Week 2 - Developing your story ideas

This week's reading was one that I really enjoyed because it was really practical. What I learned from it was:

In Documentary, you can begin research almost anywhere and then confirm and amplify the idea you are developing.
In fact, the first step is to find and develop an idea.

Then collect some raw materials:

• Keep a journal
• Use Newspapers and magazines - With every source you have possible characters, situations, plots, and meanings to be found.
• History - The past is full of great and small figures that have participated in the dramas that interest you.
• Myths and Legends
• Family stories
• Childhood stories
• Social Science and Social History
• Fiction

Than you have to test your soubject

“Do I really want to make a film about this?” 

Good documentaries go beyond factual expositions or celebration: they tackle areas of life that are complex, ambiguous, and morally taxing.

Making a documentary is a long, slow process. 

Questions to ask yourself after you decide on a subject.

• Is there an area in which I am already knowledgeable and even opinionated?
• Do I feel a strong and emotional connection to it - more so than to any other practical subject?
• Can I do justice to the subject?
• Do I have a drive to learn more about this subject? 
• Why the audience must experience feeling
• The shock of recognition
• Primary evidence
• Lecturing lacks impact
• Testing for cinematic qualities
• Mood matters
• B-Roll, Blues
• Local can be large