Our Side of Joy – More Shooting

So, alas I am back to need to shoot more footage for my documentary Our Side of Joy. I first shot this film in 2008 and shot another interview with the twins in 2009 and found myself having a hard time putting the film together. I’m still having a hard time and I’ve requested time to shoot another interview.

Part of the reason is when looking at the film I’ve already shot, so much has changed in the twins lives. They are now both single, living together and the kids are 2 years older. So I felt that was a good reason to shoot more footage. I also noticed they were far more comfortable and expressive during the last interview. I think they would be even more so because they are more familiar with the process.

I also heard the most useful bit of information about documentary film editing I’ve ever heard that can and should be applied to the production phase of the film. Part of my problem is I have a lot of footage that simply doesn’t support a fluid story. I thought I had my story together before filming but I didn’t. I was out Googling for information on the best ways to edit documentary films when I stumbled across a short video clip where a guy talked about how he categorizes his footage like chapters in a book. It was quite a Eureka moment for me. Being that I’m a writer, it instantly made sense. I am telling a story! Yes, it is on video/film but it’s still a story. Organizing a documentary like one would the chapters of a book works and it works well! As soon as that sunk in, I began a documentary “Table of Contents” so to speak. It helped me plan a better story for my film and now I know what I need to shoot to support that story. It also helps me remove all footage that doesn’t support my story.

I also think this new process will help me film more documentaries and complete them quickly with high quality storytelling results. I’m already in the planning stages of my fourth documentary.

This post was written by:

Tressa Sanders - who has written 107 posts on Three West.

Tressa Sanders, founder of Three West Creative Development, Asabi Publishing, and Ijaba Films, provides active learning, workshops for business Image, publishing, creative writing, graphics design, and filmmaking. In addition, she has authored the curriculum for the Big Bad Business Image, Concise Publishing, and Creative Writing workshops as well as several literary titles. Tressa also holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Psychology and authored the introduction for a book titled “A Peek Inside the Goo: Depression & The Borderline Personality”. Prior to becoming a filmmaker, Tressa was a well established Information Technology professional working with the largest IT, communication, utilities and financial companies in the country. Some of the companies Tressa has worked for include, the New York Independent System Operator, GE Capital Business Asset Funding, IBM Global Services, AT & T Wireless, Hewlett Packard, MCI/Worldcom, GTE, and Sprint. Her areas of expertise include: Publishing Startup & Planning, Business Image Planning, Creative Writing Development, Effective Graphics Design, Cost Conservative Filmmaking.

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