OT- Best way to tell a story in a documentary

Does anyone know what format tends to be more popular and successful when narrating a documentory?
1. Having the person who interviews the subject do VO and do on camera narratives
2. Have only the subjects interviews themselves guide the documentary along
3. Never meeting the person asking the questions and having a VO be the guide to each topic.

3 is the worst I think. I and 2 each has it's place. We used to call number 2 Petaks, named after a Nightline editor. I think they can work the best in the right circumstances, but it requires the material and subjects who can carry the story. If they can't you need 1.

All the best,

Tom

There is no best way because each story requires what works best for that story.

Personally I prefer all natural sound, all in their own words types of documentaries. But there are some stories, like the global health docs we're doing, that do require some narration to explain elements in a concise, clear way to the audience.

My least favorite documentaries are the ones that use wall to wall narration.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
biscardicreative.com

Agreed. The worst is relying on VOs as a crutch which happens too often, but it really depends on the story, and whether the subjects can carry the story both in content as well as in delivery.



www.strypesinpost.com

Yup, I concur with both Walter and Gerard. Find the right voice for the show, and always see if the interviews can carry it. The best way to discover this: transcription and paper cuts, for anything more than a few interviews.

- Loren

Today's FCP 7 keytip:
Temporarily mix down audio tracks with Command-Option - R !

Your Final Cut Studio KeyGuide? Power Pack
with FCP7 KeyGuide --
now available at KeyGuide Central.
www.neotrondesign.com

I think, and it's only me, that two conditions have to be fulfilled before starting the long journey of achieving a documentary.

- this story has to told.

- I am the one who must tell it.


How you tell it ? There is no recipe my friend.

Great imput everyone!
I always like the idea of #2. Could you imagine how amazing it would have been to have Abe Lincoln guide us through his own bio? I guess they only way #3 would work is if it was Morgan Freeman

Think of the best stories you've watched/read and dissect what drew you in.

1 - show, don't tell
2 - sound and pictures rule -- in print - the author lets you see and discover for yourself
3 - soundbites that convey emotion

We typically research the subject - pre-interview folks by phone and have at least a rough idea of the elements we'll need before heading out.

Then we throw in the key success ingredient.

** an outstanding DP and sound guy/woman ***

They will make or break your documentary with extraordinary shots, great natural sound and elements you as the producer might miss or never imagine.

You need a photographer who listens and a sound guy who keeps their eyes open for that piece of magic that will grab the viewer and make them experience the story rather than simply watch it.

Then -- log every inch of what you've captured - lay it out and figure out the puzzle.

There's no one way to piece it together - but if your team's done it's work, you'll quickly find the best first shot and sound - the best supporting soundbites - the thread that, like any great film or book, has a compelling beginning middle and end.

Wow brilliant Andy, thank you!
I really wish you were here for some of the production meetings.

Always available for hire! Take my email from my profile and feel free to contact me off line. Best Andy

What Andy said, but adding to it:

If you have many many interviews, TRANSCRIBE your interviews, run them once against picture to annotate timecode start, camera comp, audio issues, then take a break from the NLE and do a harvest on "paper" first. Word has very nice highlighting features.

Then you know you've chosen the best thoughts and ideas. Extract them from your rushes and assemble them and see what it does for you, and determine what is needed to flesh out the "radio cut" with image which enhances audio-- and lose the audio if not needed.

All my best shows came from transcript paper cuts.

And nowadays, Indians do it for less, at places like:

Datalyst

- Loren

Today's FCP 7 keytip:
Temporarily mix down audio tracks with Command-Option - R !

Your Final Cut Studio KeyGuide? Power Pack
with FCP7 KeyGuide --
now available at KeyGuide Central.
www.neotrondesign.com

We've all seen documentaries that have used each of these techniques succeed and fail. #1 (having the interviewer do the narration) can work well if your interviewer is a good narrator. Some excellent interviewers are excellent narrators and others are decidedly not.

Many docs try to tell the story without a narrator, and get into big trouble trying to find ways to make the story clear. But we've also seen films where the narrator simply got in the way of the story.

A good narrator (Morgan Freeman, Donald Sutherland) can add a bit of magic to your film, provided the narrator has a good narration script. Above all, the narrator needs to be able to communicate - to establish a connection with the audience. - That can be a really good actor, a pro voiceover artist, or the subject or subjects of the program, provided they can express passion towards the subject. Whoever you use to provide narration needs to be able to convey more than just facts - emotion needs to be communicated as well.

Travis - www.DocumentaryNarration.com

Travis
VoiceOver Guy and Entertainment Technology Enthusiast
[www.VOTalent.com]

There are some DP mistakes in this but here is a mini-doc i did like 5 or so years ago in 1/4 SD with NO BUDGET. It was a part of a series. Its also one of the most viewed videos i have.

People say its interesting but its not my personal favorite.





""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"