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Cinematography

Documentary Filmmaking: Tell Small Stories

Cinematographer filming ice and water

Make your documentary filmmaking crew of two look like a crew of 10!

 

“We don’t use documentaries to convince people; we use documentary filmmaking to be surprised.”
– my father

The Story of Richard Griggs

In my rural Connecticut hometown, Richard Griggs sometimes drives people to the airport. While this isn’t his full-time job, he enjoys the company and the opportunity to get out of town.

On our way to the airport, Richard and I were talking about living out west and my newfound obsession with bicycling, when he told me the incredible story of his hit-and-run bicycle accident that happened in Los Angeles in the 1990s. Richard had not only survived a three-day coma, but he had to relearn how to walk, talk, and perform other basic functions. A year later, with no memory of the accident, he rode to the site with a new bicycle.

Weeks passed since my conversation with Richard and as I became increasingly immersed in LA’s bicycle culture, I kept thinking about his story. I wanted to put together a feature-length documentary about the dangers and rewards of biking and I thought Richard’s story would fit right in.

Making a Short Documentary

It wasn’t long before another unrelated documentary project brought me back to Connecticut. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any communication with Richard so it wasn’t until the day before I had to leave again for Los Angeles that I had finally been able to get ahold of him. I had very little equipment left from the other shoot but I asked if I could meet him at his place to conduct a short interview. “Yeah, that sounds great, maybe we could go up to my studio.” Studio?

I arrived only to find a beautiful artist’s workshop packed full of delicate wire sculptures. The story I wanted to tell instantly changed but it wouldn’t be until halfway through the interview that I would recognize what Richard’s story was really about.

Finding the Story

Richard’s story wasn’t about LA bike culture and it wasn’t a story about bike safety. The story is about someone narrowly escaping a horrific accident and using the process of creating art to stay alive. As Richard explained to me, for people who suffer from brain injuries, there is a lot of extra functioning that they need to do. For him, creating these sculptures from found objects is like giving them a second chance at an existence. A beautiful irony if you ask me.

The purpose of this story can best be described by the quote up top. When making documentaries, it’s absolutely essential to keep yourself open to the fact that your original story might completely change. When setting up an interview, make sure your subject is comfortable and that they are able to engage in a dialogue with you. The conversation I had with Richard not only gave me a story but it inspired the tone I set for the piece: very informal and conversational as if a friend were telling you their personal story.

The Bottom Line

The last thing I’d like to conclude with is thinking back to my time at Hurlbut Visuals. I assisted Shane with so many speaking engagements that I began to memorize his presentations. One statement that stuck with me was, “With DSLRs, you can fit your entire camera package in the overhead bin space.” As filmmakers, we have such an opportunity to tell small stories like Richard’s and it doesn’t take a lot of gear. You can see my list below but I’m sure it could have been done with less.

I’d like to give a special thanks to my brother Sebastien for helping me out on this shoot and to Garth Neustadter for his wonderful job with the music.

Camera

  • 5DmkIII
  • 24-70mm Canon L-Series T2.8
  • 70-200mm Canon L-Series T2.8
  • 4 Batteries
  • 4 16gb CF Cards

Support

  • Letus Shoulder Rig
  • Manfrotto Tripod

G&E

  • Diva400 w/ stand
  • Lowel Pro w/ stand
  • Lowel Tota w/ stand

By Jonathan Lasseur

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About Filmmakers Academy Cinematographer Mentor Shane Hurlbut, ASC

Director of photography Shane Hurlbut, ASC works at the forefront of cinema. He’s a storyteller, innovator, and discerning collaborator, who brings more than three decades of experience to his art. He is a member of the American Society of Cinematographers, the International Cinematographers Guild/Local 600, and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Hurlbut frequently joins forces with great directors: McG’s Netflix Rim of the World and The Babysitter, plus Warner Bros. We Are Marshall and Terminator: Salvation; Scott Waugh’s Need for Speed and Act of Valor; and Gabriele Muccino’s There Is No Place Like Home and Fathers and Daughters. His additional film credits include Semi-Pro; The Greatest Game Ever Played; Into the Blue; Mr 3000; Drumline; 11:14, which earned Hurlbut a DVDX nomination; and The Skulls. Notably, his television credits include the first season of AMC’s Into the Badlands.

