What I'm doing to make my UFO movie Actually Good
It is easy to make something lame. It's done every day. Making something good requires a bit more... and this is how I do it.
So I posted a version of this on Facebook the other day, just in case you saw it… I’m updating and reposting it here because I think it’s worthwhile that even more people see it.
It’s a note about my development process for the UFO movie I’m working on. Considering the immense amount of work that goes into it, it would be quite a waste if I just let it happen like most documentaries. I want every penny to result in excellent quality. And I don’t mean state of the art special effects and gorgeous photography, I mean quality and persuasiveness of the presentation.
If you're familiar with my Skeptoid Podcast, you know that research and careful writing and structuring of the presentation are super important to me. I'm building this film the same way.
First, the audience. Preaching to the choir is of no value to anyone, so I’m not doing that. I want the UFO true believers to be reached, and I want them to be persuaded to allow some science into their belief system. If I can do that, it’s a win for everyone.
I started with a detailed outline. I built the whole presentation first, and then looked for all the places where points are made with more credibility when they are made by real experts in those fields. So I put placemarks in the treatment, with summaries of what I wanted to get from the experts.
Being a proper science writer who cares about getting stuff right, I did not have to put any spin or BS into these interviews. Then I went out and secured all the experts. Most are people I know personally, and some I needed to meet for the first time. I tried hard to be inclusive, keeping in mind that any child of any background might watch this film, and I wanted them to know there are successful scientists who look like them, and that path is open to them.
I went out and shot the interviews. Even though I told each person exactly what I hoped to get from them, I told each to say what they truly think, not what they thought I wanted to them to say. These always turned out to be the same thing.
A transcript turns out to be 30 minutes of text, about 2 minutes of which I will use. So I had plenty of variations of the text to choose from.
Interview transcripts in hand, I went back to the outline and wrote it in detail. Every word. Organized, drafted and redrafted, my presentation made as well as I could make it. I incorporated all the best from the interviews.
Then we went out into the desert and shot my narration, which I presented word for word using a teleprompter. Not a phrase out of place or unplanned.
With all the footage done, and the script written word for word, the editing is easy. It's mostly just a lot of busy work, with placement of the edits (changing between cameras) being the only real creativity.
Finally, we get to picture lock (no more edits to the timeline will be made), and it will soon be handed over to the real experts: color grading, sound mixing, and score composition.
This process really doesn't allow for anything going wrong. So it's going to be a rock solid presentation, made as well as I can make it, to try and do as much good in the world as I can do. It's fun and rewarding, and I hope you like it.