Introduce Yourself: Sign In Here First

hi people.

this is my first time here, and in fact on any message-type board,
and i don't know how to find the Mentoring Room you talk about.
please forgive me if i'm not in the right place. maybe someone can
direct me a little? here's an intro:

i am beth tom in arizona. i am an artist (www.broyalty.com) and am
starting a documentary tentatively called "The Mendelssohn
Project".

i am taking my 40th year to learn the entire Mendelssohn violin
concerto. i used to be really good as a kid but haven't played in
20 years. as a kid i vowed someday to play the Mendelssohn with an
orchestra.

i will practice publicly, on the street, for a year. the
performance, however, with the cincinnati symphony orchestra, will
be completely private, no audience, no video or audio recording.
then i intend to give my $10,000 custom-made italian violin away.
maybe i'll even just leave it on the street outside symphony hall
right after my performance.

the questions i am attempting to ask (and possibly answer) are:
what is valuable? what do i do or have to give that is of value?
is art a product we can assign value to? what is a valuable
endeavor to set one's sights on? there's a little bit of "if a
tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, does it make a
sound?" to the project.

i will attempt to put little snippets on you-tube to generate
interest, filming as much as i can of the year, lessons with
teachers, converstaions with other artists, practicing on the
street etc. money and my lack of it and how we "value" things with
our money is a huge issue and part of the questioning in the
project.

i bought a samsung digital video recorder. it sucks. any
suggestions as to what to use? i need something easy to figure
out, easy to eventually edit (so no tapes would be good, and i'm
on a mac), needs to be able to pick up dialog ok, usually i am
just setting it up on a tripod and letting it run.

absolutely ANY suggestions at all would be greatly appreciated!
thanks, everybody! - beth

hmm, why film a documentary and not film the natural climax (ie. the
concert). that's like following a boxer for a year and not filming
the championship fight. and don't give your violin away, give it to
me ;-)

anyway, welcome to the d-word, beth.

thanks, doug.

good question. i guess the idea is: what's so special about
another concert? is the value in the performance or the work that
goes into it? the documentary will be more about the process and
experience rather than the climax. anybody can go out and buy any
number of recordings of the Mendelssohn. but can anybody see what
it's like for an average joe to entirely and singularly devote
themselves to any one thing? and then be done?

anyway, this idea is so new for me and still pretty unformed - i'm
not quite sure yet that i'm not full of shit. but i don't think i
am. ;-)

any camera or recording suggestions? thanks for anything! i really
appreciate it! - beth

Welcome to D-Word, Beth. The documentary may be more about the
process than the climax, but Doug's right in that the climax needs
to be in there. What sounds valuable to me is the experience of
seeing someone learn something difficult, step by step. Legal
question, though: Will the orchestra agree to having the concert
taped and used in the film? What would they charge? You may not know
the answers, but these are questions that will come up if you
include the concert.

Where are you in Arizona? Do you have a budget and a crew yet?

hi steve.
thanks for your input. i am in tempe, az. i have no budget, and no
crew! i thought i might check in with some schools that offer
documentary courses and see if i could put together some people
from there. my lessons and practicing will start feb. 5, so i need
to find a camera for at least me to use before then. any
suggestions? i also have a former teacher, my very first teacher,
in fact, from 5th grade, who performs with the cincinnati
symphony. i am hoping they will take an interest and donate their
services... i sound pretty naive and idealistic, don't i?!? :-)

Beth: Tempe, huh? How about making contacts at ASU? Unless you're
going to set the camera on a tripod and let it run as you practice,
you'll need a shooter. As to the Cincinnati Symphony donating its
services, it never hurts to ask. They might want the PR.

Beth,
I'm by NO means any kind of expert, but here are my two cents.
I agree with Steve- doesn't hurt to ask Cincinnati Symphony if they
will agree to the recording. Perhaps there is a middle ground, like
they agree that you can audiotape the entire performance, which will
not be reproduced and only a certain amount of the audio will be used
in the film. Perhaps you get some establishing shots of the orchestra
but then the remainder of the scene focuses solely on your performance
and it is like they are not in the room. You could pitch that you
donate the violin to a music school of the orchestra's choice, or sell
the violin on e-bay and give the profits to your director/producer!
Or give it to Doug Block! :)
This sounds like a really interesting arty short film (20-40mins) with
some experimental first person narrative mixed in. I'm sure you could
get a director/producer from ASU or UofA to work with you for a highly
reduced fee. I went to U of A - some great students come out of their
Media Arts program - call Prof. Guilio Scalinger there if you want
some referrals. You could also try the person who manages the student
crew at KUAT in Tucson, as they may be even more doc focused.
Danny Anker, director of MUSIC FROM THE INSIDE OUT may have some
practical advice for you - not sure if he is on D-Word, but here is
his web site: http://www.mftio.com/ The Philadelphia Orchestra was
the subject of his award-winning doc.
Good luck!!!

