If you’re following this blog you know that I wrote a few documentary film makers asking them for advice. One person who did write me back was Tom Naughton who created the documentary “Fat Head” (essentially a rebuttal of Morgan Spurlock’s “Super Size Me“). He was very kind and encouraging and also gave me some great ideas. From the film clips of his movie you can see that it had some great animations. Apparently he was able to do most of this himself using Photoshop and After Effects. It’s something I’ll have to keep in mind.

Click here to check out some clips from Tom’s great movie.

Today I was reading about George Washington and the Newburgh Conspiracy. I think this is a great story and really illustrates one of the themes that I want my doc to contain. That, ideally, the government is run by the people. America is a nation of citizens run by citizen legislators, not subjects ruled by government overlords. Whether America still embodies this ideal, or has been sliding away from it, is of course up for discussion. Still, if you want to know the direction you are going it is useful to look at where you’ve been. At Newburgh Washington could potentially have made himself King of America if he wanted to. He chose a different path. I can think of few instances in history where someone can potentially gain a great amount of power but doesn’t take it. In my view this is an exceptional moment in American History. If you want to read more about what I’m babbling about check it out here:

Newburgh Conspiracy

One thing I’m really looking for now with my doc is great stories which bring to focus the animating principles of America life. I don’t want my doc to be a boring lecture of political / economic theory. At all times I need to focus on stories that hit people emotionally, that they can relate to their own lives. I know that no one wants to sit through an economics lecture. At any rate back to work.

Today I wrote to a few people who have made low budget documentaries to see if they had any advice for me. These people were:

Evan Coyne Maloney – He runs the website “brain terminal” http://brain-terminal.com/ – he also created a doc on higher education. However there was no link that I could see from his website. Evan – You’re DVD’s link is a bad link!
Tom Naughton – He created the documentary “Fat Head” http://fathead-movie.com/ – I was really impressed with the cartoons / graphics he used in his film.
Michael Wilson – He created the documentary “Michael Moore Hates America” and blogs occasionally at Big Hollywood.

If any of them write me back I’ll let you know what they say (provided my e-mail works, of course).

I also started e-mailing different organizations in order to get free images / video that I might be able to use in my film. The companies I e-mailed today are:

Ford Motor Company
Apple
General Electric
DuPont
Boeing
Microsoft

What is great is that a lot of these companies seem to have media galleries that I think I can use. Microsoft, Apple and DuPont seem to fall into this category.

Boeing has a whole section on images. However they charge for their images. As I’m financing this thing myself I doubt I’ll be using them.

I’m going to start exploring government agencies as well starting tomorrow. Anything the government produces is usually public use. This is probably a better option for me although it’s good to know that I can potentially get a lot of images from corporations too.

First of all I want to say that from now on I’m planning on blogging nearly everyday about my film making journey. I’ve been busy working on other projects but now I  think I can devote my full attention to my film project. It’s going to need it.

In order to make my film I figure I’m going to need three things:

• Interviews and stories from average Americans
• Interviews with noted Authors and Experts
• As much free imagery and video as I can get from government agencies / companies etc.

The first two I’m not so concerned about. When I set up interviews with people like Angelo Codevilla I’m planning on going to them. From there I’ll do man on the street interviews to get the average Americans thoughts. However now that I think about it if I could set up interviews with people who have a real “American Dream” type story that would be great too. Hopefully my social networking plan will allow me to reveal such people in time.

Getting free imagery / video is going to be critical. However all  government agencies, not to mention tourism bureau’s etc have royalty free images and video that I could potentially use. Big corporations like GE, Microsoft, GM etc should also have free stuff I could use to help me construct my film. One aspect I am going to want to stress is American innovation. Having images of cars flowing off the assembly line or Microsoft computers should really help this. Tomorrow this is going to be my main goal.

I actually got this idea from Phelim McAleer who made the documentary “Not Evil Just Wrong”. I was actually lucky enough to meet him when he premiered his movie in Vancouver. I’ll have more to say on this in the future.

Currently I’m actually writing an outline for my movie which I’m hoping will save me a lot of time down the rode. I’m also reading Paul Rahe’s book “Soft Despotism – Democracies Drift”. I know that Peter Robinson is going to be interviewing Professor Rahe on Uncommon Knowledge this week, so I’ll definitely be tuning in for that.

I know this post has been a bit of a mish mash of ideas. Future posts should be much more focused. Right now my mind is just whirling with possibilities and things I need to do. One step at a time.

Gordon Sinclair - author of "The Americans"

Well, here I go on my latest endeavor. What exactly is it? Well, I intend to to make a movie – a documentary to be exact. Have I ever done this before? No. Do I know what I’m doing? Not really. Working in my favor however I do have the two most important ingredients required when starting any new endeavor: Ignorance (by the boatload) and arrogance. This is going to be the main focus of this blog. Documenting my progress as I learn about how to make my movie. Some of the topics that I will likely cover in the coming months include:

• Technical Stuff – Like how to use Final Cut Pro. I don’t even have this program yet but I can see the need in getting it.
• Reviews of Documentaries – I’m planning on watching a number of documentaries and I’ll write up reviews and put them here.
• Interviews with other Documentary Filmmakers – If possible I would love to talk to others who have already done what I’m attempting. Even if I can only interview then using iChat or a similar service.

So, that’s what one part of what this blog will be about. How to make a documentary / film. The other? It will deal with the ideas of whatever project I am working on at the moment. The film idea I have currently kicking around in my head will be called “The Americans”. It is partially inspired by Gordon Sinclair’s (somewhat) famous radio broadcast in 1973. You can read about the events surrounding the original broadcast HERE . You can watch a video I made of his original broadcast below:

Can you see where I’m going with this? It is my intention to make a movie that will ask questions such as these:

• What do other nations not appreciate about America? What do they take for granted?
• What do Americans themselves not appreciate about their country and its history?
• What were the factors / values that allowed America to rise to its pre-eminent state in the world today? What happens if it looses those? What will be the consequences for itself and the world?

Why are Canadians so funny? Well, look at it this way. Americans grow up watching television. Canadians grow up watching Americans on television

- Mike Myers on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

I’m not sure if that’s an exact quote, but I think I’m remembering the just of it. In my case however I have always been fascinated with economics and political culture, particularly American economics and political culture. Simply by osmosis I’ve basically grown up watching our neighbors to the south.  I think I’m going to bring a unique perspective to the whole scene. I’m Canadian, but an extremely conservative and free market oriented one. I think I’m going to be able to create something extremely unique. Does this sound interesting to you? If so then buckle up. I’m promising one hell of a ride.

Sincerely,

David Nordmark

PS – If I’m going to pull this off I’m going to need your help. One way you can help is by simply using the social media buttons at the bottom of this post. The other is by commenting on my blog. I’m hoping to use the “meta mind” of the internet to narrow down some of my ideas for the film. Let’s say I post an article on gun control in the States . If you agree/disagree with it please comment! However anything you post please back it up with facts whenever possible.
PPS – And just so you know I’m NOT mindlessly anti gun. Although I don’t necessarily like the idea of people being able to buy bazookas I also question the wisdom of the state taking away a citizens right to defend their own homes – even with deadly force, if necessary. But that’s a topic for another day.