Another instructive note from the Downton episode, watch the way the scenes get shorter after the initial longer chapters as the drama unfolds.
Link to episode 7
It is a form that Fronline in its documentary work has a employed many times over the years, no where more effectively than in our series of Presidential candidate biographies , The Choice
This form for doing the biographies was invented by the first producer of the Choice in a1988 , Sherry Jones, and it proved so effective , that we've stuck with the form ever since.
The great trick in implementing this form, assuming you have two compelling narratives, is where you link the stories, and how you can structure each chapter in the film to conclude successfully AND provide a leaping off point for the second narrative . Check out how producer/director Michael Kirk solved these problems in The Choice 2012.
Another classic doc in this form is American Experience's Two Days in October based on the David Maraniss book, They Marched into Sunlight.
Two Days in October website
The great trick in implementing this form, assuming you have two compelling narratives, is where you link the stories, and how you can structure each chapter in the film to conclude successfully AND provide a leaping off point for the second narrative . Check out how producer/director Michael Kirk solved these problems in The Choice 2012.
Two Days in October website
This is so cool Mike!
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