Ready....and....ACTION! 

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J.J. has some key pieces of advice that build on what Eric Anoee highlighted in the first video. 

Just Do it! 

To create a documentary, you need to go out and shoot footage. Lots of it. The more the better. Here are the key pieces of advice from our expert filmmaker, summarized, and with links to more material.

• Be bold. Go out and shoot film. What is "normal" or "everyday" to you is new and exciting for other people. Find and film well-known places in your community where climate change can be observed, and find the lesser known places. J. J. gives a great example in the interview, from his time in Africa. 
• Film landscapes. Create scenes without any narration, where you are just silent and slowly move the camera around to capture a landscape. Also, take some shots where you describe what you see. Practice narrating. Create a picture of a place, with your film footage and narration. Capture natural sounds (wind, animals, water). Go to at least five different locations in your community and capture landscapes. If possible, you may also want to jump on a vehicle like an ATV and have someone drive you around while you film. But go slow - the faster you go, the more likely you are going to have shaky footage that is hard to watch.
• Film people. Conduct the interviews you planned earlier. Find a good place to conduct them, and also capture footage of the place where the interview takes place. Check the sound of your recording to make sure it's good. 
• Create long shots. Try to create long, continuous video shots that capture a landscape or place in detail. Move slow for some shots, and faster for other. Again - take LONG shots. During editing, only a small fraction of footage will be left over from what you originally created. Professional filmmakers will create up to 40 hours of footage for one hour of actual film that is left after editing! You should aim at creating about 2-3 hours of video footage overall. 

J.J. also highlights some important aspects of filmmaking technique, and we are asking you to try all of these out as you film in your community: 

• Whatever camera you have, it's the best camera for documentary filmmaking. You don't have to have an expensive DSLR Camera or other video equipment to make a good documentary. Most mobile phones have excellent cameras capable of capturing high definition video. For the purpose of this class, we are "equipment-agnostic", meaning we're not recommending or requiring specific equipment. Use whatever camera you have and make the best of it. 
• Hold the camera steady. This is fundamental, of course. Many modern cameras, including those in cellular phones, digitally stabilize your shot, but holding the camera steady is still key. Try to move slowly as you film, allowing the viewer to process the imagery in their mind. Avoid sudden moves. Hold a shot for a while - you can always cut later. There are affordable devices that help you stabilize your shot. You can purchase a monopod/tripod or a gimbal, for example, for both phones and more advanced cameras. For interviews, either have both the interviewer and the interviewee in the frame, or move the camera back and forth, always capturing the person that is speaking. A tripod is best for this type of work. 
• Audio must be good. This can't be emphasized enough, especially for interviews. Experiment with your camera, and figure out the volume, distance and level of background noise that is acceptable for a good interviews. When doing landscape shots, make sure to check on the wind noise and try to hold the camera microphone out of the wind. If you are narrating your video as you are filming, make sure you are close enough for the microphone to pick up the sound. Even with a cell phone camera, you can amp up your sound by using a lapel or lavalier microphone for interviews. These clip onto your interviewee's clothing, and yours, and allow for much better sound quality during interviews. Such microphones are fairly affordable, starting at $15, and can make a huge difference. 

A final resource for you to get started and to review and expand on this entire module can be found here.