Donaldson Correctional Facility is situated in the Alabama countryside southwest of Birmingham. 1,500 men, considered the state’s most dangerous prisoners, live behind high security towers and a double row of barbed and electrical wire fences.

Within this dark environment, a spark was ignited. A growing network of men had been gathering to meditate on a regular basis. Intrigued by this, Jenny Phillips, cultural anthropologist and psychotherapist, first visited Donaldson Correctional Facility in the fall of 1999. She planned to observe the meditation classes facilitated by inmates and to interview the inmate meditators about their lives as prisoners.

As she met with the men, one by one in the privacy of an office, she was drawn in by their openness and willingness to talk freely about themselves. High levels of apprehension, distraction and danger characterize their lives as prisoners. Even though many of these men will never be released from prison, they were thirsty for meaningful social and emotional change. What she heard there was difficult to forget. It left her wondering if it were possible to live with a sense of inner peace and freedom within this harsh prison environment.

As a meditator herself, Jenny knew that meditation directly addresses the issue of personal suffering, and offers a simple yet powerful means for obtaining relief. But were these ancient ideas, as described in the teachings of the Buddha 2600 years ago, now relevant? Could the framework of this approach to suffering be translated into some basic principles of treatment that would be applicable to 21st century North American prisoners?

The Vipassana teachers, Bruce and Jonathan, prepare to live and meditate with the inmates. Teachers and inmates, men from culturally different worlds, are locked together in a dramatically revealing process. This is, most likely, the first time non-inmates have ever lived among inmates inside a prison.

Seated on meditation mats on a red rug donated by the Warden, wrapped in navy blue blankets, the men sit still in silence as they journey inside. Their days are punctuated by a strict daily routine of eating, sleeping and meditating.

After the Vipassana retreat, the men tell their tales of pain and self-discovery. The spiritual warriors of Donaldson Correctional Facility discuss their collective experiences and vow to try to maintain their nascent sense of solidarity. In the nameless, faceless anonymity of prison life, where daily life is organized around social control and punishment, Vipassana has offered an alternative social identity based on brotherhood and spiritual development.

The stories of the men at Donaldson Correctional Facility are those of the unseen, unheard, and underserved. This film shines a spotlight upon society’s outcasts and untouchables as we witness them on their Odyssean journey into their misery to emerge with a sense of peace and purpose.Were these prisoners, many of them survivors of personal trauma, even capable of withstanding the emotionally and physically demanding experience of a Vipassana program requiring over 100 hours of silent meditation?

The Dhamma Brothers tells a dramatic story of human potential and transformation as it closely follows and documents the stories of a group of prisoners as they enter into this arduous program. It will challenge assumptions about the very nature of prisons as places of punishment rather than rehabilitation. Despite the difficulty in obtaining permission to film inside a prison, the Alabama Department of Corrections allowed a film crew to document, not only the Vipassana program, but many other scenes and settings revealing the daily lives of prisoners and staff.

Before the Vipassana retreat, the men openly express fear and trepidation, wondering what they will find when they look deeply within and face the consequences of past actions and trauma. They are shown packing their scant belongings and preparing for the journey inside, a very short walk down the prison corridor but a sea change in their lives as prisoners. We observe the transformation of the prison gym, a frequent site for violent battles among inmates, into a monastery, a separate, restricted place in which the inmate students can eat, sleep, and meditate in total seclusion from the rest of prison society.

Every ”Third Thursdays” of the month are held at Vegan Village Cafe located at 4061 W. Pico Blvd. (Just east of Crenshaw.) FREE off-street parking is available in the rear. For more info contact the BADWest info line: (213) 534-6635

We  encourage attendees to support Vegan Village by trying their menu of healthy food and beverages. Vegan Village, a pillar in the community, shares our vision through promoting health and culture. Parking is free in the rear of the building.

Kimberley Browning of Hollywood Shorts will lead a workshop on the Documentary Short marketplace.

We will discuss the viability of the short documentary.  The Short documentary can be very beneficial along a filmmakers path. Kimberley will screen some of her favorite short documentaries.

HOLLYWOOD SHORTS is a Monthly Screenings celebrating the outstanding achievements in short filmmaking and animation from both U.S. and international directors and their creative teams.  Over 300 short and animated films are programmed year round.  HOLLYWOOD SHORTS launched in October 1998 at a music venue on the westside called THE JOINT.  The overflowing crowd packed the house, and filled the sidewalk outside watching films by Paula Goldberg, Mark Kelly, Frank Tota, and animation by Joe Pearson.  Since that night, HOLLYWOOD SHORTS quickly became one of the most popular short film series in Los Angeles.

Their annual Spotlight  Screenings began as part of our monthly series, and have grown to become their own stand alone events.  The annual and bi-annual festivals are dedicated to showcase specific groups of filmmakers we believe deserve an opportunity to step into the forefront to share their work with the film and television community.

