Case Study: "Once Upon a Time in Uganda"

[@sebastianneville24]

As a child in Argentina, I used a shoe box, diffused paper with drawings, and a 60W bulb at one end of the box to make a film projector. I did this again when, 30 years later, I taught a film workshop for kids in New Haven, CT. Thanks for sharing your story! I'm glad the film is getting somewhere! 👍

[@matt-porwoll]

Thank you so much for sharing that! The projector is one of our favorites from the film and love the ingenuity and passion behind it. I love hearing you did the same thing!

[@Superjeanmarc]

Glad this channel exist and looking forward to see the film and watch your future KZbin videos. I always reserva the hell out out the films I love and indeed always wish I could find a directors / dop interview...

[@matt-porwoll]

Welcome aboard!

[@GeorgeAtanassov]

Absolutely fantastic in depth content. Thank you so much for sharing. I’ve been reading your blog for years and I am so glad you are taking your knowledge to KZbin. Thank you for the hard work, knowledge and inspiration Matt.

[@matt-porwoll]

Wow, thank you! Glad to have you here! I really appreciate your comment. If there’s anything you want to see, hit me up!

[@bephrem]

wow wow wow, great new youtube channel

[@matt-porwoll]

Thank you!

[@tsollersergey3480]

this is absolutely wow! thank you so much!

[@matt-porwoll]

You're so welcome!

[@dominicudell]

Hey Matt, so excited you're creating on here. I found your Bounce and Diffusion test back in 2018 on your website. I've used that thing as a reference several times. Can't wait to see what else you do with the channel!

[@matt-porwoll]

Thank you!

[@felixgolenko]

Thank you very much, Matt!

[@matt-porwoll]

You’re welcome!

[@rossbird7085]

So informative 👏🏻 Thanks Matt!

[@kasmedify]

Amazing this! Gear breakdown?

[@matt-porwoll]

Thank you! I just added the cameras and lenses used to shoot the film in the description. But for me, what makes up the cinematography of a film has little to do with the specs of a camera or lenses, but rather choosing the right equipment for the job. It’s not about what you have, but rather how you use it!

[@jonathancwu]

Great stuff. I'm blown away by the variety of shots in the relationship scene. Just watching I would have thought multiple cameras or takes. Do you shoot differently if you only have a short time to capture a scene? Are lav mics mandatory for shooting 360 degrees? The technique the sound mixer used for real-time translation is genius.

[@matt-porwoll]

Thanks! Hopefully I can do a deeper dive into that scene, since a lot of people are interested. I generally don’t approach a scene any differently based on the length of time. To be honest, the length of the scene is sometimes equivalent to the importance on screen, so I just always keep in mind what coverage is needed to tell the story and do I have an entry and exit point. Lavs are definitely not required for 360 shooting. Most sound mixers I know would prefer to only use a boom, but most productions want lavs on the subjects for “safety.” A good sound mixer can cover an entire scene with a lot of movement with just a boom. And yes, Niko’s technique was brilliant! I tell everyone about it :)

[@danielmueller5284]

Wow! Love this video! Supper helpful insight! Cant wait to hear more from you

[@matt-porwoll]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@jbf5030]

That was awesome thanks for making that. Can’t wait to see the film

[@matt-porwoll]

Thank you!

[@QZ_AU]

Thanks so much for making this video! Would love to see more of these breakdowns of the films you shot!

[@matt-porwoll]

Thank you! I’ll be doing more, so stay tuned!

[@andreimatalyha1501]

Amazing, learned a lot ❤

[@matt-porwoll]

So glad!

[@tiffparker]

Just watched it on prime, great doco!! Thanks for your breakdown as well.

[@matt-porwoll]

That’s amazing, glad you liked it!

[@RonaldoMoura]

Hi Matt, came from Luc's channel and just watched this video twice. Maybe this is too much to asking for but if you could extend or revisiting it showing how you cut the single camera shot would be fantastic to see the relationship between the raw footage and the final version. The cut is so well crafted and respect the dialog so much that is mind blowing to hear that is a single camera shot. Thanks for sharing your time and knowledge. Cheers from Brasil.

