WORKSHOP IN SARAJEVO: HOW TO PRODUCE DOCUMENTARY
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Saturday, 29 April 2017, 1000 am-430 pm | Café Lalo, Kovaći Walkway, Baščaršija, Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina. Participants are encouraged to attend free of charge if they trade a minimum of 10 hours of remote volunteer time for a Humanitarian Bazaar project. Otherwise, the cost is 90 km/day for Bosnian citizens (our hosts), 70 euro/day for internationals, or 350 euro/day for our expert intensive training course (part of a longer term course with long term advising and support for advanced trainees). Sign up as soon as possible at Humanitarianbazaar@gmail.com.
Our Workshop
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Come learn with us! We will provide a fast overview course on how to produce video documentary. We’ll take participants inside and behind the scenes of our new feature documentary, Live from Mogadishu, filmed in Somalia and Kenya under tough security and logistical conditions, as well as our series, Journeys on the Edge, partly filmed in Bosnia, as well as Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Ukraine. We’ll also highlight other great works from recent documentary work, review process and equipment, and answer any of your questions about pre-production and production. If any participants wish to also learn about post-production, editing, and distribution of such films, please also sign up for the workshop on the following day. All revenue will also go to the War Survivors Advisory civilian protection project.
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Our Trainer
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Daniel J Gerstle, founder of Humanitarian Bazaar, is the executive producer, director and editor of the feature film, Live from Mogadishu, about the campaign to end the war in Somalia, as well as producer and camera of the documentary series, Journeys on the Edge, telling the stories of how people survive tough situations in Afghanistan, Bosnia, South Sudan, and Ukraine. He also worked on films ranging from Watchers of the Skye (Edet Belzberg) to Filming Violence (Oxfam) to entertainment films.
10:00 am | Pre-Production
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- Introduction: Video samples from feature documentaries: Live from Mogadishu (produced by Humanitarian Bazaar), Hell and Back Again (Danfung Dennis), Virunga (Orlando von Einsedel), Beats of the Antonov (Hajooj Kuka), Diary (Tim Hetherington), Vice, The Guardian, and Vox.
- Pitching concepts, story, and script.
- Client production, grants, fundraising.
- Building Core Team & Crew.
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11:30 am | Considering Your Gear
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- Budget: Super cheap vs increasing cost to benefit choices.
- Camera: DSLRs vs Cinema cameras, manual vs auto options, focus, Aperture, Shutter Speed, Film Speed/ISO, 720/1080/4k/5k, fps, bit rate, pro-res, full frame vs cropped.
- Camera: Rebel, 70D, 7D, 6D, 5Dm3, C100m2, C300, GH3, GH4, EX1, HVX, A7s, Black Magic, Red, Alexa, Epic, Scarlet, Dragon, Weapon, Raven, Gopro.
- Lenses: Prime, zoom, wide angle, close up, 14mm<300mm, f/1.8<20.
- Filters: Neutral density, colors.
- Audio: Mounted mics, boom, lapels, mixers, H1/ H2/ H4, etc.
- Computer: Desk vs laptop, Ram 6gb/ 8gb/ 16gb.
- Data Storage: SD card, hard drive options.
- Software: Creative Cloud, Premiere, Final Cut, Avid, Powerdirector, codecs.
- Additional options: LED lights, three point light kit, reflector, gels, HDMI, monitor, tripod options, dollies, shoulder, monitor, Histogram, Zebra, comprehension.
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13:00 pm | Production Basics
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- Building your team: Executive Producer, Producer, Director, Cinematographer, Sound Engineer, Lighting, Gaffer, Driver, Translator, Security…or maybe just you?
- Confirming your production schedule: Do your story characters need to be scheduled, or you join them along the way of their own life? Can your crew adapt to the story? Are you producing to please an audience, create art, or just making a product for a client?
- Planning out locations, logistics, and, if necessary, security.
- Cinematography: Starting techniques, triangulation, blocking, framing, focus pulling, coverage (close up vs wide vs master, etc).
- Filming with editing and a final story in mind.
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15:00 pm | Question, Answer, & Practice
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- We will run you through some scenarios of film making we experienced in Bosnia, Africa, and the Middle East. We’ll present a tough decision and ask the group, “What would you do?!” Then after debate, we’ll explain what happened. This will test what you’ve learned.
- Of course any questions and debate will be great!
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Sign Up
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Sign up for the course by writing us at humanitarianbazaar@gmail.com!
Somali peace activist Lihle Muhudin talks about the Mogadishu Music Festival with Peter Greste of Aljazeera News in Mogadishu, Somalia. Photo: Daniel J Gerstle.