Their SPOTLIGHT events include:

FEB:  African American Filmmakers Celebration at The American Cinematheque

SPRING:  Women Filmmakers Shortsfest

FALL:  Animation Shortsfest

Kimberley Browning is the founder of Hollywood Shorts Filmfest and Emerging Filmmaker’s Program. Launched in 1998, Hollywood Shorts presents regular industry short film screenings in Los Angeles, and serves as a short film advocacy and programming consultant for film festivals and micro cinemas. In 2000, Hollywood Shorts began short film production arm, producing and consulting on over 30 short films. Kimberley also oversees the Emerging Filmmaker’s Program, which incubates feature film projects from select filmmakers from the Hollywood Shorts community. She is a regular panelist & moderator on indie filmmaking circuit.

Kimberley is a filmmaker and producer, developing a slate of feature films under her Griffith Place Films banner. Projects include including ‘Grimesland’ written by Chad Brown, and ‘Greyhounds’ written by veteran actor Kelly Perine and Dan Wilson.  Kimberley serves as the Chair of the Cinematic Arts nominating committee for YoungARTS, the evaluating procedure for the US Presidential Scholars of the Arts.

For more on Hollywood Shorts visit www.hollywoodshorts.com

WGA = Writer’s Guild West

7000 West Third Street

Los Angeles, CA 90048

(2nd Floor Conference Room)

REWARDS CINEMA PRESENTS

FILM HU$TLE

Written and Directed

by

Daron Fordham

Produced by Raymond Forchion

FILM HU$TLE explores all facets of setting up a successful campaign to market and sell an indie feature above and beyond the distribution deal.  Say’s Fordham, “Your movie is a product. You’ve got to think outside the box.  The deal is just the beginning.”   According to producer Forchion, ” “Hustle’s” a primer for everyone with a movie to sell.  I wish I had seen this before I made my first film. Even the studios could learn a thing or two here. Without this information, you are in danger of making the world’s most expensive home movie.”   In addition to the filmmaker team, the movie includes words of wisdom from Oscar nominated actress Sally Kirkland and noted actor/director Bill Duke, successful filmmakers in their own right, plus interviews with a host of film fans from all over the country.

Every ”Third Thursdays” of the month are held at Vegan Village Cafe located at 4061 W. Pico Blvd. (Just east of Crenshaw.) FREE off-street parking is available in the rear. For more info contact the BADWest info line: (213) 534-6635

We  encourage attendees to support Vegan Village by trying their menu of healthy food and beverages. Vegan Village, a pillar in the community, shares our vision through promoting health and culture. Parking is free in the rear of the building.

Sweet Crude is the story of Nigeria’s Niger Delta – a story that’s never been captured in a feature-length film. Filmmaker Sandi Cioffi

Beginning with the filmmaker’s initial trip to document the building of a library in a remote village, Sweet Crude is a journey of multilayered revelation and ever-deepening questions. It’s about survival, corruption, greed and armed resistance. It’s about one place in one moment, with themes that echo many places throughout history. Sweet Crude shows the humanity behind the statistics, events and highly sensationalized media portrayal of the region. Set against a stunning backdrop of Niger Delta footage, the film gives voice to the region’s complex mix of stakeholders and invites the audience to learn the deeper story.

The issues are local and human, yet they have far-reaching political, environmental and economic implications. It’s a powder-keg situation that affects the daily lives and futures of the people who live there. Left unchecked, its consequences will be felt around the globe. Yet barely anyone outside the Delta knows what’s really happening.

Why do we care enough to make this movie? Because raising awareness just might be the tipping point it takes to head off civil war. Because the kids of the Delta deserve a future. Because what happens in Nigeria ripples through African political stability and global economic markets. Because Nigeria produces more than 10 percent of the U.S. oil supply. Ultimately, the events unfolding in the Niger Delta affect us all.

It will take a vigilant world community to advocate for nonviolent political solutions. With this independent documentary, we take a stand for a more truthful conversation, with the hope that a more educated public will hold governments and big oil accountable to peaceful and just resolution.  

Every ”Third Thursdays” of the month are held at Vegan Village Cafe located at 4061 W. Pico Blvd. (Just east of Crenshaw.) FREE off-street parking is available in the rear. For more info contact the BADWest info line: (213) 534-6635

We  encourage attendees to support Vegan Village by trying their menu of healthy food and beverages. Vegan Village, a pillar in the community, shares our vision through promoting health and culture. Parking is free in the rear of the building.


In 1968, Orangeburg was a typical Southern town still clinging to its Jim Crow traditions. Although home to two black colleges and a majority black population, economic and political power remained exclusively in the hands of whites. Growing black resentment and white fear provided the kindling; the spark came when a black Vietnam War veteran was denied access to a nearby bowling alley, one of the last segregated facilities in town. Three hundred protestors from South Carolina State College and Claflin University converged on the alley in a non-violent demonstration. A melee with the police ensued during which police beat two female students; the incensed students then smashed the windows of white-owned businesses along the route back to campus. With scenes of the destruction in Detroit and Newark fresh in their minds, Orangeburg’s white residents, businessmen and city officials feared urban terrorists were now in Orangeburg. The Governor sent in the state police and National Guard.

