances to support ideas that are bold, innovative and genre-stretching. To be eligible, you must be a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident, at least 25 years old, a working artist with at least five years professional experience and not a full-time student. Letter of Inquiry Form will open on February 3, 2014 for applications in Film/Video and Visual Arts.
Deadline: February 28th, 2014

VISION MAKER MEDIA – PUBLIC MEDIA CONTENT FUND
Vision Maker Media (part of U.S. public television) is looking for compelling Native American stories that appeal to broad audiences. We're particularly looking for stories that advance CPB's initiatives--The American Graduate, and Women & Girls Lead. Projects in any phase of production are eligible to apply for funding with Vision Maker Media. Awards for research and development range from $5,000 to $20,000; awards for production or completion can be up to $100,000; and, new media awards range from $5,000 to $20,000.
Deadline: March 10, 2014

PACIFIC PIONEER FUND
The Pacific Pioneer Fund supports emerging documentary filmmakers who have demonstrated a commitment to the craft of making documentaries for at least several years—but no more than ten. Limited to organizations anywhere in the US, certified by the IRS as "public charities", which undertake to supervise any project for which individuals receive funds, and to control the selection of individual recipients of funds.
Deadline: May 1, 2014

GRANTS WITH ROLLING DEADLINES

BRITDOC
BRITDOC funds international and region specific documentary films through various awards and grant opportunties. Be sure to review each one to see if you are eligible:

• PUMA Catalyst Awards
• Channel 4 BRITDOC Fund
• Bertha BRITDOC Fund for Journalism and the Bertha BRITDOC Connect Fund

Tonight at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, the International Documentary Association announced plans for the Documentary Film Conference 2014. Co-presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the conference will take place October 2 through 4 in Los Angeles. Under this inaugural year’s banner "Getting Real", the Documentary Film Conference 2014 is a 3-day national conference that will serve as a major platform for critical discourse on the most pressing issues affecting the documentary film community.

With major focus centered on the areas of art, impact, and career, the Documentary Film Conference seeks to answer questions important to those involved in the world of documentary film: What will the documentary form look like in the future? Can my film change the world? Does it have to? How can we create a sustainable environment for documentary filmmakers?

The Conference will also include an evening retrospective of documentary film classics that will be linked to the issues discussed during the day's events.

"This conference is first and foremost an opportunity for filmmakersto participate in a discussion of critical issues affecting the documentary film community," says IDA Executive Director Michael Lumpkin. That’s why we need to hear from you! We want to know what you think are the most critical issues facing our community. We've crafted a brief survey to help gather your thoughts and share your input. Weigh in with your opinion today and have your voice heard at the Documentary Film Conference 2014 in October!

Funding for this conference was provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, Catapult Film Fund, and the Albert and Trudy Kallis Foundation.

Learn more about the conference

And away we go!

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced the Academy Award® nominees for Best Documentary Feature and Best Documentary Short Subject this morning. The Academy Awards will be presented Sunday, March 2.

Here's the lineup:

Best Documentary Feature

The Act of Killing—Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen
LEARN MORE: The Art of 'Killing': How Much Truth Comes from the Lie that Tells the Truth?

Cutie and the Boxer —Zachary Heinzerling and Lydia Dean Pilcher
LEARN MORE: Meet the IDA Awards Honorees: Zachary Heinzerling

Dirty Wars  —Richard Rowley and Jeremy Scahill
WATCH: Dirty Wars Director Richard Rowley Explains How to Tell a Global Story Through One Journalist

The Square—Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer
WATCH: Actor Khalid Abdalla Speaks About Collecting Footage from Tahrir Square

20 Feet from Stardom—Morgan Neville, Gil Friesen and Caitrin Rogers
LEARN MORE: Unsung Heroes: Twenty Feet from Stardom Hails the Singers behind the Hits

Best Documentary Short Subject

CaveDigger—Jeffrey Karoff

Facing Fear —Jason Cohen

Karama Has No Walls —Sara Ishaq

The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life—Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed

Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall—Edgar Barens
This film was a part of IDA's Fiscal Sponsorship Program. Learn more

Save the date! You can see all the Oscar-nominated docs at IDA's annual DocuDay of on Saturday, March 1. Stay tuned for more details.