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June 26, 2013/by Filmmakers Academy
Tags: Canon, creativity, documentary, filmmaking, Hurlbut, Richard Griggs, short documentary, Story
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https://www.filmmakersacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/film5_DSC03170.jpg 1500 2000 Filmmakers Academy https://www.filmmakersacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Filmmakers-Academy-Filmmaking-Courses.svg Filmmakers Academy2013-06-26 10:02:122022-09-07 03:58:40Documentary Filmmaking: Tell Small Stories
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32 replies
  1. Bill Hamell
    Bill Hamell says:
    June 26, 2013 at 10:21 AM

    Julien,

    Great blog and better film, if you come back to Connecticut I would like to work with you.

    Bill

    • Julien
      Julien says:
      June 26, 2013 at 11:47 AM

      Hey Bill,
      Thank you for checking out my film! Shoot me an email sometime and hopefully we can connect back east.
      -J

  2. Luis Velasco
    Luis Velasco says:
    June 26, 2013 at 12:24 PM

    I really loved it. Very honest. Thanks for sharing.
    I just have a question about the sound. Is that the built in camera mic? What did you use?

    • Julien
      Julien says:
      June 27, 2013 at 12:08 PM

      Hey Luis, Thanks for the kind remarks! I completely forgot to include the sound equipment used on my list.

      I used a Sennheiser EW 122P G3-B wireless lav. The lav went into a Zoom H4N which went into my back pocket. Since I didn’t have anyone to monitor sound, I set levels and prayed it wouldn’t peak!

  3. Kelly Hunt
    Kelly Hunt says:
    June 26, 2013 at 4:10 PM

    Lovely piece of art.

    • Julien
      Julien says:
      June 27, 2013 at 12:08 PM

      Thanks Kelly!

  4. Josef
    Josef says:
    June 27, 2013 at 12:49 AM

    Great film. Very personal. Good Example that you dont need much to tell a story, but you need the story.

    Greetings from Germany.

    • Julien
      Julien says:
      June 27, 2013 at 12:16 PM

      Thanks for the comments Josef!

  5. Stan Grunder
    Stan Grunder says:
    June 27, 2013 at 6:14 AM

    Great film, really enjoyed the story.
    What did you use for sound?
    Thanks and be well.

    • Julien
      Julien says:
      June 27, 2013 at 12:14 PM

      Hey Stan,

      Thank you! Forgot to include a Zoom H4N and Sennheiser EW 122P G3-B on my equipment list.

  6. Greg
    Greg says:
    June 27, 2013 at 6:31 AM

    Julian…very nice. Thanks for sharing. What did you use to record interview? (mic)

    • Julien
      Julien says:
      June 27, 2013 at 12:16 PM

      Thanks Greg! Mic I used was a wireless lav Sennheiser EW 122P.

  7. Philip Bateman
    Philip Bateman says:
    June 27, 2013 at 5:15 PM

    Great work :) Totally agree. What did you use for sound (to make it a triple request in the comments :)

    • Julien
      Julien says:
      June 28, 2013 at 2:36 PM

      Hey Philip, Thanks! I used a Zoom H4N and Sennheiser EW 122P G3-B

  8. Amanda Jones
    Amanda Jones says:
    June 28, 2013 at 5:43 AM

    Wonderful Julian! Beautifully shot~ great small story.

    • Julien
      Julien says:
      June 28, 2013 at 2:37 PM

      Thanks Amanda!

  9. Ryan Bradshaw
    Ryan Bradshaw says:
    June 28, 2013 at 10:40 AM

    Julien,

    Great article and film. What Letus shoulder rig did you use? Also, how do you combat compression artifacts?