By the late evening of February 8th, army tanks and over 100 heavily armed law enforcement officers had cordoned off the campus; 450 more had been stationed downtown. About 200 students milled around a bonfire on S.C. State’s campus; a fire truck with armed escort was sent in. Without warning the crackle of shotgun fire shattered the cold night air. It lasted less than ten seconds. When it was over, twenty-eight students lay on State’s campus with multiple buckshot wounds; three others had been killed. Almost all were shot in the back or side. Students and police vividly describe what they experienced that night.

In Orangeburg, police fingered Cleveland Sellers as the inevitable ‘outside agitator’ who, they claimed, had incited the students. Twenty-three years old, he had returned home, leaving his position as Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) program director, to organize black consciousness groups on South Carolina campuses. Sellers had already attracted the attention of law enforcement officials as a friend of SNCC head Stokely Carmichael, who had frightened many Americans with his call for ‘Black Power.’ Carmichael’s ideas articulated the Movement’s shift from a focus on integration to one of gaining political and economic power within the black community. South Carolina officials therefore saw Sellers as a direct challenge to their power. Wounded in the Massacre, Sellers was arrested at the hospital and charged with ‘inciting to riot.’ Though students made clear he was only minimally involved with their demonstrations, Sellers was tried and sentenced to one year of hard labor. He was finally pardoned 23 years after the incident. The U.S. Justice Department charged the nine police officers who admitted shooting that night with abuse of power. However, neither of two South Carolina juries would uphold the charges.

The Orangeburg Massacre has been excluded from most histories of the Civil Rights Movement. But forty years later, some remember the tragedy as if it happened only yesterday. The film interviews the most important participants on both sides of the tragedy, some of whom speak for the first time about the Massacre. The survivors are still visibly traumatized by that night, while the Governor and one of the accused policemen remain convinced they had no other choice. Two prominent Southern white journalists, Jack Bass and Jack Nelson, authors of The Orangeburg Massacre and historical consultants to the film, discuss their revealing, independent investigation. At an historic conference about South Carolina’s Civil Rights Movement, white officials try to evade discussion of the Massacre, arguing that an investigation isn’t warranted because ‘it is time to move forward.’ However, African Americans insist that true reconciliation cannot begin without an investigation and report that finally sheds light on the many unanswered questions. Cleveland Sellers, now president of Voorhees, a historically black college in South Carolina, and his son, Bakari, at 21 the youngest state legislator in South Carolina history, call on us to remember those slain in Orangeburg with the other Civil Rights martyrs. With a resonance that carries us far beyond the tragedy itself, the film is a powerful antidote to historical amnesia.

Scarred Justice: The Orangerburg Massacre 1968 is a co-production of Northern Light Productions, the Independent Television Service (ITVS) and the National Black Programming Consortium, with funds provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Sally Jo Fifer Executive Producer for ITVS.

_______________________________________________________

Every ”Third Thursdays” of the month are held at Vegan Village Cafe located at 4061 W. Pico Blvd. (Just east of Crenshaw.) FREE off-street parking is available in the rear. For more info contact the BADWest info line: (213) 534-6635

We  encourage attendees to support Vegan Village by trying their menu of healthy food and beverages. Vegan Village, a pillar in the community, shares our vision through promoting health and culture. Parking is free in the rear of the building.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with BADWest Black Association of Documentary Filmmakers West, feel free to visit the About page and read our mission statement.

For BADWest members as well as people with an interest in documentary film making in general, and BADWest in particular, we hope that this site will become a useful resource, news and information center for your film endeavors. With that in mind, know that this site is made for the membership by the membership and we strongly encourage your participation and contributions.

The First Step Is To Register

It’s really easy and once approved, you will be able to join in the discussions and perhaps post your contributions as well.

CLICK HERE to register.

Mini Blogging Beginners Tutorial Soon To Come..

We’ll soon have a page or post up giving you the bare basics about wordpress blogging and how to post on this blog. We’ll link to it from here.

Is there anything you’d like us to talk about?
We become better when you make comments. So help us help you.

Black Association Of Documentary Filmmakers West

‘DAY OF BLACK DOCS’
The Black Association of Documentary Filmmakers and the “Education as a Civil Right” Committee invite you to a “Day of Black Docs” on July 24, 2010 at the
American Film Institute from 11am to 4pm

All Day Event Tickets Only $12

Food for purchase will be available.
FREE PARKING
*****
Visit http://www.DayOfBlackDocs.org
For Tickets and Information.
Or call 213/534-6635.

Always Learning more about BADWest at:  http://www.BadWest.org

Film Style Look

The question I always ask my students is, are you taking your video camera and filming (you don’t have film in a video camera), or are you videotaping?

It seems that the term “filming” is now the generic term for shooting with a non-film camera. It is kind of like the number “zero.” I watched a commercial the other day and the phone number to call was laced across the bottom of the screen with two zeros in it.  The voiceover announcer used the letter “O” to describe the numeral zero. It is actually easier to say; it’s only one syllable.

So today, things that were once tried and true are now open to new interpretation.

Today you can make a film with a video camera. There are so many out there today that that it makes it easy to get one. In 2010, if you look on Craigslist, people looking for videographers are asking them to show up with  HD cameras, and asking what experience you have as of last Thursday.