[@matt-porwoll]

Hi! Thanks so much for checking out my videos and I’m glad you found this one useful! Showing the raw footage vs the final edit is a great idea for a video, so I’ll give that some thought. So much of it is about having time to cover a scene and the patience to see it through. Finding those moments to move away from what’s happening and the necessary get coverage. It’s also about having a good editor!! (I didn’t cut the film). Remember, our job as a cinematographer is to give the editors the footage they need to distill and real-time scene into a 1-2mjn cut that gets to the essence of what’s happening. I hope that helps!

[@RonaldoMoura]

Thanks for your time and attention. @@matt-porwoll

[@REDEpicGuy]

Love this

[@matt-porwoll]

Thank you!

[@LukeHumphlett]

I really enjoyed seeing such a detailed breakdown of this film! It’s so interesting that every visual choice in the film is as motivated as possible! Clear directorial vision!

[@matt-porwoll]

Thanks!

[@blood399]

Great video 👍

[@matt-porwoll]

Thanks 👍

[@Maros_Mari]

Hey Matt, came here from Luc’s channel. I want to say that this was great insight into how and why and I truly enjoyed it. I made some documentary work about street children in Nairobi and spent time in the slums so I can relate how challenging it may be and rewarding to find a great story and bring it to light. Thanks for this and hope to hear many more similar breakdowns - on your work or even work you feel inspires you. Thanks.

[@matt-porwoll]

Awesome, thank you!

[@RoubenFreeman]

Really insightful video, thanks for putting the time into producing it! I second Ronaldo's suggestion for more on single camera shooting. I'd love to know more about how you shot the projector scene (which looks really beautiful) and how much pre planning you had done for yourself and then how much you had briefed or collaborated with the subjects to build the sequence.

[@matt-porwoll]

Thank you! I will definitely be diving into single-camera shooting in later videos, so be sure to keep a lookout for those. As far as pre-planning scenes, we try as much as possible to not script or block it out. These are scenes that either naturally happen in the moment or we know they are happening in advance, but just roll with it. We always try to stay as observational and non-intrusive as possible on any film. It’s generally the job of the director and cinematographer (oftentimes just the DP in the moment) to build the sequence as it plays out. Looking for an entrance, an exit, and cutaways. This is where knowing your story and following your gut is so important as a documentary cinematographer.

[@EvanAagaard]

Love your channel Matt! You've done some amazing work. I'm curious, are you at a level now where you can work exclusively in doc cinema or do you ever need to take on commercial projects in between series or films?

[@matt-porwoll]

Thanks so much! I've pretty much exclusively done doc features or series. Since they take up so much time, take so long to make and have incredibly fluid schedules, they keep my pretty busy. I also tend to have a couple projects going at the same time as well.... Funny enough, I've never done any commercial work and only a handful of branded content pieces, but would love to try it out sometime!

[@harshmdeshpande]

This is such a brilliant video! Thanks for making this knowledge available 🙏🏽

[@harshmdeshpande]

Do you recommend more such channels on KZbin?

[@matt-porwoll]

Glad it was helpful!

[@matt-porwoll]

Two channels I would definitely recommend are @LucForsyth and @theC47. Both are incredibly talented filmmakers and educators who share real knowledge, not just gear fluff!

[@harshmdeshpande]

@@matt-porwoll Thanks for the suggestions! Could you also make a video about how do you make decisions like which place to be in a film like Cartel Land where lot of things are happening simultaneously? Is it solely based on intuition? Or your local network keeps you updated regarding "something big" might happen...?

[@matt-porwoll]

@@harshmdeshpande that’s a tough one for sure! Most, if not all, of that falls on the director / producing team, so sadly I wouldn’t be able to dive too deeply into that as a cinematographer. But your notes are pretty much what it comes down to. Intuition and balancing the information you have to make an informed decision. In docs, you’ll always miss something!

[@MVRKBLK]

Really insightful Matt. Looking forward to your future content and think you add massive value and knowledge that isn’t on other channels. Would love to see you breakdown your coverage & thoughts of shots, I think was already asked in another comment. A side question for you, did you shoot the computer inserts after the dialog of the characters took place? Much appreciated.

[@matt-porwoll]

Thank you! I’m hoping to do a video soon showing the raw footage vs the final edit of this scene, so keep an eye out!

[@bephrem]

wow