    Thanks!

    Ryan

    • Julien
      Julien says:
      June 28, 2013 at 2:42 PM

      I used a combination of the Talon and MCS… I can post a picture if you’d like.

      I exported through Premiere Pro using H.264 rendering at maximum depth, Target Bitrate [Mbps] at 20 and Maximum Bitrate [Mbps] at 20, then select Maximum Render Quality at the bottom. Hope that helps. If the movie won’t produce too large a file you could just try matching sequence settings.

  10. Charles
    Charles says:
    June 28, 2013 at 11:51 PM

    Well done!
    I like the way you put this hero in the center of the image.
    Greetings from the Netherlands.

    • Julien
      Julien says:
      July 2, 2013 at 8:55 AM

      Thanks Charles!

  11. Chip Simons
    Chip Simons says:
    July 1, 2013 at 9:13 AM

    Very nice! Thanks for the inspiration.

    • Julien
      Julien says:
      July 2, 2013 at 8:56 AM

      Glad you enjoyed the film! Thanks Chip

  12. Jaime Longhi
    Jaime Longhi says:
    July 1, 2013 at 12:43 PM

    Julien-

    What a softly impactful document. Funny, I found It so “Californian” in it’s laid-back quality and matter-of-fact approach to the truth. In 4 minutes your film achieved a very satisfying arc. I loved the moments towards the end of Richard quietly looking up at his “resurrected” pieces. A rich five minutes.

    • Julien
      Julien says:
      July 2, 2013 at 8:59 AM

      Thanks for watching and for your feedback Jaime!

  13. Shai Ben-Dor
    Shai Ben-Dor says:
    July 1, 2013 at 8:41 PM

    Phenomenal documentary. It just goes to show that it doesnt take much to make great work. It made me think of dozens of people I would like to make similar videos of if I had the time. Thank you very much. Inspirational

    • Julien
      Julien says:
      July 2, 2013 at 8:57 AM

      Make time if you can! Thank you for the kind words.

  14. Phil Peel
    Phil Peel says:
    July 4, 2013 at 3:55 AM

    Hey …well done. lovely film. You’re right ..it’s the small stories that work so well. You’ve inspired me to do the same. Thanks

  15. Mark Gambol
    Mark Gambol says:
    July 4, 2013 at 5:39 AM

    Very nice piece Julien. I enjoyed the pacing and loved the wider aspect ratio. Really worked for me. I have a hard time getting clients to go that way. A comment to help on your sound if I may… Tascam just came out with a new recorder, the DR60 I believe. I have one and it isn’t in front of me for the actual model number. A bit bigger than the Zoom but it can do 4 channels of audio. Best part is you can set channels 3 and 4 to be up to 20dB lower than channels 1 and 2. AMAZING feature! TAkes the panic and worry away on this kind of shoot. 24bit audio as well. Check it out and you won’t worry next time. Have a great 4th…

  16. Santiago Salviche
    Santiago Salviche says:
    July 9, 2013 at 8:49 AM

    Hey Shane,

    Thanks for all the information you have share.I just bumped in to your site by mistake and is just full of wonderful info. I am going to make all the ream come over and take a look. Well worth it.

    I have some staff, as well as myself that would love to join you in any of your ventures as interns, it would be an honor to learn from you and help you along the way.

    Thanks!!

    Santiago Salviche
    salviche@justpressrec.com

  17. Faith
    Faith says:
    August 23, 2013 at 11:07 AM

    Just wanted to chime in and give a big kudos to Julien for this fantastic article and beautiful film. Very well done. Many people ask me how to come up with a great documentary idea and your description nailed it.

  18. Lee Ann Perez
    Lee Ann Perez says:
    November 17, 2014 at 3:10 PM

    Are you currently looking for short stories?

  19. Cocklins Digital
    Cocklins Digital says:
    November 28, 2016 at 11:08 PM

    Great film. Very personal. Good Example that you dont need much to tell a story, but you need the story.

Comments are closed.

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