Light it Like a Film Shoot

Now back to the subject at hand. You should all know that when a videographer brings a high end HD camera to shoot, he brings a light with it. When you bring your low end Pro-sumer camera to shoot, why won’t you bring a light with it? That is the first step in trying to make your video look like film, or look less like video.

The best lighting for you to think about is using three lights and making a four-point lighting scheme. Ah, how do you get to four from three? Use a bounce, and that is your fourth source of light. Now, when you are on a budget, you may only have one light. If that is what you have, then so be it. Having a light on your subject will always enhance the look of your interview, and there should not be any tip-off that this is a low quality production. Remember, a film shoot may not do this style of lighting; this is for interviewing.

24p

A film camera shoots in 24 frames per-second and this is what a lot of us have grown up watching in the movies and on television. This is what are our eyes are used to seeing. Video is shot at 30 frames (actually 29.97 frames) per-second and I guess you know that. So today even low end cameras will allow you to shoot at 24 frames, progressive. That is like one solid frame of picture, similar to one on a strip of film.

Video Like Film

Filters

These are round glass-like items that you physically screw on to the front of your lens, according to its size. Think of them like shades for your eyes, where the light that comes into your eyes is altered. These are to help you get your film look even more like film. You should have a plain glass one to protect your camera lens;. if something flies at your lens, it is protected. Replacing the filter is a lot cheaper than replacing the lens. Tiffen has a “film look” kit of filters that you can use. There are others, but that one comes to mind.

Shutter Speed 1/48

Your camera has a shutter speed dial. This is when you need to read your camera manual. If you set up your dial on the camera or make adjustments in the menu to 1/48, then you may be on your way to getting that film-style look for your shoot. Experiment with settings if you want. If you are going to shoot action stuff or moving fast stuff, then you need to watch out for “Judder.” Check out YouTube or Google for more instructions on this topic; just search for “make your video look like film.”

Adapters

You can buy film adapters for your video lens to help give you that out-of-focus look behind the person like a close-up in the movies. These can be a little costly.

Another cheap way is to go on a “long lens.” That is a term one hears working around movie sets. The idea is to take your video camera and tripod (you will need a tripod) and get as far away from your subject as possible and then zoom in to them. Be careful about camera movements. Practice, practice, practice, and if you’re lucky, you may notice that the background is out of focus. Neat huh?

Post Productions

In the editing room with your edited footage you have another chance at adding another type of filter to your video. This is a digital filter.

You can get software that you add to your editing software, that will help you achieve the “Film Look.” You can get 30 filters or more to give you different film looks, as each filter may emulate the look of certain film stock that people make movies with. Some will pull out certain colors from your video, or give it that old film look with the scratches, or highlight a certain color so you get that same look of your favorite film.

Remember that if you apply a filter to just 30 seconds of video in your editing program, it can take up to five minutes or more to render it out for you. The longer the video, the longer it will take. The faster computer you have, the better.

There’s a lot of information out there to search for, if you need more clarification on any of the topics above. This is just to give you a sense of items available to you. I hope you enjoy this brief entry into making your video look like film. If you have any questions, just drop me a line.

Andre Campbell

139 West Prods.

So what do you have for us?

Coming up this Wednesday,  “June 2nd ,”  BADWest will have a “Show 10 – Talk 10″ session, running from 7- 9 pm,  where filmmakers can show up to 10 minutes of their work-in-progress, then talk on it for ten minutes.  This is an opportunity for those wishing to get constructive feedback and advice in developing their work.

This is an opportunity for you the Documentary maker to show us your doc, and you get ten minutes to talk about it with BADWest.

Now, this can be a work-in-progress or a finished piece. We’ll leave that up to you. Bring your documentary on DVD, not DVD-rom, as we will not be using a computer to show it, but a DVD player attached to a monitor.

All you have to do is come to our monthly meetings at the Writers Guild of America West in Los Angeles on the day when we’re offering the “Show 10 – Talk 10″ discussion. One of the best ways to know when it’s occurring is to get on our Email-Newsletter list. It’s a great list that won’t be sold to anybody.

You’ll get information about documentary filmmaking, and what’s coming up for BADWest when they meet. With all the events planned, 2010 looks like a great year for all things documentary.

“Show 10 -  Talk 10″ will be held during the BADWest selected monthly meeting at:

Writers Guild of America West

7000 Third St.  (near Fairfax)

2^nd floor

Los Angeles

If you’re interested in participating in this “Show 10 – Talk 10″ session, call  BADWest (213) 534-6635  to leave your name and number. Be prepared to show your work on the dvd format.

Location: WGA 7000 West 3rd St (at Fairfax) Los Angeles, CA 90048

Cost: Free Admission & Free Underground Parking at the back of the building.

Is there anything you’d like us to talk about?
We become better when you make comments. So help us help you.

The first step in making a documentary film is developing the idea, right?  Wrong.  Finding and promoting your work to an audience is usually your last order of business as well as the very last line in the budget, when your film might better be served if you find the audience first.

This very important workshop will help you re-think this process of developing the audience for your work first, before you spend one dime or shoot one frame.

