Payind 1

Zainab Payind
Period - 4
English CP 12
WHITE
October 19, 2016
Research Paper
The purpose of this senior project is to focus on the documentary filmmaking side of film
and cinema. The student is working on creating a documentary for the euthanization of animals
in shelters. There are many precautionary ways and steps to follow in order to make a
documentary. These steps aid in the most clear way to produce a documentary of any kind.
On the site, WikiHow, DreamGal2 insists that ...you should definitely have a plan before
you start shooting, including an outline of specific footage you want to shoot. Having a plan
ahead of time will give you extra time to schedule interviews, work around scheduling conflicts,
etc.. Planning ahead of time provides a safety net of possibilities, something right or wrong may
occur in the documentary process and that possibility needs to be accounted for in scheduling
and time management. Another step in the process of documentary filmmaking is developing a
story. Will someone other than you care about this film? Is this a compelling story? Will it make
your viewers laugh and cry? (Paar, 2010). It takes a compelling story to make a compelling
documentary. Since documentaries are fact based, something that is controversial and filled with
information will benefit your storytelling abilities in creating a documentary (Paar, 2010).
A life rights agreement obligates the subject selling his/her life rights to cooperate with
the buyer (Ravid, 2015). This is one of the many legal concerns to keep in mind while filming a
documentary. Fair Use is a legal theory and an exception to copyright that one can use a defense

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(Ravid, 2015). This means that when someone decides to sue your documentary for copyright
you have the right to using a fair use theory to protect your rights in filming. With proper
thinking, planning and good lawyering, contracts can help clarify exactly what people intend and
mean by certain terms or phrases (Ravid, 2015). Having a contract for interviewee's to sign and
agree to makes the overall process of filming a subject legal and clear for both parties.
Enter your film in a festival for a chance at getting it shown (DreamGal2, 2016). Film
festivals offer a chance for you to gain visibility as a director. At film festivals, directors often are
asked to talk about themselves and their film in panel discussions and Q&A sessions
(DreamGal2, 2016). Distributing your films to film festivals benefits you to have an event to
broadcast your work and what your cause is. It allows for an audience to become interested in
what you do and give you honest feedback on your work. Film festivals are a great way to find
that community especially documentary film festivals (Curry 2015). To find that certain genre
in film that a filmmaker particularly has an interest to and to be able to fit into that genre in film
festivals is a huge accomplishment to your work.
The focus of this senior project is to educate the public of the euthanization of animals.
The audience is being informed of this pressing issue by it being creatively done in the form of a
documentary. Within this documentary there are many steps into the process of creating a film as
detailed as a documentary, which includes legal issues such as copyright, fair use theory, life
rights, ect. The steps also include distributing the film itself to film festivals. The overall impact
of this senior project will inform the general public of one of the many pressing issues in our
world today.
Works Cited

Dreamgal2. "Create a Good Documentary Film." WikiHow. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2016.

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Http://www.indiewire.com/author/cfg/. "8 Legal Tips for Documentary Filmmakers."

IndieWire. N.p., 09 July 2015. Web. 05 Oct. 2016.

Http://www.indiewire.com/author/cfg/. "Hot Docs: 9 Tips On How To Make Your First

Documentary." IndieWire. N.p., 30 Apr. 2014. Web. 05 Oct. 2016.

"Legal, Consent & Copyright Issues for Documentary Filmmaking." DesktopDocumentaries.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2016.

Paar, Morgan. "How to Make a Documentary." Www.Videomaker.com. N.p., 20 May

2010. Web. 5 Oct. 2016.