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Hello Doc world,

My name is Dale Galgozy. I am a filmmaker living in the Cleveland
Ohio area. I make short non-fiction films on the local and regional
arts. I have been obsessed with direct cinema for nearly 10 years now
and have no plans to get treatment. I work doing location sound for
many of the local video/filmmakers in the area. I produce my own
films when I can afford to.

My question to the many great artists that may read these postings.
Besides Frederick Wiseman, how many still shoot verite on real film?
I won't let go of the "film" camera; so I'm interested in hearing
from a few diehards.

may be a long wait, dale ;-) nice to have you here, while you do.

Hi.

I'm alex, and I'm currently studying in a Film and media school. I'm
in Singapore and in student projects we do shoot both drama and
documentaries. I have questions about documentaries and hope to surf
around here looking for answers that we students might have in the
course of filming. This mentor thing is especially attractive since
the professionals help out and share their experiences with the
students.

As a student, there are times when your dreams are too big for your
head and realising it might take many years. Yet it's the nicest part
about being who we are, just dreaming and taking one step at a time
to make sure that we get close to that dream. I like to hear what the
professionals say 'cos they definitely know more than we do and thus
the mentoring section is always a nice visit.

My interest in documentary is a farely recent one. I never thought
much about documentary until my course demanded that I take it up and
it's been a very good experience since then. I'm here to take a look
at the world of documentary online, because there are people from all
over the world who come here and post and it's a nice exposure as
compared to what I'm used to in our own little student's world.

Thank you.

alex

Welcome to The D-Word Forum, Alex. I don't have a clue about the
documentary scene in Singapore. What is it like? What films are being
made?

Hi Ben,

This is what I know. I know the local TV channels do produce
documentaries, we have a few tv channels, they range from
entertainment to arts entertainment to news. The arts central channel
produces documentaries, some will talk about the local arts scene,
some will focus on some festival, for example the Singapore arts
festival held in June, some focus on the artist and the displays of
their works, etc. For the chinese and english channels, there are
documentaries that focus on life in Singapore and the issues that
concern us, the range is wide, from healthcare to social isssues to
youth culture to crime etc..

Mostly I feel the TV industry caters to the needs of the public, at
certain times there are certain documentaries to inform and educate
the public. For example, last year we had the SARS virus, so there
are documentaries and news coverage on it which I believed is
neccessary. News and documentaries covered the issues of healthcare
and some interviewees talked about the discrimination they faced
because they chose to stand by their profession. Some also showed the
reactions of the public due to the quarantine, it was a sensitive
issue then and still is.

I don't know much about the indie scene though, my apologies.


Thanks,
alex

It's okay, Alex. Thanks for sharing what you know. Welcome and good
luck in your studies.

Hi Doug,

Thanks.

alex

Hello all,
I am very new to documentary film. In an attempt to gain
knowledge and advice, I joined this site. Hopefully this isn't the
fanciful idea of a 22 year old. I really want to get started and
have no idea where. Anyway, hello and thank you for this wonderful
site.

Phil

You're entirely welcome, Phillip. Buttering up your hosts is always
a good starting point ;-)

I recommend you start right in by reading some of the confererences
we've held and have archived here. Should take a while.

that's why we have the Mentoring topic here, matt. feel free to seek
specific info or advice there. and welcome.

Hi Doug & all,
I live in Atlanta, and previously spent 12 years in Florida working
in broadcast & corp TV ( mostly as a news videographer and editor)
Then switched to writing and editing corporate video, shooting
freelance, and made a half hour doc about 1930's and 1940's aviators
and their aircraft. Becoming frustrated with distribution and the
lack of money I left TV to become a web programmer from '93 to 2001.

Now I have just produced another corp sales video on DV and edited a
musician demo. I am developing a couple of non-fiction concepts that
I want to take to cable distribution. I am trying to learn
everything I can about the business side because that was always my
problem in the past. DV solves half the problem of creating your own
docs. But distribution is always the big question.

I'm here to learn or share whatever I can. It's good to have a way
to talk to other Documentary/Reality TV makers.

Ed Hill
Atlanta

Welcome, Ed. Lots of great conferences here for you to learn about
distribution. Happy reading ;-)

hi everyone,
Just wanted to say hello and thanks for providing such a useful
site. I'm working on a film dealing with women that are abuse
survivors and outside of making a film about it, we are offering a
workshop for abuse survivors where they will be able to learn about
video medium as a way to express themselves and further their healing.
www.doggeddrama.com/Docudrama.htm

I am in Kentucky of the U.S.

Just thought I'd say hello.