Presented by Marcella MarcyDe Veaux, President and CEO, DVG Communications,
a boutique public relations agency specializing in developing audiences of color for entertainment companies.   $5.00 admission – Free for BADWest members   RSVP to BADWest (213) 534-6635

Kickstarter.com

Post your film’s trailer and set a goal of monies to raise and an end date.  Your friends, family and hopefully their friends will sign on and pledge.  If you don’t meet the goal by the due date, kickstarter keeps the funds.  Consider it motivation.

IndieGoGo.com

“Let those who love your idea the most get behind you early.”  Here you keep all the money you raise regardless of meeting the goal.  Also, here you’re awarded a 5% bonus for every dollar you raise if you meet your goal.

It’s common for filmmakers to combine these online methods with traditional fund raising from investors and grant funding.  Use everything in your arsenal!

Mine is the poignant and powerful story of pet owners separated from their animals during Hurricane Katrina, and of their struggles to find and bring their beloved companions home. A meditation on the essential bond between humans and animals, Mine is an equally compelling story of race and class, and the power of compassion in contemporary America. Directed by Geralyn Pezanoski.

When Hurricane Katrina hit the Louisiana coast in August 2005, no one could fathom the tremendous damage the storm would create. Many who evacuated thought it would blow over quickly, and they would soon return home to resume their lives. But over the following days, millions of Americans watched in disbelief as disturbing images of people trapped on rooftops above the flood waters appeared on television. Thousands more were marooned in the Superdome without food in sweltering heat, while others were relocated to faraway cities, with no idea when they would be allowed to return home — if they had a home to return to.

Filmmaker Geralyn Pezanoski was also watching events unfold, profoundly affected by not only the human catastrophe, but by the suffering of animals separated from their owners. When she heard about rescue efforts being carried out by animal lovers from across the country and the world, she decided to go to New Orleans to document this incredible undertaking.

During the ensuing six weeks she filmed dozens of volunteers and some of the thousands of animals they rescued. She subsequently saw many of these animals loaded onto trucks and planes and sent to shelters across the country, their fates uncertain.

As the weeks went by, an increasing number of residents returned to New Orleans to rebuild their lives. Some returned to homes that were completely destroyed, their pets gone—adopted out to new loving families and given new names. For many who had lost everything, the search for a pet became a desperate attempt to find the one thing left in the world that belonged to them.

Through the stories of the original owners, the foster families and the animal advocates in the film, Mine reveals the resilience of the human spirit. From Malvin Cavalier, who had to leave his dog behind when he sought shelter in the Superdome, to Gloria Richardson, who refused to evacuate without her Black Lab, but was then forcibly separated by authorities, the owners inMine refused to give up searching for their companions, and many are reunited with their pets.

Set in a post-Katrina landscape of poverty, loss and moral uncertainty, Mine presents the complexity of an intensely emotional situation and raises questions for which there are no simple answers: Why weren’t people allowed to evacute with their animals? Once the rescued animals were adopted into new homes, who had the authority to decide whether they should be returned to their previous owners? Why were original owners running into resistance in their efforts to reclaim their pets?

When two families love the same pet, conflicts inevitably arise over who is the rightful “owner” and what is right for the animal. At the center of this tension are pets that are loved like family, but by law are considered property. The heart of the matter is this: What is in the best interest of the animals and who has the right to decide?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Every ”Third Thursdays” of the month are held at Vegan Village Cafe located at 4061 W. Pico Blvd. (Just east of Crenshaw.) FREE off-street parking is available in the rear. For more info contact the BADWest info line: (213) 534-6635

We  encourage attendees to support Vegan Village by trying their menu of healthy food and beverages. Vegan Village, a pillar in the community, shares our vision through promoting health and culture. Parking is free in the rear of the building.

After more than a decade in a refugee camp in Kenya, to which they had fled to escape the civil wars tearing apart the Horn of Africa, two Somali Bantu families are stunned to learn in early 2004 that they will finally be allowed to immigrate to America. The resettlement plan began under Clinton in 1999, was interrupted by September 11th, and began again late in 2003. The families are, in a Somali Bantu expression, grateful recipients of bish-bish, which translates literally as “splash-splash,” indicating the first rains after a long drought (Rain in a Dry Land) and, by extension, resettlement in America. In a world teeming with desperate refugees, where barren camps like the U.N.-supported Kakuma in Kenya become permanent rather than temporary fixtures on troubled borders, a ticket to the United States may be the ultimate bish-bish.

Rain in a Dry Land chronicles, in their own poetic words, the first 18 months of the American lives of Arbai Barre Abdi and her children and Aden Edow and Madina Ali Yunye and their children. Beginning with “cultural orientation” classes in Kenya, where they are introduced to such novelties as electric appliances and the prospect of living in high-rise apartment buildings, the film follows the Muslim families on divergent yet parallel paths as they learn that the streets in America are definitely not paved with gold, especially for poor immigrants. The families’ sponsors—Jewish Family Services in Springfield, Massachusetts, and World Relief in Atlanta, have pledged six months of support, which gives the families a daunting learning curve to take themselves from the 19th century to the 21st.

The film measures the distance from an African refugee camp to an American city and asks what it means to be a refugee in today’s “global village,” providing answers in the stories of two families whose response to 21st-century culture shock presents an uncommon portrait of human persistence in the face of social disorder and change.

