Who doesn’t love a stunningly shot mini doc, set in Australia, that tells a hopeful story, and even features adorable sea turtles? No one, that’s who. As we continue our celebration of mini docs, we’ve found some truly incredible stories told in such a short format, including one by Sony Middle East and Africa Ambassador Jacques Crafford (@jacques_crafford). Crafford produced a five-minute film called, "Saving Our Sea Turtles," which (as you may have guessed), tells the story of the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation and the work they do to save and protect sea turtles. We chatted with Crafford to get the inside scoop on how he produced the film, his thoughts on mini docs, and his advice for aspiring filmmakers.

Product Preview – In This Article You'll Find:
–Sony FX6
–Sony Alpha 7S III
–Sony 24-70mm f//2.8 G Master
–Sony 35mm f/1.4
–Sony 16-35mm f/4

Sea Turtles? Tell Us More!

This project got started because Crafford had acquired the Sony FX6 and was testing it out in a bunch of ways. He and his director friend Willem van den Heever decided to produce a passion project on this organization and their important work. They went and shot for about a day and decided they wanted to put a more concerted effort in to make it as strong a film as possible. That is when they partnered with Sony to tell this powerful story.

Their ultimate crew was three people during the bulk of filming and one underwater cameraman for a small portion of the production. They only shot for a few days but managed to capture some really incredible footage. They filmed almost entirely on the Sony FX6, the only exception being the underwater footage, which was shot on the Sony Alpha 7S III with the Sony 16-35mm f/4. They also used the Sony 24-70mm f//2.8 G Master and the Sony 35mm f/1.4.

Behind The Scenes of "Saving Our Sea Turtles"

This film presented a few technical challenges. Since sea turtles are sensitive creatures, in most scenes, the team only had one chance to capture the shots. This means planning was critical. The team did pre-interviews, test shots, and had planned out everything from angles to shutter speed for each scene. This also means the gear needed to be 100% reliable. That’s why Crafford carefully selected the perfect kit that he could trust completely.

Crafford said he was blown away by the Sony FX6’s features. He told us that he shot about 80% of the film in autofocus, and loves the peace of mind that comes with it. “For me, the autofocus is still the thing that blows me away about Sony,” he says. “I’ve done a lot of documentary shooting manual focus. You don't have a focus puller, most of the time, it's all just you shooting by yourself. It was crazy how many shots I was able to nail with the autofocus.”

In addition to the autofocus, Crafford needed a camera with an incredible dynamic range, and that’s exactly what he found in the Sony FX6. “For me to have that dynamic range was amazing. I felt it in the sunset and sunrise scenes, just to be able to sort of preserve the sky and still have a lot of detail. And while doing the color grading and editing, I felt it and was like, 'Oh wow, I really love this camera.’”

Packing A Punch & The Importance Of B-Roll

What truly blew us away about the final product was how Crafford and his team touched on such large themes such as climate change and created empathy within just a few minutes. Crafford says that once again, planning was a major part of that. The pre-interviews helped identify the themes they wanted to highlight and write a succinct script that hit on those themes quickly. It also helped them narrow down what characters to really focus on so that they could create that emotional connection with the audience quickly.

In many cases, a short-form narrative can be more powerful than a long feature. “I feel like some people won’t watch a longer film, so they end up not watching it at all. That’s why we went for a shorter length. We knew that we had what we needed to tell a short story that reached our goal of bringing awareness to this program and shining a light on this whole world that people don’t know about.”

Behind The Scenes of "Saving Our Sea Turtles"

Crafford shared some of the lessons he’s learned while shooting mini docs. “The one thing I've learned from short form documentaries, is that it's easy to underestimate how much footage you need because you think it's short. So you sometimes don't shoot enough. The best advice I have is to go crazy and get as much B-roll as you possibly can. You can never have too much B-roll. I don’t care what people say, in documentaries B-Roll is everything and you can never get a moment back, so shoot it like crazy.”

Passion Projects Are Critical

In the behind the scenes video Crafford touches on the importance of passion projects and how they are an essential part of the creative process. We asked him to elaborate on this, and he said that there are two parts to that thought. “First, it’s really, really, really important to keep on feeding your creative juices and to feel like you have a say in the final outcome.” In most cases, working as a professional, it is rare that you work alone or have that much control over a piece. But Crafford says that having that creative control is where we get to create stuff we really like and believe in. He believes it gives you that little nudge of impure enjoyment and reminds you of why you do what you do.

Secondly, Crafford has found some of his best clients and most new clients through his passion projects. “Because they feel the passion,” he explains. “They sense there's something more to this than just another project for a client. I also believe that you have to put out there what you want to get more of. So if you want to get more documentaries, you have to put out something that's like a story or documentary. You're not going to do shoe commercials and drink commercials and expect someone to ask you to come shoot a touching, heartwarming documentary. So I have always managed to get the most amazing opportunities through people simply seeing a passion project that I did. I really believe that it's important to foster. Then when someone goes to your website and sees that type of work, they can come to you and say, ‘Can you do something similar for us?’ Which means you’re going to give your client something in your style. Then you’ve really won.”

Still Photo From "Saving Our Sea Turtles"

Advice For Aspiring Filmmakers

Crafford is clearly a master of short-form storytelling and works as a professional director of photographer, so we asked him to share his advice for up-and-coming or aspiring filmmakers.“The most important thing is, don’t get distracted. What I mean by this is there are so many ways to be distracted right now. I see so many young filmmakers getting distracted by trying to make these short reels because they just want to blow up and go viral. They're not honing their craft in terms of long-form (meaning longer than one minute) storytelling and meaningful editing. I see it as a massive distraction. I feel like if you are serious about your filmmaking, that your first goal is to really just focus on the work and focus on getting your skills to the point where you can tell a meaningful five or 10-minute story.”

Behind The Scenes of "Saving Our Sea Turtles"

In addition to getting distracted with social media and going viral, Crafford also warns against getting too caught up in a single piece of gear. “I remember when I started the first piece of fancy gear I got was a slider,” he says. “And all of a sudden, I only did these revolving shots around everything, and it was crazy. All my pieces would make you nauseous. Every selection you make – frame rate, gimbal versus handheld, drone shots – all of that needs to be intentional. It needs to drive your story. Don’t just do it because it’s flashy. Ask what is it adding to the story and to the emotions?”

Learn more from Crafford and see more of his stunning work on his YouTube Channel. And you can add him on Instagram @jacques_crafford. If you want to learn more about the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation, you can do so HERE. 

Are you joining us in our Mini Doc Challenge? Join our conversation on the Sony Alpha Universe Community Forums and tag your social posts #SonyAlpha! Get even more tips in How To Hone Your Filmmaking Skills With Mini Docs.