Jessica

Just thought I'd say welcome, Jessica. A very important project
you're doing. Happy if we can help out in some way.

Thanks for the warm welcome!

Well, I guess the biggest help is passing the site around....we're
also collecting donations of products and what not for our
fundraiser...

or post a message of encouragement on the message board for the
survivors who post there

Thanks for the offer!

Jessica

you mean your website? (if so, what's the url?) i'm a little
confused.

www.doggeddrama.com/Docudrama.htm

the "D" in Docudrama must be capitalized

Jess

Hello All,

My name is Kate Slovich. I'm a producer, mainly focusing on
anthropological documentaries. I'm currently producing a documentary
on inner city education. I'm hoping to pick up some tech and
equipment tips on this forum, specifically relating to audio.

The director has asked me to provide a suggested equipment list and
the tech side of the biz isn't my strong suite as a producer. I'd
love any suggestions that the group could give me so I can present a
great proposal.

We're working with a $10,000 equipment budget (not including DV cam)
and we'll be shooting in inner city schools, homes and neighborhoods
over the next two years. Thanks in advance for the help.

welcome, kate. you'll need to join the community to get tech tips.
you certainly qualify: www.d-word.com/community/join

Hi everyone......

Wow...what a great site!!! Im new to documentary film and have been searching for a way
to get into contact with others who have experience and passion for documentary
filmmaking.....i could use all the knowledge and advice I can get!!! Im a 21 yr old student
who is about to graduate in 2 months and move back home to NYC where i will enter the
"real world." Im quite overwhelmed and dont know where to start, so if anyone has any
advice...please dont hold back!!!!. i look forward to talking to many of you and changing
the world through revealing truth!!
much peace and love,
deborah

Hi Everyone,

My name is Samuel Michon. I'm a production designer and
visual artist based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
I've been wanting to move into documentary filmmaking
for quite some time and have gone to all the major
festivals, like IDFA, for years. I've been doing
research for a pet project of mine since '98, on the
development of the Paddington neighborhood in London
(and how domestic travel by rail has influenced the
area, it was one of the first major hubs in the UK) -
not a lot of shooting has gone into it yet though,
nor do I see the production taking flight soon.

I am however in the middle of securing capital for a
documentary on the resistance that quite a few foreign
exchange students (mainly from teh US and Scandinavia)
are experiencing with the teachers and management of
several universities in The Netherlands. There's plenty
of action there, with lawsuits and whatnot, but above
all, a personal story of one Jewish-American exchange
student foreign to Dutch language, culture, and
legislation - who is now trying a David-and-Goliath case
against the education boards, exposing this dire
situation (which because of the fragility of the matter
I can't expand on at this stage). I have the privilege
to move in before the big media do, and document it.

The biggest challenges for me in this project, I have
found, are scripting it in advance - staying on top of
what all the different outcomes can be - and
(in a trial-run) shooting in a way so that it's not just
talking heads, but actually *showing* the story.
I'm creative though, I've come up with some solutions to
that - even though I bet they're unorthodox, because
I haven't directly jumped for the aid of more
experienced doccers (as yet).

Anyhow, I've been perusing these message boards for a
while now, and it's been a real help. There's so much to
making a documentary, and while I am lucky to have a
light and sound guy, it's challenging to do the combo of
writer-director-DP-producer all at the same time
(I don't even want to think about editing; I already
feel way too content to have found a decent soundtrack
by a well-known artist who stands behind the project -
living the illusion of thinking I'll have sufficient
perspective after wrapping that I can single-handedly
edit the piece and end up with something that people
will want to see, is unforgiveable, I know.)

Great forum, I will definitely keep coming around
looking for clues here.

(btw, for some reason I can't get auto-wrap to work
on Safari 1.2 - so my apologies for the bump-'n-erase
earlier - this is a manually wrapped post.)

Welcome, Deborah and Samuel. Glad we can offer help and a
sympathetic ear. Feel free to ask questions in the Mentoring topic
any time.

Hi Doug, Ben, & all,

I've been working as an asst. editor for the past couple years in a
post facility, and have also made some short personal films which
have played at a few festivals.
Over the last several months I've embarked on a rather large &
long-term project (my first) - a documentary about this wonderfully
talented Cuban classical pianist/cabaret singer who is a transgender
person living in San Francisco. At the moment I'm fearing I've
bitten off more than I can chew, but look forward to perusing the
forums here to seek wisdom, inspiration, advice and ... sanity?
Thanks for hosting this!
Maureen

You're welcome, Maureen. Sanity is our middle name ;-) Happy to
have you aboard.