The journeys of these Bantu families actually began two centuries ago, when their ancestors arrived in Somalia as slaves. African rather than Arab, Somali Bantus lived among the Somalis as a despised minority. They were relegated to the meanest labor, while being excluded from education, politics and mixing with the dominant Somali clans. When civil war broke out in 1991, various armed factions mercilessly attacked the largely agricultural—and largely defenseless—Bantu. Madina Yunye, for one, saw her mother gunned down before she herself was gang raped in front of her children. She and thousands of others fled to Kenya, where history might have finally orphaned them.

Frames ‘R Us

You have your camera setup on a tripod, you may have lights pointing at a chair or couch and your tape is queued up and ready to go. What’s next? You bring in the person you are going to interview for your amazing fist time documentary. Or you’ve done several and you’re still feeling your way around your shooting style.

How close do you zoom into your interviewee? I hope you have done your homework and have watched a bunch of TV show documentaries, and have been looking at the styles they have used, and writing down what you think you like about them.

If you are producing and or directing your own documentary film or video, then you need to know what you are going to want. Also, if you hire or get somebody to work for free, then you need to know what his idea of a close-up is in comparison to what you think a close-up should be.

Many producers/directors have come home to look at their videos, and were not a happy camper with the way it was shot.

It is a good idea to get a reel (Samples of work.) of your shooter. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, especially if you are paying for his work. Sit down together and map out what you have in mind. You should also talk about B-roll (Non-interview shots of things associated with the interview like pictures, or people doing things, etc.) So plan your shoot.

What makes the best framing with your video camera? This framing eventually becomes esthetic and your style. But to start off there are some rules, but they are not written in stone today. Starting with them gives you a nice place to go from and the sky is the limit or maybe the roof for now.

The Rule of Thirds

The rule states that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections.

Wow, what the heck does that mean? It means you draw a tick-tack-toe (imaginary) drawing on your viewfinder or monitor. The idea is that the person’s head splits one of the lines drawn from top to bottom. The person is now in one third of your picture, left side or right. Ok, that is a start, and wait there’s more.

The TV screen has always been a 3:4 aspect ratio. Now with the advent of HDTV, we are seeing 16:9 TV framing with a lot more room from left to right. And the thought is; do we still work with the Rule of Thirds. Sure why not.

The thing to come up with is how close to the top of the screen do I put a person’s head? Movies will do an extreme close-up where the top frame of the screen cuts the head just above the eyebrows. On TV some documentaries will zoom in to that when they feel that a question will elicit an emotion or possible crying on camera. Just for effect or as some may say, real emotional shooting.

Ok, so how should I frame my shot? I used to use the REC word on my view finder. I would put the top of the head line up with the top of the REC word. That would give me some headroom. I would also place their arm/shoulder against the side of my viewfinder. I keep the same framing for the whole shoot. That is just my style, but I’m ready to zoom in/out if I have to. Or I hope my camera person is. Remember, you want a camera person who is listening to the interview, and you may want him to change framing when needed if that is the style you want. Of course you did have that talk with him.

When I first started shooting, we use to change framing every third questions to help in post with jump cuts. Today that is a thing of the past. Jump cutting is done on purpose. What use to be a no-no for videographer years ago is now common ground today for making documentaries?

All in all, these ideas are just a point to start from, and then you make all the adjustments that eventually become comfortable for you, and eventually your style. You will find videographers that may not agree with what I have to say. But this is just my opinion and a jumping off point for starting out. You got to start somewhere, right?

What say you?

Andre Campbell
139WestProductions.com

“Nuts and Bolts of Producing, and How to Structure A Documentary”

Lead by writer-producers Bobby Mardis and Denise Hamilton.

This will review important aspects of pre-production and production, present the professional-versus-guerilla filmmaking elements, and cover the steps necessary to assure a strong story structure. It’s an extremely important presentation for new and developing filmmakers.

FREE for BADWest members; $5 admission for all others.

To attend: RSVP at (213) 534-6635

About the Presenters:

Bobby Mardis Productions, in association with Fat Chance Films, has produced film,

television and various industrial projects for the last twenty-nine

years. Showtime

Network aired Bobby’s Why Colors? which starred Regina King, Ice T, and Barry White. Mardis has received awards for his films in over twenty film festivals around the world. He has produced straight-to-video projects, like the thriller One Last Time. His documentaries include Beats By the Bay, about the independent hip-hop and rap scene around San Francisco; and Katrina: Keeping the Faith about displaced Gulf Coast residents. He is currently in post-production on a jazz documentary Passing the Torch

Denise Hamilton is a writer-producer for television whose work has been produced for NBC and CBS affiliates in New York and Boston, the Discovery Channel, the Fox Family Channel, and E! Entertainment. Her most recent work was as writer for the documentary feature Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical Treasure, featured at the Palm Springs Film Festival, as well as writer/co-producer of the television series version that aired on PBS in 2009. Ms. Hamilton was coordinating producer for the ABC-TV documentary Motown 40: The Music is Forever, and WNBC-TV’s For Peace Sake: Youth Speaks Out, which won three local Emmys. She also wrote and produced the documentary Ngone’s Story: A Tale of Africa’s Orphans for the NBC/IBC series Horizons of the Spirit, as well as documentaries on the Rwandan refugee crisis, and Nicaraguan missionaries for the Odyssey Channel.

