Some beginnings

Like any art work, making a documentary is a birth of sorts.  It's long, painful and laborious and somehow after going through the whole process, you want to do it again.

                                         Birth of Venus by Alexandre Cabanel

So, here I am again in the beginning stages of a new documentary project.  At the moment, I am laying down some groundwork and letting my ideas percolate.  I drafted a letter today to my teacher telling her about the project and asking for her feedback on how to proceed.  It has taken weeks to draft this email, but it is almost complete and ready to send.   After this, I will create a storyboard, which I will use to help pitch the project and also help me to organize my ideas.  Otherwise, I have 2 cameras (a DSLR and a regular video camera)  at my disposal and need to figure out which one I want to use.  In order to figure this out I have been doing short interviews with people I know.  The DSLR shoots a beautiful image, which is perhaps a little too beautiful and perfect at times.  I have noticed watching other people's work that this kind of image can almost be distracting.  I also find the camera a bit difficult to focus and manipulate at times, so I may end up using the video camera, which also shoots a great image, but allows me to feel like I can move around.  Well, I have another interview planned for today with DSLR and I will see how that goes.

So, that is all for now.  I look forward to sending the letter off to my teacher and getting her response. If she gives me the sense that the school will be open and supportive of the project then things will start to roll.