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SUDAN
 * Looking over the details: Sorting through the information**

Take2 Videos Example:
 * 1.** Read through the flowcharts. This will give you an overview of all the stories that exist on the raw footage and how they fit together. Finished? Go back and read them again. The decisions you make now will define your entire project. Determine what themes interest you the most. Example: (Sudan) Medicine: then look at the individual story modules that within that flow chart. Choose one. Example Butcher/Surgeon
 * 2.** Now either go to the tape numbers that correspond to that module: Butcher 25,26,27,28,30,,31,32,33 or do a keyword search (in this case "butcher" and "surgeon" to start with and the "Gamar" once you learn his name).
 * Butcher (Pages 28, 91-94, 101-104, 115-117, 120, 128, 151).
 * Surgeon: (Pages 28,104).
 * Gamar : (Pages 91-95, 104, 114-115, 120-127, 144...)

By now you will have discovered that there is also an interview of the Butcher/Surgeon. This is very important – you‘ll want to go over it carefully and note specific lines that are dramatic/intriguing/surprising. A documentary is ALWAYS stronger if you can use the words of the people in it rather than a voice-over narration.


 * 3.** Read the relevant tape summaries you looked up in Step 2. Use a highlighter. Now think about it. What issues grabbed you? What surprised you? What shocked you? If it intrigued you, then it will intrigue an audience. If nothing grabbed you, then go back and to Step 1 and find another subject. It‘s worth putting the time in now, rather than spending the rest of the semester on a topic that doesn‘t really interest you.


 * 4.** Your premise will still be somewhat vague at this point but this is where you start to grapple with the issues that will shape your documentary. What‘s your story arc? What are your point(s) of view? What‘s your theme, your punch line? Your first instincts are usually (but not always) good, so write them down. Spend a lot of time on this. This is the where you refine your message based on the information at hand and how you will mold the message using the footage. If you don‘t work hard to clarify your project over the next few sessions, then your entire film will be muddy.


 * Example: **Bad Idea (Butcher/Surgeon):** “Yuck! Can you imagine a culture so primitive that the guy who kills the sheep is also the doctor? I’m going to prove that we’re so much more sophisticated than that. Those people can’t be very smart, can they?


 * Example: **Good Idea (Butcher/Surgeon):** Hey, there’s a Doctors without Borders hospital within spitting distance of the refugee camp. Why would the refugees trust the camp butcher over the western hospital (hint: it’s not because they’re stupid)? What is his background and training? He uses a dried chicken skin to help heal a boy with a compound fracture. When I go on the internet I see that this technique is used on several continents. What is the point of it and is there some medicinal value to his methods? How could medicine in the camp be improved? Is there any way to combine the strengths of the western hospital with the Gamar’s strengths? Etc.


 * Planning the outline of my documentary**: **What is this going to be about??**


 * 5.** Write out your story points (three by five index cards are very useful here). Consider these things:


 * POINT OF VIEW**

Who is your audience? This is important to figure this out early on.
 * You will be creating a very different film if it is meant for 6th graders than if you want to use it to raise money from the Rotary Club.
 * Whose story are you telling? You can choose not to have a "voice" in your documentary and make it "news" style and as impartial as possible, or
 * You can choose the individual or group that is most affected by your story and let it be their story. This doesn't mean you can't explore both sides of an issue; it just means that you are going to put a real face on one side of the issue and allow them to personalize the story.
 * If you choose to follow a character, you will need to flesh him/her out with personality, motivations, hopes, dreams, etc. Make us care about your story and the people in it.
 * A compelling documentary should not only be factually correct; it should also be engaging and emotionally compelling. "Don't just sell the steak, sell the sizzle." Find the sizzle in your story, because that is what is going to grab and hold your audience.
 * And remember that even a personal story should have some universal appeal.
 * Few issues are black and white. Of course educating the children in the refugee camp is a good thing. But what happens to a traditional family structure and to a society when the children suddenly know more than their parents? Show all sides of the issue and actively seek out the unexpected ones.


 * DRAMATIC STRUCTURE**

Every story must have a clear thread that the viewer can follow. That means it must have a BEGINNING, a MIDDLE, and an END. This sounds obvious, but you‘d be amazed how many people forget this simple rule. They start in the middle and baffle their audience, or they forget to end things and leave everyone hanging. You must define these three ―acts‖ early on and continue to refine them as you pull together your story.
 * Beginning: Does your story have a great hook that will grab your audience from the get-go and hold them? Is it visual, verbal, funny, profound, surprising (try not to make it gross)?
 * Middle: This is the meat of your story. The beginning may hook ‗em, but now you have to hold ‗em. Make them care. Keep them on the edge of their seats.
 * End: What is your punch line? How are you going to satisfy your audience? If you just let your film fade out, then you will have wasted all of your efforts. Your conclusion doesn‘t have to provide a solution to world hunger, but you should come up with ―food for thought, so that your audience has something to mull over in the car on the way home.

TIP: Are you going to tell your story chronologically, or will you jump around? Be careful with the latter – it‘s hard enough to maintain clarity with a straightforward timeline. It‘s almost impossible if you‘re leaping around like a hyperactive cricket.

TIP: If possible, include one or more dramatic events. This can be difficult in a very short piece, but watch a few commercials and you‘ll realize that virtually all of them have a dramatic moment, even though they‘re only 30 seconds long.

TIP: Similarly, look for a tilt. This is the moment when you surprise your viewers with an unexpected twist. If your audience knows exactly how your documentary will evolve and how it will end, then why should they bother to watch it?


 * TONE AND TREATMENT**


 * How** do you want your story to be heard?
 * Do you want to create a formal documentary with voice-over narration and drops to interviews and B-roll?
 * Do you want to do a Cinéma Vérité piece where the camera seems to just exist as it captures everything around it? Many documentaries these days have the raw reality look of the "Cops" TV show with hand-held cameras loosely carried on shoulders.
 * Do you want to do a music video?
 * Do you want to go really out on a limb and create one of those cutting-edge film festival submissions that seem to have no plot or storyline at all?

Go to middle of page on How to video editing movies:
 * How To with Adobe**

Adobe Premiere Elements Tutorial


 * Examples of Short Film/Documentaries**

My Hero

Complete a mind map of the tools you use that make your life easier. Use the template below to brainstorm the things you are able to do as a result of using these tools.

Tools I Use

Inventing and Giving

Watch this video and then write down your ideas on the process of innovation. Respond to these questions in a Word document and save to your H:Drive
 * What is innovation?
 * How can it be used to help others?
 * What are considered advancements related to culture? (How do we define technological advancement versus how Sudan defines it?)

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