Documentary recommendations

fallofautumn

fallofautumn

As I'm in the middle of writing and editing and directing my first documentary, I'd like to take a look at some of the best from the genre. I've been on YouTube, MySpace video and the IFC Media Lab watching selections from their “documentary” sections, but, they're, err, not so good.

I've rented a few documentaries I've really liked. “$100 And A T-Shirt” is my favorite, but more for its subject matter than its production (though, for what they had to work with, I think it turned out great). “Super Size Me” was good. And I've seen all of the stuff Michael Moore did. While I can tell some of the footage is manipulated to get his point across, he does captivate his audience, and that's what I'm looking to do.

So many of the docs I found posted online had intros that were waaay too long, stayed on the same interviewee long enough to make him/her sound uninteresting. The lighting and sound were almost always bad - the questions were left in, when the interviewee's answers would have been enough. And there weren't cut-aways to keep my eyes from browsing other web pages while I ended up just listening to the doc.

I don't want mine to suffer the same fate.

Can you recommend some good documentaries? (even better if they were posted online, I live in an extremely small town with a horrible selection at the video store, and no netflix account, yet.) Ones that have held your interest, even if the subject matter wasn't something you'd normally pause for? I'm most interested in writing, self-publishing and the arts. But art pieces about art pieces never really do it for me. Maybe I just haven't seen the right ones.
 
fallofautumn said:
And I've seen all of the stuff Michael Moore did. While I can tell some of the footage is manipulated to get his point across, he does captivate his audience, and that's what I'm looking to do.
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I'm neutral on Moore films, he takes a valid point of view and manipulates it somewhat to make it as emotional as possible.

The best documentaries are the ones that grab your emotions and pull hard. If you have a subject you'd like to shoot and are passionate enough to put it to film (or video), pour your heart into it and make sure your audience feels your pain.

Those documentaries that make your shed a tear are almost always winners.

---

As an example of simplistic emotion, take a look at this short animation on YouTube. While it's a short, simple animation, anyone who dosen't cry at the end of it is a heartless bastard. :)
 
Why We Fight by Eugene Jarecki

The Last Waltz by Martin Scorsese

Little Dieter Needs to Fly by Werner Herzog

The Corporation by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott
 
fallofautumn said:
While I can tell some of the footage is manipulated to get his point across, he does captivate his audience, and that's what I'm looking to do.
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Wow, my lack of writing abilities never cease to amaze me. That sentence is meant to say: I'm looking to captivate the audience, not manipulate footage. Lol.

Thanks to everyone who has left a suggestion. I started a free two week trial membership at NetFlix and I'll pick up as many as I can.

=)
 
Oh, that HBO special Paperclips was really captivating for me.. I happened to be flipping channels one night and stopped on it, about half-way through, and stuck with it for the ending. I'm not a big fan of documentary, so that's gotta be saying something.
 
...I've been doing the same thing in terms of trying to watch all the documentaries I can.

My suggestion would be to make sure you look at everything, even the ones so low-tech that you feel you can do better. Sometimes a well told story can overcome the low tech look. And if you have a vision, that is important because maybe you have a way of presenting that no one else does....

Okay, so I recommend:

E Minha Cara (he has my face)

1 Giant Leap

Murderball (shot on DV)

Rising Low (about a band called Gov't Mule)

Dogtown & Z-Boys ...this is my all time favorite doc.

...if I come up with more, I'll post them :)

-- spinner :cool:
 
The Thin Blue Line is probably my favorite documentary. It uses a lot of recreations, so it's a good reference if you're looking to do some of those.

As far as interviewing subjects, the Up Series would be a good reference, I think. the most recent, 49 Up, is in theatres now.
 
I've seen a ton of docs - and the top three (for me) that come to mind are:

"Hoop Dreams" may be one of the best American film in the past couple decades and it's a doc - and no, you don't have to love basketball to get engaged in this film (although I'm sure that helps) - you can't write stuff this good.

"The Corporation"
"American Movie"
 
it is so important...please read it

hi!
I'm a mass communication student from FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY (PHILIPPINES).
I am required to have some interview to a Film makers from other country.

Hope that you can help me...

:)
 
What We Do Is Secret is a film about the influential punk band, the Germs. It's a feature narrative but it's shot in documentary style... really well done and fun to watch. It could help you make your actual documentaries as riveting as a narrative.
 
I never thought of Michael Moore as nothing more than Hollywood.

Gosh I forgot the name right now but someone here will know - a great documentary that didn't start out as one. It was a man who had collected childhood to adulthood footage of his best friend to film a memory of his after he was murdered by his wife. This guy took his camera and began filming all the legailties his deceased friends parents went through to gain custody of their grandchild. It took a turn when the wife took their son and ran off to Canada where laws there didn't allow her to be expidited back to Pa.
I wont spoil how it ended but this documentary is one of the best.

It is named after the little boy - Sean's story or something - its just I forgot the childs name.
 
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Helvetica - a lovely documentary about... the font. :huh:

Confessions of a Superhero - Broke actors makin' a livin'

Iraq In Fragments - Oops. Sorry, guys. :blush:

My Father, The Genius - daughter interviews her "loser" father, an architect.

Who The F*** Is Jackson Pollack? - blue-collar redneck thinks she owns a million-dollar painting



Lots of good ones out there. :)
 
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