"The Paper Man"

Keith Rivers wrote, produced, directed, and edited everything himself in the story of "The Paper Man".

- This was more or less just a passion project where I saw the potential to tell a unique story that hasn't been told. I wanted to tell this story because I think newspapers are an important part of media, especially now that media has churned into a digital source rather than a hard copy print.

It's interesting to see Richard create a collection 20 years before the entire industry begun to collapse. Many people still don't know that the fate of the newspaper has washed away. Something that isn't told clearly in the film that I think, is a story about a real character's struggle with his collection, and the inner turmoil he faces with aging.

One-man show

There are pro's and con's for being a one-man crew. Pros: Less scheduling and production, Cons: You rely on your own creative juices and you don't have a crew to bounce ideas off each other.

My advice is play chess. Pre-visualize your story. Map it out on paper. What lenses you're using, how long will each setup take, what light do you have to work with, how much light, list out your shots, storyboard. All of the planning you do will make you more confident during production. Confidence in your production creates relief and happiness, and a happy person on set will be a creative storyteller overall.

The planning you do will make you more confident during production. Confidence in your production creates relief and happiness, and a happy person on set will be a creative storyteller overall.

Better storytelling

The HD camera is no longer a "wow factor." Much like the newspaper industry, it's all changing, and even the DSLR revolution has only begun. Camera's will cater to social networks. A ton of users will comment on features, and everyone will quickly know which camera is going to be the best for them.

Companies will be forced to compete on a much faster and affordable level. Finding a camera with DOF or a cinematic quality isn't an issue anymore. Folks like Philip Bloom have helped explode the technical side of the industry. I'm happy to see people discover their talents, technically. More importantly, I'm eager for my fellow filmmakers to grow as storytellers.

The tech stuff I shot "The Paper Man" with a Pansonic HVX 200 with letus extreme adapter, a Nikon 50mm f1.4, and 28mm f2.8 lenses. The thing was clunky and heavy. I now own a Canon 5Dmk2 and a DIY Steadicam, with an array of lenses.

Keith Rivers is a 27-year-old director from Seattle. In 2010, he won Pepsi’s “Make an Ad” contest and Walmart's "American Idol commercial contest," receiving both awards from Jon Landau (Producer of Avatar & Titanic). He won the 100-hour film festival 2 years in a row. Keith also traveled to Africa to make a documentary for World Vision. He's also scheduled to direct a documentary in Bangladesh and Iran for World Vision. See more of Keith's work.