Very new to filmmaking. Wanting to make a documentary.

I posted this on yahoo answers and got nothing back. I'd love to hear your knowledge. Tell me i'm stupid and what could go wrong and all of that, because I literally know nothing about this stuff, but want to learn.
"Here's the deal. I want to make a documentary. It will all be filmed from my iphone, because I don't really have any other options, and it works well. I'm thinking I may carry around a voice recorder, because the sound quality of my iphone isn't fit for all of the settings I find myself in, such as concerts.

I'm in my senior year of high school. I work at the dairy queen down from my school with my best friend, my brother, and the kid that lived across the street from me since we were three till we were thirteen. My brother is a year older than me and a freshman at the U of O, out local college. Him, the neighborhood kid, named Dylan, our friend named Cameron, who goes to a school across town from us, Josh, who is also a freshman in college, and Daniel, a kid I've known since kindergarten, are all in a band together. They're pretty good, and trying to make it in Eugene's music scene that consists of mostly metal. (They are far from metal.) Daniel is leaving in June for boot camp. He's enlisted in the marines, and it really sucks. This is the last year it will be us neighborhood kids running our games. We already had our last summer.
Next to that, my mom, my brother, and I have two roommates that we got this summer. They're an artist guy and his 11 year old son from Arizona. It's a weird situation, but it works so well, we all just consider ourselves some weird family in the middle of hippie-eugene.

So what I'm asking is, how do I make this documentary interesting? They're usually very informative, and I feel like there isn't much information to be offered."
 
First off, there is nothing wrong with making a doc on an iphone and using an external voice recorder is that is all you can get. Better to go ahead and do it with that than nothing at all.

Second, you're documentary will be greatly aided if you go through the older threads here and read up on different aspects of film making. Even if you think they will not apply to you or ur case, it's good to read them because a lot of unexpected situations arise when you're making a film and it's better to have as much information as possible.

Third and lastly, as to how you can make your documentary interesting, a lot of different people can give you different ideas. I can tell you that you could focus on one main person (someone else or yourself) and tell the the story of how that person changed and became who he/she is as a person over the years by being in contact with these family and friends. Now he/she is going off into the world and it's the last time they'll all be together and it's bittersweet yet a crucial part in ones formative years.
Other members can give you several other ideas.

But it's your own approach and your own choice in style that will make it interesting and yours. Don't be afraid to make a plan and tell the story you want to tell.

Goodluck and send me a link if you ever put this doc online :)
 
One of the greatest comedy writers of all time started as an insurance saleman. Gene Perret, knew nothing about comedy writing and decided he would learn a new skill. Gene broke down the art of comedy step by step and after several years of working hard, he mastered the art. Gene learned the patterns and the cadence of successful writers and emulated the greats of his time. Gene Perret later wrote for Carol Burnett Show, Bob Hope, All in the Family, "Welcome Back, Kotter," "Three's Company," and "The Tim Conway Show." and many more.

Point being, learn the steps of delivery in a documentary that you like. Plan the Intro, Information, back story, life of the players, surprises, build suspense etc. Evaluate the style and come up with your own. Im sure there is a way you can write down what phase a documentary is in, how long it takes and the steps involved in the delivery of the story

My advice would be to work on the cadence and patterns, and shoot your stuff accordingly . Start small, test the results and when you are good, you will know it. Don't do it like I did want to do a huge project and fail miserably. I learned a lot, yet I have miles to go.

Good luck & have fun. You can get decent sound with simple tools. You MUST master the art of sound otherwise you will have something that hurts the ears. i use a simple lav mic plugged into a pocket digital recorder on many of my projects and Im ok w/ the sound. A cheap mic close to the speaker's mouth is better than an expensive mic several feet away. Listen to the sound guys on Indietalk and their advice. Alcove is one of our sound guys and he knows his stuff.

WELCOME !
 
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I would echo much of what has been said and add, "Just do it." You can learn a heck of a lot from books and by watching other documentaries, but to really learn - get out there and start doing it. I'm a fan of the "trial by fire" method. It's like riding a bike - you don't really learn how to do it until you get on the bike. Then each project after that will get better and better. Don't let anyone talk you down - go do it.

And please post on your progress!
 
The camera and voice recorder are fine.

THIS is your problem.

I feel like there isn't much information to be offered.

Not your age, not your subject, not your equipment.

If you think there isn't much information to be offered for
your specific subject you cannot make it interesting. No
one could - not even the best documentary filmmaker in
the world. You need a subject that you find very interesting.
If YOU feel there is a lot of information that other people
would like to know, then you have yourself a great documentary.

When you find something that is interesting to you, the
documentary will almost make itself.
 
The camera and voice recorder are fine.

THIS is your problem.



Not your age, not your subject, not your equipment.

If you think there isn't much information to be offered for
your specific subject you cannot make it interesting. No
one could - not even the best documentary filmmaker in
the world. You need a subject that you find very interesting.
If YOU feel there is a lot of information that other people
would like to know, then you have yourself a great documentary.

When you find something that is interesting to you, the
documentary will almost make itself.

I like this a lot. I think that's some of the best advice to be found in this thread. I also think reading through old articles on this thread could be of great help. This is a fantastic resource. A lot of the people here have been working at their craft for a long time, and they've been sharing those experiences on this forum. You're definitely in the right place.

Welcome, and I'd venture to say you've definitely come to the right place.
 
I did a doc for a class, we did 5 interviews, then just strung them together as a conversation on the talking points. If you take a look at our site, you can see all of the source interviews and how we strung them together:
Source: http://yafiunderground.com/Anth/Doc-Clips/review.html
Final: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dCMplS-nUw

We actually went so far as to transcribe the interviews so we could basically write the script from the dialog pieces we had... a bit backwards, but I like that process.
 
Yeah man, so what if you have an iphone and voice recorder, it should get the job done fine, plus I happen to like the iPhone's video capabilities.

Any like a few people said in here, you need to make a documentary on something you know a lot about, something that works for you.

Good luck!
 
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