10 MPH

by Desktop Documentaries
(Georgia, USA)

As with all great movies, the 10 MPH documentary hooks you right from the start.  Notice at the beginning the clever use of sketch animation. The filmmakers could have gone the "boring" route and shot some footage in a real office setting, but using the sketches added a nice compliment to the home-movie type quality of the footage of themselves.

Also notice the storytelling and how the filmmakers create tension and a "problem" at the beginning. As the viewer, you are drawn in and asking yourself, "Are these guys going to make it?", "How are they going to get themselves out of this jam"?



Great filmmaking often involves some kind of conflict that needs to be solved. This movie, which follows two guys on a roadtrip using a Segway scooter, does this brilliantly.

The filmmakers have posted their movie for free on YouTube for a limited time, so get to watching and be inspired! (There is a short intro at the beginning promoting their next film)

Oh, and something else I really love about this filmmaking team is their awesome website and their creativity raising funds and generating buzz online. You don't want to miss reading their 26-page D-I-Y distribution and marketing manual. (A bargain $0.99 download)

These guys represent the best of the "new generation" of filmmakers, using tried and true filmmaking techniques with modern tools.