Finally! I hit record! We started production last week. The first shoot was an event. I figured that was an easy way to ease into it and let my crew feel each other out. There are four of us working on this documentary, three professionals and a student production assistant. For the most part, we won’t work at the same time, I don’t want to overwhelm the newsroom, we’ll keep it to two at a time.
Both of my co-producers are faculty members with me at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. They’re both accomplished cinematographers, who’ve worked on documentaries. Here are their bios (Alanna was actually a student of mine and she worked on Queen of the Capital with me):
Krishnan Vasudevan
Krishnan Vasudevan is a filmmaker/scholar at the University of Maryland. His 2022 feature documentary, One Driver, One Mic was an official selection at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival and the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival. Krishnan has published several academic articles and chapters on media, labor and design. Previously, as a multimedia journalist Krishnan has published work in the New York Times, Slate, ProPublica and several other reputable news publications. He is a 2021 Docs in Progress fellow, a 2015 recipient of an Austin Film Society Award and has received multiple national journalism awards alongside his collaborators for his contribution to the investigative project, Code Red.
Alanna Delfino
Alanna Delfino is a cinematographer, producer and full-time lecturer at UMD's Philip Merrill College of Journalism. She’s the lead instructor for News Videography for undergraduate and graduate-level students.
Previously, Alanna was a multi-platform photojournalist and editor for Tegna’s National Verify team. She produced long-form and daily, data-driven content for local news stations around the country. Prior to that, she was a photojournalist at Baltimore’s Fox 45, where she specialized in producing daily news, under deadline, with a creative storytelling approach.
Alanna’s work is nationally and locally recognized. She’s the National Press Photographer Association’s 2017 and 2018 East Top Photographer of the Year and a finalist for NPPA’s National Television News Photographer of the Year. She’s earned 13 NATAS regional Emmys and CAPBA’s 2020 Outstanding News Photographer.
The Shoot
This was an interesting event. The Banner held a panel for reporters to talk to the public about big stories they’ve worked on recently. It’s not something that a lot of news organizations do. They had a good crowd, and it I talked to the reporters beforehand. While they appreciated how important the event was, they were nervous because newspaper reporters don’t usually have to talk to crowds. It created some light tension and stakes for the scene.
We’re shooting this documentary on Sony FX3’s. I chose the Fx3 for the price, form factor, autofocus and ease of use. Since this was a panel, we shot it as an event. Two cameras on tripods; one of us on a 70-200 Sony GMaster lens positioned in the back, and the other on a 24-70 Gmaster lens on the side of the crowd and roaming. I was in the back and it was my job to focus on the speakers, while Alanna was on the 24-70 and she focused on cutaways, wide shots and audience reaction. We’re still nailing down the style of cinematography for this documentary, so I figured this would be a generic event shoot.
We ran into a problem with audio because the venue only had one audio output. Since we were guests, we let the Banner plugin and get clean audio and asked them to give us their audio files afterward. Since then, I’ve bought a cheap XLR audio splitter. I also offered to give them footage from events like this, so they don’t have to send a news photographer if they don’t want to.
We made sure to get vérité (fancy word for b-roll) of the setup and filmed the drinks and socializing afterward. I grabbed one of the reporters for an impromptu interview before, and several people after.
We got some great moments and great soundbites. The Banner’s managing editor set the stakes for the documentary, telling the crowd that she expects to be the largest news organization in Baltimore in a year. I’m not sure how much we’ll use from the event but it felt really good to start filming.
I’m really glad I found your Substack!