Online Resources

Theoretical Resources

Jump Cut "A Review Of Contemporary Media" with Smoking good archives.


Visual Resources

Before any of these links, it must be said that Vimeo, Youtube, and Google video allow you to quickly check clips, learn techniques (just from watching and video tutorials that people have posted), and watch whole films.

DVXuser
Not limited to Panasonic, this technical board came out of the 24p community and is good for people using prosumerish equipment wanting to make good video.

DVinfo.net
Similar to DVXuser above, DV Info's community has a wider scope, including rumors of to be released equipment. A slight warning: I've read rumors that the moderator frowns upon listing retailers that don't advertise on his site (but I still check it almost daily).

Pro Video Coalition
Still gaining its footing, Pro Video Coalition is a stable of known production and post- trainers, writers, and bloggers who are now under one roof. Still a little funky, but worth the visit.

Digital Photography Review
Good site for reviews on Digital (still) cameras.

cinematography.com/
A little intimidating, but with some good info.

Ron Dexter.com
An old pro has put together a great webpage to assist the new kids in figuring it all out. A lot more film than video and just a lot of great content.

The 2-Pop forums
2-pop calls itself the digital filmmaker's resource site. Who am I to disagree? Their forums tackle camera and Post-production issues.

Apple's Videography for Educators
Apple Computers has a nice online lesson in many of the elements of videography. Intended for educators, it is pretty inclusive and features all sorts of good stuff.

Adam Wilt
Reviews DV equipment and gets gritty in the technical sides.


Audio Resources

Transom
A great page on radio documentary, covering everything from equipment reviews to producers describing the steps they took to finish a story. Very accessible and user-friendly.

Audio Field Recording Equipment Guide
I don't know who hired Andy Kolovos to put together their audio field guide, but buy that person a beer! Constantly updated with a great assortment of equipment, the field guide is written by someone on a real world budget who uses their equipment (as opposed to the many sites which just regurgitate ad copy) and shares the results.

Create Digital Music
Less political documentary site. more creating digital music blog, BUT there is a bit of overlap and they are sometimes the first to cover exciting new field recording equipment coming out.

The 24-bit Field Recording FAQ
Messy and old, this faq really tries to answer all the questions about digital recording. Be prepared to learn the foundations. A little frustrating, but it'll help you understand the fundamentals later on.


Equipment

Glide-Cam
I was looking into getting one of these a while back.

Mandy's Film and TV production
Classified ads for used equipment, resume poster, all sorts of stuff.

Markertek
Need a video doo-hickey? They got the video doo-hickies in plastic or metal, three colors. I've never ordered from them, but they do satisfy my curiousity a bit.

B & H
Simply the place to get virtually all equipment. They have everything; if you aren't crushed by the ten million people there, they'll talk to you about it like an adult (there are a few exceptions, of course, but most of the salespeople there will patiently explain to you what it is and what it does); if pay attention to returns and the specials, you can get really good deals. Plus, Yiddish!


Editing


discussions.apple.com
You have to know how to use the tools. If you're using final cut and you have issues, check here first. It's vibrant, constant, and you can search for the error message that sixteen other people got and two figured out.


Allies

The European Documentary Network
Publisher of DOX magazine. Well-put designed with some off-limits material.

The International Documentary Association
Another membership organization for documentary filmmakers. Has some good stuff.

Realscreen
Magazine about documentary industry.

Shooting People
A filmmaker network. A bit more accessible seeming.

The Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers.
They publish The Independent, offer regional salons, and have a bunch of member services.

Dochouse
A UK-based Documentary association

Doculink
A list-serv, website, and west coast monthly meetings.

Doc Dork
A new documentary blog

Reality film: An Online Resource for Documentary Film and Video
An interesting Syllabus and some interesting content.

Women Make Movies
Films by and About Women

Spirit of Baraka
Celebrating nonverbal films and documentaries, such as the Qatsi trilogy

German Documentaries
A long list of German documentaries

Distribution


PBS's redbook
Want to beat the odds and get in the Big One. Read this carefully, because PBS spells out exactly what requirements have to be met.

ITVS: Producer Resources
The Independent Television Service is another Big One. They get what they want and they'll spell it out for you pretty clearly.

Docurama A documentary dedicated video label.

First Run/Icarus Films A Documentary distributor.

AK Press A wonderful political media distributor, not limited at all to documentary, but the biggest thing I made was published by them and was the cover of their printed summer supplemental catalog, so you know they have a place in my heart.

PM Press Ramsey Kanaan started AK Press and in the last few years busted out and started PM Press. Besides publishing Big Noise's awesome Dispatches series, they're putting out a great line of political docs. And Ramsey's a nice and funny guy.

Documentary Educational Resources
They "produce, distribute and promote quality ethnographic and documentary films from around the world."


Preservation

Independent Media Arts Preservation
They have a 101 on preservation that is worth the price of admission alone!

The Association of Moving Image Archivists
They have preservation guides, fact sheets, and all sorts of other online goodies.


Finding Rarer Documentaries

We offer nothing approaching an endorsement of the following links. Most of them are illegal, sharing no profits with the filmmakers, and possibly peddling junk, BUT we also know that a lot of important documentaries are simply unavailable through other channels. Consider yourself warned.
1-World Documentaries

Shocking Videos

The Weird World of 70s Cinema

Other ways to find the rarer docs: besides Netflix and Olive Films, for really rare stuff, I was surprised but you can find some of it on Bit Torrent (and spots like Freaky Flicks where you can find the crazy torrents; if you know of more of these, please send us an email). Also, filmmakers like Les Blank (www.lesblank.com) sell videos off their personal sites.