Think back to your favorite stories, what you remember and love about them most. In Winnie-the-Pooh, I fondly recall Pooh’s naivety and Eeyore’s persistent pessimism. As a pair, they were charming antidotes for the other’s limitations. Quirkiness and the exposure of fatal flaws are what make great on-screen moments, but it’s really action that makes character come alive. What decisions do the characters make at moments of trial that reveal something about who they are? Perhaps it even reveals something about ourselves? If you can achieve both, you’ve achieved storytelling gold. And that’s what effective nonprofit videos are all about. Below are the questions you should ask when casting good characters for your non-profit video production:
Tag: Washington
Documenting Social Media Interactions In “The Walking Gallery”
Social media saturates our everyday lives to the point of ubiquity, yet its visual role in film and television is still evolving. A few years ago, if a character were to receive a text message, email or tweet, the words would appear in large unrealistic text on the screen of their iPhone. But now, media makers are being more bold and pronounced in their depiction of social media interactions on screen. Click through to learn more about how we integrated social media into our latest piece.
Music Direction for Documentary
We tend to remember music, even tunes we’ve heard for only a brief moment. Their melody sticks to our memory, and while we may not recall where we heard it, we do remember how it made us feel. That’s what’s so magical about music, and it’s what we hope to achieve with our films and videos. Our audience may not remember the names of our characters, what they wore, nor exactly what they said. But if they remember how that story made them feel, we’ve met our goal as filmmakers. Just as strong characters, a good story, stunning visuals and immersive sound design helps to accomplish this goal, so does well composed music. Click through to read more about how music is used as a narrative tool and to hear about process from composer Doug Kaufman.
From a Child’s Perspective
It’s late afternoon on a beautiful day in Southern Israel. The children from Kibbutz Kfar Aza barrel into the classroom where after-school activities are held. Their teacher struggles to wrangle them as they peer into the lens of our camera, making goofy faces. Ben presses record all the while, capturing the joy of their childhood.
Year in Review: Our Top 5 Highlights
It’s been an amazing year for us at Eidolon Films, now in our fifth year of business (3 years full-time). It really seems like yesterday that the idea of running our own business making documentary films was just a dream. But I’m proud to say it’s been our fortunate reality. We feel truly lucky to come to work every day to be creative, to meet fascinating people, to travel the world and to advocate & educate through story.
Eidolon’s Ben Crosbie Selected As DC Filmmaker of The Month!
We were proud to hear that our own Ben Crosbie was selected as DC Office of Motion Picture and Television Development’s Filmmaker of the Month!
Eidolon’s New Office
We’re finally settled into our new offices in the lovely Josephine Butler Parks Center in NW Washington, DC. We wanted to be in a space that was historical, inspiring and energetic, and this building is all of that and more. It was built in the 1920s as a potential site for the Vice President’s home but now houses a multitude of local non-profits, creatives and community builders. Below are some photos of our office, which comprises two adjoining rooms. Please come and pay us a visit!