Location: (WGA) Writer Guild of America, West 7000 West 3rd St (at Fairfax) Los Angeles, CA 90048

Cost: FREE Admission & FREE Underground Parking at the back of the building.

Is there anything you’d like us to talk about?
We become better when you make comments. So help us help you.

brings us the story of Paul J. Adams III

founder of the trailblazing Providence St.

Mel school on Chicago’s West side.  In the 30

years since he raised enough money to

purchase the school, he’s taken it from a

failing inner city school to one that graduates

100% of it’s students with nearly half of them

going to Ivy League or top tier schools.  This

documentary tells the story of his method,

the students and parents lives he’s changed

and what happens when you teach children

to expect greatness from themselves. Please

join us on Thursday March 18th for a free

screening of this incredible film.

St. Clair Bourne’s 3rd Thursday

Documentary Film Screening Series

was created to continue the mission of the

late founder of the Black Association of

Documentary Filmmakers West, St. Clair

Bourne.  This event is a monthly gathering for artists actively working in film,

television and theater to stimulate discussion on culture, political principles,

creative techniques and the exchange of ideas that can help us all make the most

powerful work possible to help create a culture of resistance in these important

times.

Location: Vegan Village Cafe

4067 W Pico Blvd.,

Los Angeles, CA.

taught by Jonathan Skurnick for the MARCH 3rd Mtg.

Whether youʼre just starting production or youʼre well underway and need to get back on

track this story clinic is for you. The foundation of filmmaking is story. A clear and compelling

story will help propel you through editing, obtain funding and leave a lasting impression with

your audience. We encourage you to bring your works-in-progress and treatments. Two

projects will be selected to discuss and troubleshoot.

Jonathan Skurnik will deliver a participatory Story Structure clinic covering some of the

following topics:

*Different types and styles of documentary storytelling

*The importance of dynamic characters and how to access them

*Interview techniques

*Effective use of narration

*Create powerful and dramatic scenes

*The filmmaker/subject relationship

Jonathan Skurnik is an award-winning filmmaker whose documentaries have broadcast on

Television in the US and Europe. His films have also been screened in more than thirty film

festivals and art galleries. He produces and shoots his own films, works as a documentary

camera person for other award-winning producers, makes promotional films for non-profits,

corporations and artists, teaches documentary master classes, and consults with other

filmmakers on their proposals, rough cuts, and distribution strategies. To read more about

his work, go to www.jskurnik.com.

There were the days of “Pitman or Gregg,” not documentary makers, but transcribing styles that secretaries used heavily back in the day. Ask your Mom. Today, if you have a couple of bucks to go with making a documentary, then you could be okay. All you have to do is send a copy of your footage to transcribers and pay the rate by word, by line, by paragraph, by page, or by job.

If you are funded or are working for a company, then that is all part of their budget. But, if you are working from your own pocket or your parents’ pockets, then what can you do? You can do it yourself and do your own homework.

I recently introduced a friend of mine to a DVD stand-alone recorder. What that means is that it is not attached to the computer, but next to the television. The DVD recorder is now taking the place of the VCR deck.  So it stands alone next to the television, but not in my house, because it has 8 cousins around it (tuner, cassette player etc.)

Let’s say you shoot a 45 minute interview, and you are using tape. (If you use a tapeless camera, then it is a different flow.) You may have your own editing equipment and come home and capture it and watch it being captured like I do after a shoot. Sometimes I don’t; sometimes I do a spot check. Now you have the opportunity to watch it over and over from your computer, in your computer chair. The time code is there.

Now suppose you don’t own the camera and you have to take it back the next day. Or if you don’t have editing equipment of your own and you are looking for somebody to do that for you. It is a good idea to use an editor. (See “Finding an Editor” article on Badwest.org.) They have the expertise that you may need.

The assumption here is that you have no editing system, and no camera. So the thing that I like to do is plug the camera’s video outputs to the DVD video inputs and the DVD output to the input of the television. Put the television on the right channel; tell the DVD that there is a signal coming into it through input #1 or #2. That is the easy part.

Documentation is a Must

As for the camera, you have to go into the menu most of the time — well, all of the time today with the new cameras. You look for the video section in the menu. (I can’t help you here; menus are all over the place.) You should have the manual with you. Never rent or borrow a camera without the manual or other documentation in the bag. That can be a life-saver if the person before you tweaked and tinkered with the menu inputs. Sometimes you have to find the reset button, and send everything back to the factory settings.

Now that you have found the right menu button for sending the video signal to the DVD/television, remember the television is seeing what the DVD is recording. You have an opportunity here to send the camera’s screen display with the running time code to the television. That may require a little fiddling about in the menu video area. But once you get it, then you are ready to go.

If you record the time code from the tape in the camera onto the DVD, then you will know where everything on the tape is in terms of time. She/he says this at; 23:07 and ends at 24:35. Now you will be able to tell your editor what is where and where is what. Not bad.

