When the last of my filmmaking buddies left for Los Angeles I was lost. I realized I had a choice. 1). I could mope–which I did for about three weeks. 2). I could start all over making new connections–which is fun but time-consuming. 3). I could become a one-woman filmmaking crew. I chose #3. I had to find a way to make a short completely on my own. That meant I would be writer, producer, director, DP, editing, and craft services all rolled into one. That sounded exciting. But I knew I’d need to scale down the project in size and complexity.
I had wanted to make short documentaries for a while but even that kind of project takes a crew. So I went smaller. I decided to make a micro documentary. I could make a very short film that takes a brief look into something or someone. Just enough of a look to draw attention to it; to tantalize the viewer with that micro glimpse.
Check out my first micro documentary, Poetry On Demand. It’s about the creative students at San Jose State University who write poetry on the spot at their Lit Factory booth.
I had a blast filming, as I always do, and it got me out of the moping. Instead of languishing–I was now doing. After a couple of hours on the set it took two half days of post production to create this three and a half minute film. Even the busiest filmmaker can squeeze out eight hours if they wanted to. I wish I could say that I’ll produce one of these micro documentary projects a month. But six a year is more doable with my current schedule. I already have ideas for the next one. I’ll take what I learned from this film and apply it to the next project. I can’t wait.
