Why The Documentary Style is Taking Over Hollywood

Documentary verite cinematography is showing up more and more in Hollywood. But what is verite, and how can we learn to shoot it well? #filmmaking #cinematography

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CHAPTERS

0:00 - Intro
0:56 - Why Doc Cinematographers have been looked down on by Hollywood
3:34 - Why is the Doc style creeping more these days
5:04 - Techniques that make for strong Verite shooting
6:13 - Think wide and get close
8:35 - Dirty up your frames
10:17 - Nail your handheld
12:12 - Backlight whenever possible

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IG: @lucforsyth

[danielhahn]

"Use your feet to get closer to your characters" i loved that

[BrianArtka]

Excellent tips Luc... I've been doing these for years; always nice to watch a refresher on them. Enhancing the light that is already there is such a huge but underated tip. Heavier = better for camera rigs.. yes! I think people don't realize this.. also; points of contact on the camera; an EVF is a nice third/fourth point. I never use autofocus with the stories I film.. even if a shot I am in the middle of has me searching for focus.. its organic.. It also makes you feel like your perspective makes that shot/shots work. I could go on and on.. thanks for sharing these and your thoughts on Verite. I 100% agree.

[cherishchee]

I’ve been bingeing your videos for the past week and learning so much. I’m an aspiring filmmaker and professional photographer and found your style engaging and videos incredibly helpful. Thank you Luc!

[matt.banton]

Thank you for taking the time to put this together Luc! Clear, insightful and actionable, love it

[lawrencesacay]

This is great timing where I’ll be filming a documentary for a thesis project this summer! I’ve been following this channel closely to get tips. Thank you!

[JeanPaulBelmondo-jngt]

great vid, thanks Luc for everything, please keep these coming!

[jiancarloulloaart]

I know this may sound counterproductive, but a third option for shaky hands with small cameras is to use the gimbal in FFW mode or sport mode. That usually eliminates shakiness and offers a handheld feel.

[MojoPapiFPV]

Felt the same way when I first watched Dune at home but when I saw it on a proper IMAX screen for Part 2 I confirmed my suspicion that the streaming version crop was stifling and made the lenses seem much longer than they actually were. When viewing it in the native aspect ratio the film felt completely different and was much more immersive. Hopefully they'll release an original aspect ratio version for streaming or BluRay.

[evilpigskin]

You've been inspiring a lot so I will start with some mini docs to start my YouTube channel and get some practice, so this video is obviously a little step into the right direction. Thanks and keep it up!
Greets from Mexico.

[hamedn]

very very valuable video ... thank you!

[elizeusantos]

Thank you so much, really appreciate learning from you

[travdogfilms]

I think there are some situations where long lenses can give a sense of realism. For example Cassavetes and Abbas Kiraostami even some of the Safdies earlier stuff give this feeling as if the cameras are depicting very intimate moments without being choreographed. Shooting from far away feels as if the actors aren’t even aware of that they’re being filmed the camera follows the actor in a fashion similar to the observational approach in some documentaries.

[jimmyonfilm]

Hey Luc! Great video, I’m falling in love with this style of cinematography more and more. One thing I don’t completely agree with is the wide lens discussion. A lot of documentaries are shot on longer lenses and zooms (as you said.) For example Captain Philips (just like most of the movies shot by Barry Ackroyd like The Big Short and The Hurt Locker) is almost always on long very compressed focal lengths but I don’t think it makes any less veritè. Just wanted to know what you think about it :) great video!

[nealhope]

Roger Deakins also discusses the use of close-ups with wide lenses, affirming Luc's statements. This channel provides high-quality information comparable to what I encountered while studying documentary filmmaking at university in Vancouver. My professor was the director of the film "Bombies" (2001).

[aerozg]

The first film i remember using this documentary style approach was the "Right Stuff" (1983) by P. Kaufman. I first saw it as a kid back in the late '80s, and it was exactly because they used actual footage from the official NASA space program archives, that it was so deeply ingrained in my memory, as a deep and serious film, as opposed to Top Gun for example.

[marcowenzel]

Thanks Luc great insights. One question i ask myself as a documentary filmmaker often. Shooting wide brings you in the scene and makes it more immersive as you said, but you with the obvious camera become much more disturbing/seen to the people you´re shooting. Often i find it better, when they forget that there is a camera shooting them. What is your approach to that? I´m thankful for a good advice or some experience.

[robertruffo]

It really isn't taking over Hollywood. There have always been some movies like that, and some movies with other styles. Surveys show that more audiences than not do not like the documentary style, particularly women. I personally do not want everything I watch to be ugly-gritty-depressing In Canada I'm an outcast to many in the film community, which has been saying what you are saying for the 20 years I have been in the business, but I don't really care. BTW Children of Men as what, 15 years ago? More? And Barbie was last summer. So... Not really an example of how something is supposedly currently trending.

[robinprobyn]

In the UK this move from doc to features was already happening in the 60, 70, s, maybe more so than in the US. Roger Deakins, Chris Menges, Barry Ackroyd all came from doc, s and I think their feature film work is clearly influenced by that background . I assisted Barry Ackroyd for 6 years in the UK in the 80, s, he always used zooms and those small motivated zooms are pretty much his trade mark move. When I was his focus puller he actually didn't want the focus pulls to be nailed, he said go past and come back and find it. Easily done in the days before monitors :) .. best DP to be a focus puller for !.

[metapirateTV]

Amazing. I've been shooting Cinema verite (Direct Cinema) style docs for 8 years now. Took a Doc class in 2015. I want to bring it into my films. Amazing you're sating this.

[zakforsman]

This really kicked off with the French New Wave.