The Power of Eternal Stories
We often get asked "Why does it take so long to receive my completed documentary" and/or "Why does it cost so much?" Hopefully with this in-depth breakdown of our process, you can better understand the answers to those questions.
Each person being interviewed is different, and so are our questions. The first step to every Eternal Stories documentary is to understand who we are interviewing and tailoring our questions to fit their story.
For instance, with an elderly loved one we would ask the family for information about the subject's life and what they want to make sure is included within the documentary.
For businesses, we dive deep into their history, its impact on the community, and the legacy it has left behind. We then make sure to tailor those questions to fit the individual(s) associated with the business.
Estimated time to complete: 1-2 hours (depending on the subject of the documentary)
Eternal Stories is a mobile documentary service. Wherever you are, that's where the story begins.
In this step, we will travel to the location of your choosing, such as your place of business or loved one's home. We will then conduct an interview using two industry-standard cameras to capture as much information as possible to ensure the most complete documentary.
We will also take some time after completing the interview to capture pertinent b-roll.
Estimated time to complete: Most of our interviews range from 20-40 minutes but have been as long as three hours.
Once the interview process has been completed this is the first step in the editing process. We will meticulously go through every second of footage to label what is being talked about and clip out the best parts using our signature color-coding method.
Estimated time to complete: As the number of interviews and the interview time increases so does the time required to go through it all. This step has taken us anywhere from 1 hour to 42 hours.
The longest part of the editing process is taking all the best stories from each interview and seamlessly blending them together into one coherent narrative. As the number of interviews increases, so does the complexity and the time required to assemble.
Estimated time to complete: As the number of interviews increases so does the complexity of the edit. This step has taken us anywhere from 1 hour to 45 hours.
Once the first assembly cut is put together, we will go through it with a fine tooth comb and remove any unnecessary moments such as long pauses, filler words, and breaths. This ensures a much smoother transition between soundbites and a professional final edit.
Estimated time to complete: As the length of the documentary increases so does the time required to clean it up. This step has taken us anywhere from an hour and a half to 20 hours.
Once everything is together and looking good, we will start the process of implementing the supplemental footage (better known as b-roll) we captured on the day of the interview(s). This can include anything from goats to boats.
Once we have implemented our captured b-roll, we will reach out to you with a list of additional b-roll that may further supplement the documentary. This can include anything from old family photos to projects finished after the interviews are recorded.
Estimated time to complete: The longer the documentary the more room for b-roll there is. This step has taken us anywhere from an hour to 30 hours.
Our professional cameras record in a RAW color space, leading to a very muted image (as seen on the left). We will go through every second of every interview and alter the colors to make sure everything has a uniform look and a professional finish.
Estimated time to complete: 1 hour.
Within some of our documentaries, be it an opening montage or a more dramatic story, we will add music to augment the emotion. These tracks are all hand chosen from an abundant library that's been accumulated over the last decade to find the best possible track to complement the mood of the moment.
Estimated time to complete: 1 hour.
No body likes having to adjust their volume because an explosion is far louder than the dialogue. Within our second to last step, we will go through the documentary and make sure that all the audio levels are uniform and mixed together professionally.
Estimated time to complete: 1 hour.
With the documentary completed it is time to export it from our editing software into a file suitable for watching. We will then upload it securely to the cloud so you can download it to watch and share however you see fit.
Estimated time to complete: 1 hour.
