EFI Training - Making Short Television Documentaries
TRAINING VISIT BY KEITH BOWERS JUNE 9-19, 2009Aim of Course
This was the latest stage of some EFI training by Keith Bowers to give coaching support to a group of up to ten young Ethiopian film-makers by helping them to make a number of short television documentaries. The aim of this latest visit was to help the participants to develop their film treatments so they would be a in a position to embark successfully on the filming and editing phases of their projects.
Training Schedule
The training sessions were held between 2pm and 5pm at a house just off Churchill Road in Addis Ababa where a number of other EFI activities will also be held.
| Tuesday 9 JUNE | Individual sessions to catch up with progress on ideas and research |
| Wednesday 10 June | Screening several documentary examples and discussion of treatment templates |
| Thursday 11 June | Discussion of the participants’ treatment documents |
| Friday 12 June | Film schedules |
| Monday 15 June | Filming techniques. |
| Tuesday 16 June | Editing techniques. |
| Wednesday 17 June | Scripting techniques |
| Thursday 18 June | Final consultations about future timetable and discussion of |
Attendance Record
All of the participants had to have some experience of production, filming and editing with easy access to film-making equipment.
Originally there were ten participants but two dropped out with another person joining, leaving a total of nine. A record was kept of their attendance over the eight days and two thirds of them attended every day or missed one session.
Materials Used on the Course
Handouts were given from three books:
Writing, Directing and Producing Documentary Films and Videos by Alan Rosenthal
Directing the Documentary by Michael Rabiger
On Camera by Harris Watts.
The documentaries shown included Living with Hunger, a film shot in northern Ethiopia. Around ten international documentaries were left with the group to help form a video library.
Nature of the Projects
Three projects were definitely agreed with the participants working in twos or threes. A fourth project is still under development. Two of the films have an environmental theme so they can be shown at a conference organised by the IETFF in Monaco in October.
The planned documentaries are:
· Recycling by street kids in Addis - Naod and Terhas
· Charcoal burning and the environment – Michael and Nebiyu
· Memories of the elite military academy in Ethiopia – Sewmehon, Tariku and Henok
Under Development
History of the Italian occupation in Addis Ababa – Yirga, Imebet and Henok
Timetable for Completion of the Documentaries
June/July: filming period
Early August: submit edit plans to Keith Bowers by email for consultation
August to Sep 15: Main editing period
Sep 15- Sep 30 : Discussion of rough-cuts with Keith in person.
Final post-production period.
Projects to be completed by end of September.