{"id":2821,"date":"2014-10-08T02:49:52","date_gmt":"2014-10-08T02:49:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/?p=2821"},"modified":"2014-10-14T02:04:10","modified_gmt":"2014-10-14T02:04:10","slug":"cynthia-kahn-documentary-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amusednow.com\/blog\/cynthia-kahn-documentary-weekend\/","title":{"rendered":"Cynthia Kahn ~ Documentary Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Cynthia

Cynthia Kahn<\/p><\/div>\n

Mark Grimes and Perry Gruber organized the first-ever Documentary Weekend in Portland, OR on September 26 and 27. I didn\u2019t know anything about filmmaking, so I signed up to meet some new creative people and to learn something about making a documentary.<\/p>\n

I had an amazing weekend! We filmed two documentaries, a two-minute film on Friday night and a five-minute film on Saturday. So, I guess, now I\u2019m a filmmaker.<\/p>\n

We were a small group of fifteen participants. We came with different levels of expertise, positive attitudes, iPhone\/iPad\/professional grade cameras, sound equipment (if we had it), laptops and zero prior planning. No pre-organized teams. No one even knew the topics.<\/p>\n

Before we were given our first assignment, Matt Monroe (freelance photographer, soundman and founder of Nasty Clamps) gave us a hands-on lesson about what it\u2019s like to be a soundman and techniques to reduce background noise. Then, we paired into teams of two.<\/p>\n

Our first assignment was to pick a quote and create a documentary around it. Quotes are interesting. Everybody knows them, but not everyone feels strongly enough about them to be inspired with great ideas for a film. After discussing multiple ideas, my partner, Joe Aleman, and I decided to go with: \u201cA way to a man\u2019s heart is through his stomach.\u201d It was Friday night and we were across the street from one of the biggest collection of food carts in Portland; the perfect setting to film a documentary about food.<\/p>\n

So, Joe pulled out his iPad and I set out to interview different sets of people on the topic. We talked to an older couple, a young couple, a gay couple, a man from Morocco and a single woman. The results were quite comical.<\/p>\n

My first filmmaking lessons learned: 1) Two hours is not enough time to plan, film and edit even a short two-minute documentary; and 2) Even though the iPad has a pretty decent camera, the sound quality is not that great. We felt pretty good about the film, but the sound is pretty low. If you want a good laugh, before you watch my first film, turn up the volume and get ready to smile:<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

The Way to a Man’s Heart<\/h2>\n