Exotic World of documentary film-making by Journalists

“Independent documentaries are more and more important as trusted sources of information for American citizens.  .... we discovered that both journalists and filmmakers have cultivated a rich and sometimes informal body of knowledge about different aspects of journalistic documentaries,” says Patricia Aufderheide, professor and the principal investigator of the  report by the centre of Media and Social Impact at American University. 

Explore Filmmaking Course  by National Film and TelevisionSchool (NTFS)

Exploiting the power of film to tell the stories can be exotic for journalists as pointed out by the report. There are no professional credentials required either for Journalism or film production. The report says that boundaries between art of documentary making and journalism are blurring. Back in the days when CNN, Aljazeera, and Geo introduced documentaries to tell the investigative stories to the television viewers, I always dreamed of making documentaries. So when I heard that National Film and Television School has announced an online course 'Exploring Filmmaking', I could not help myself and joined it instantly. But let me confess, I was totally ignorant of the process of filmmaking. I was not even able to distinguish between the director and the producer.

But the course took me to a journey from Scriptwriting to the Screen.   Let me confess again that I did not understand everything that was presented but felt that even if I can digest 40 to 50 percent of the contents, it 'll be a big success. I realized that the art of film productions is a pretty challenging project.   Much more difficult than producing an investigative report as a feature writer.

British Academy of Film and Television Arts

I was intrigued by the idea of short films from 90 seconds to 40 minutes, which can be produced by even individuals. The world of BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts)  was opened to me in the very first week. The Bafta Guru's inspirational contents included 400 interviews with film professionals. I watched three video productions in a day i.e "The Road to Guantanamo" (Story of three Guantanamo detainees from Tipton England); and two short films i.e. The mass of men (In the backdrop of 2011 London riots); and Echo (a story about a girl who uses her extraordinary talent in acting  to earn money by deceiving people on roads)

The distinction between plot and theme

In second week writer and the director of  'Gone too far,'  Destiny Ekaragha discussed the distinction between plot and theme and says that Film is a great way to tell stories. While writing too far, she had a feeling that black youth is demonized as just horrible people by the British Society

How to produce in budget and other restraints

The most interesting part of learning began in the third week when the director of Mass of the men discussed low-cost productions. It was fascinating to know that while writing the script you shouldn't bother about the budget and the director and the production team can decide how a scene can be changed according to cost. Mike Figgs gave marvelous tips about low-cost lighting and Camera options.

The power of editing

The fifth week reviewed how editing can be efficient in so many ways. It was fascinating that editor not only put the sense of time and space but they can also change the perception of the characters as scriptwriters and directors. Although I could not grasp it fully. However, the use of flashbacks and deciding how much a scene is needed after the shooting were the exciting ideas.