Longshot, Beth, but picking up on Amy's comment about KUAT, you
might approach KUAT or the Tempe PBS affiliate about a co-production
through the ITVS LInCS program, which provides funds to such
partnerships. As with the Cincinnati orchestra, it doesn't hurt to
ask.

Greetings from Windy Bristol,
I'm an aspiring documentary filmmaker - having just finished studying
philosophy at university. I'm working in a bookshop for the
time-being, but I'm ditching it all and going off to Eastern Europe
with my camera in September in search of the 'European Soul'.

wow, not exactly an unambitious subject, nicholas. lots of luck and
welcome to the d-word.

I thought at first your name was Windy Bristol.

Welcome, Windy.

Hi, My name is Nic I am a kiwi (new zealander) that is trying to get
some footage through post production. our website is
www.africanodyssey.co.nz

Three buddies and I have just finished filming on HD our motorcycle
journey from Cape Town to London up the east side of Africa. We have
shot 67 hours and are about to head in to post production. We have
access to an editing suite and some skilled people back in New
Zealand. We got our technical support before leaving NZ from Greenroom
Productions a NZ based outdoor extreme sort (snow and surf) filming
company www.nzgreen.tv Greenrooms will also be backing our post
production.

Our footage is all about four disorganised kiwis just getting out
there and doing it. Doesnt matter that we had limited or no real
riding experience, or filming for that matter. Now we can kind of ride
and hopefully in 67 hours we figured out how to film. The biggest
challenge on the trip was finding the energy to travel and film.
Trying to keep the travelling fun and the filming quality. Havent had
a good chance to reveiw too much footage yet stuck in London. Need
access to a suite and a few bits and bobs for a sony HVR A1P

Most of my searching on this site will be related to finding info on
seeking post production funds and how to negotiate contracts with end
users. Looking to keep our project independent.

Currently I am stuck in London for 5 weeks as I cant change my flights
home. I would love to get access to a suite to get the footage logged.
If anyone kows of any contacts in London that might be able to help
with FCP 5.1.2 that would be awesome, otherwise its going to be a long
5 weeks in London.

www.africanodyssey.co.nz

Cheers

Nic

welcome, nic. given the level of your work, and advice you're
seeking, you'll definitely want to register for the community for doc
professionals: www.d-word.com/community/join

My name is David Rowe, I have directed and produced a number of
narrative shorts, written narrative screenplays, and am currently
shooting two (no budget) documentaries simultaneously in Seattle, WA,
USA.

I came here to seek wisdom from other's experience, and hopefully tell
some useful stories of my own.

Thanks for having me.

Welcome David! Two films at once? Are they shorts or features?

Welcome, David! Glad to see another filmmaker with a foot in the
fiction world. Does Seattle still have an IFP chapter?

Hi Everyone-
My name is Yance Ford and I've worked as a doc programmer for the past
5 years. I'm happy to say that I'm producing a feature written by a
friend and I'm also beginning work own project (not sure if its a doc
or narrative)- both are firsts. This side of things is pretty new to
me, so I'll be looking for newbie advice.
Excited to be here...
yance

Hey, Yance. You were at POV - weren't you? Hopefully that's enough
of a track record to gain you admission to The D-Word Community.
Looking forward to hearing how your new projects develop. How does
it feel to be on the other side?

Still at POV actually and doing double duty. Ask me about the other
side is a few months- right now I'm pretty psyched to be here...

Welcome, Yance.

Hi Amy, approximately 30 minutes a piece, that's a short right?

Hey Steve, I don't think we have an official IFP chapter here any
more, but a friend of mine did get some sort of grant from them
recently, I think that was from LA though. Check out the trailer
here. http://bookiethemovie.com/

Welcome, David and Yance. To sign up for the community (which I
highly recommend for anyone with doc experience), go to:
www.d-word.com/community/join.

David,
Yes - 40 minutes and under is considered a short

I am making my first feature doc on Bellydancing in America, titled
BELLY. I need more advice then I have to offer, but hopefully that
will change.