FINEST CANINE CARE | Mini-documentary
At Site B, we hold storytelling in very high regard. Whether it’s a fiction-based narrative or a true-life documentary, telling a good story that invests in its characters is essential to us. Documentary storytelling has become a significant wheelhouse for us. It’s where we feel the most comfortable, as well as the most creative.
So in mid-July of 2019, when we were approached by a small business based in SUNNYSIDE Queens to create a video piece explaining their company’s main functions and goals, we jumped at it headfirst.
Finest Canine Care is a small homegrown business catering to the local dog owners of the community. Their main functions are dog walking, dog day-care, and boarding. Founded by Gary and Claudia Leyder, a married couple born and raised in Queens, Finest Canine Care fits the true definition of a small business. Upon talking with the couple, we were immediately struck by their kindness and complete commitment to running an amazing animal care business.
After taking a look at their website, we decided to set up a meeting at their primary location. We wanted to sit down with the owners and discuss what their ultimate objective would be with this piece. We also wanted to take a look at their place of operation and figure out the logistics of how filming would go and, more importantly, where we would be shooting the main interviews.
We ran down a list of objectives; the history of the company, the daily functions, and what goals they had set for the future. With these main objectives set, we were able to go away for a couple of days and write a set of questions that would guide the storytelling with the visuals we would eventually capture.
The importance of this preparation was key, even in a documentary, where you are capturing those on the spur moments. Ultimately a really good prep period is invaluable.
We sent over the questions to see if they fit all of the criteria of their story. Once approved, we moved to schedule the shoot days. We split them up into three main days. One day for the interviews, one day for the interior b-roll of the main office and a third day entirely centered around the process of dog walking. That final day, we would follow Gary, as he went through the rounds walking dogs, picking them up from their homes and dropping them back off. So there was a lot to capture.
Having interviews on their own day and being the first thing you shoot is usually the best for productive reasons. Interviews can take a lot out of the subjects just because you have to really make sure you are hitting all the main information points you want to convey. Another reason is, listening back to the audio can give you an even better idea of what you need to capture going forward.
We decided to also make room for some extra days for any pick-up shots that may be needed. We knew we were going to need a few drone shots for establishing the neighborhood and area. We would eventually go back for some extra exterior B-Roll and drone footage. In the end, it took only a few hours to get what we needed.
GEAR
For this production, we relied mainly on shooting with the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K, our go-to workhorse. During the interview, we would use a Blackmagic Micro Cinema Camera for a second tighter angle. We find that the cameras both match very well in the correct environments. I would also have a Rode NTG1 shotgun mic attached to the camera at all times to capture the natural ambient sounds of the project. For capture and storage, we used a couple of 1TB Samsung T5 drives. Shooting in ProRes HQ was ideal for keeping the file sizes low. Although going further, we would adopt a shooting only in BRAW workflow. With our usual array of lenses, the Zeiss ZF Primes, we moved forward on the project and began production.
DAY 1
The interview day went smoothly. The talents felt comfortable and ready to answer the questions to the best of their ability. We captured each of the owners separately and split the questions between them. The main functions of the business went to Claudia, while the day to day and dog walking went to Gary. For the final portion of the interview that focused on the future of their company, we sat them next to each other and let them both take a stab at the questions.
We were able to capture everything in no more than four hours, and we took their responses back with us and began to refine our shooting structure.
DAY 2
Dog walking day. We would arrive early as Gary was ready to make his rounds. One of their business services includes at-home dog walking. Where the dog walker has access to the owner’s home and will pick up and drop off their pet. Our main objective was capturing the efficiency in which Gary works as well as the care he shows each individual pet.
DAY 3
B-roll in the main location filled the entirety of day three. Here our goal was to see the in’s and out’s of the functioning business. Those were the dogs arriving for day-care, how they are fed, and how they interact with the other dogs. We also wanted to capture some interaction with clients and show the functions of the front desk and how Claudia schedules out the day.
POST PRODUCTION
With all of the footage complied, we went straight into the organization and editing of the footage. We split the editing duties between two people; one person starts with the main interviews and using the best bits. The second person then moves the b-roll in between to begin weaving a narrative that tells a coherent story. We used the latest version of Adobe Premiere CC. After a few cuts and revisions and going back and forth between us with notes, we were finally able to accomplish an excellent cut.
We then sent the edit out to the owners to let them see how it has come together. After a very enthusiastic response and a few notes, we finally landed on a final cut. We color corrected and graded using Premiere and Filmconvert. We also used a specific LUT from Tropic Colour to give it a final polished look. The full-color grade process took about a day to complete.
All the tools to complete the entire post-production were basically found in Premiere Pro. I was able to adjust and mix the sound there as well. A great function of the premiere is its versatility to handle all the aspects of a post workflow.
The final touch was adding music. For this project, we went with Artlist, our favorite music licensing service. We were able to find a combination of two tracks and blend them to work seamlessly with the footage.
All we can say is how pleased we are with the final product. We learned a lot, and we continue to strive to tell more stories through documentary film. We look forward to what comes next.