When everything is working, you will see the display on the television. The tape in the camera has been rewound to the beginning, and you have a disk in the DVD recorder Then hit record on the DVD, let it run for five seconds, and hit play on the camera. So when you reach the end of the interview press the stop button. Don’t forget to finalize the DVD or you can’t play it anywhere else except in the same style DVD recorder. Label your DVD to match what is on your interview tape.

Pencil and Paper vs. Laptop

What I like to do is get my “legal pad,” and my favorite beverage. Some of you will be using your laptops, I guess. I pop in the DVD and stretch out on the couch and hit play. The idea is to write down what the person you interviewed is saying, (Or describe b-roll) (what is b-roll?) for time’s sake. You don’t have to write your questions down unless you want to.

I always try to write down word-for-word, but most of the time I will “paraphrase” what they are saying. I will be the only to one see this transcription, as I edited my own productions. I have it like that. On the left hand side of my legal pad I put the time code that is on the screen, so that everything matches. (On some cameras you can minimize what’s on the display.) If I miss something, I just pause and go back. So once I’m done, I will come back on another day, watch it all over again to check my time code and when they speak, and to get the gist of what is being said in this DVD of the tape. Learn your footage

This could be the poor man’s (or woman’s) version of doing this. If you are working for somebody, you will have to be more precise in wording and time coding, because of time limits and exactly how long something (a statement) is going to be. Or if you are lucky, it will go out to a transcriber and you will get it printed out for you. Sweet!

The nice thing about transcribed work is that you can cut out the parts you want and lay them end-to-end and you got your documentary coming to life right in front of you. This is a time-saver when you are in an editing room; you and your editor have a map to sort of work with, and things can go a lot faster. This is because you did your homework.

That is all.

Andre Campbell

139 West Productions

Are you sleeping with your equipment?

Get familiar with your equipment!

I know that is a strange title, but what it means is that you need to know your equipment. Now your equipment can mean something that you own, borrow or rent.

At an afternoon wedding shoot long time ago, I rented and picked up a wireless handheld mic and receiver. It had a digital display, OMG, my first. At the wedding I had a heck of a time trying to make heads or tails of how to make the wireless system work. I really didn’t ask the man at the counter for a quick once over. That was a mistake and could have been costly if I didn’t also have my own lavaliere mic (Or lapel mic for you young wiper snappers.) with a long cord to record the ceremony. When I brought it back and told the guy at the counter that I couldn’t make it work, he gave me credit. I was lucky.

If you are going to do a shoot, you should be familiar with how your equipment works. Get what information you need at least the night before your next day shoot. Set it up at home as if it is a shoot and pretend to shoot. You may get lucky and have the manual with you or it is early enough to call somebody if you have a problem with any part of your equipment.

Cameras are the thing I want to focus on today. The choice at one time was only analog and tape. Now you have digital and no tape cameras. You have the choice of shooting on a camera with a hard-drive in it or you can shoot with one (Expensive) with small removable flash drives, no moving parts. So the camera most people shoot today with, the recorded video is laid off to a tape system which will one day go the way of the tight leather pants.

Recently I was put into a position of showing up at a shoot to help shoot and ended up the shooter. I was christen with the role of making a digital camera work that I never held in my hand before. Just a reminder, I’ve shot on other digital cameras before. But this one had a lot more buttons and the menu was like a small novel. Damn you Sony.

Some may say it is like driving a car. I say what if you get into that car, (yours is 4-speeds) it has 8-speeds and two reverses with a double clutch. And the guy out side of the car says, “On your marks, set, go.” Yes, you have to fiddle and find.

Most cameras come with an “automatic mode” and it has a green square to show that. Because of time, that is the mode I went with. Good thing I had my glasses.

I’m familiarize with menus on cameras but using this one is like being a good cook and going into somebody’s kitchen and trying to figure out where are all the pots and pan are stashed. The sound menu is a chore. This camera had XLR inputs (Don’t know what that is, email Me.) and a hidden min-mic input.

The menus says, channel one in, channel two in, one out ext, two in int., ext/int both, mini? I don’t know, it was hidden. I don’t know! So I had to roll the roll the dice and thank goodness we were shooting at an old folks home and somebody was playing monopoly at the time.

I found a channel, put a lavaliere into it and we got sound.

You want your equipment to be your “BFF.” So it is very important to familiarize yourself with all equipment you are going to use for a shoot. If you are going to produce shoots, you should have a little idea of what is going on. Especially if you are a crew of one, two or three.

So why stress yourself the day of and maybe miss shooting and have to return the money from your client. So sleeping (A metaphor.) with your equipment and taking care of it as well as learn what it can do for you, is a good thing. Together, you could end up producing some good work.

Little tip: When I rent cameras, because there were other renters with this camera before me, I make sure I reset all the functions in the camera to “Factory Default.” Then I make my changes. This way I don’t end up with a camera that the last guys tweak to show a lot of extra reddish tint everywhere in my video. Ohhh that sure would suck.

Is there anything you’d like us to talk about?
We become better when you make comments. So help us help you.

That’s just me.
Andre Campbell
139 West Prod.