UPDATE: The EMMY for Historical Documentary was awarded on July 18th and unfortunately Children of Interment did not take home the statue. Regardless, Joe Crump (co-director and -producer along with his sister, Kristina Wagner) wanted to pass along a sincere thanks to Bill Perry at OETA PBS for submitting the film for consideration, as well as to Tom Parris, the cast, interviewees, scholars and families involved, Rich Bair for composite work, the production team – and friends and families for love and support.

PBS has been – and continues to be – a great supporter of the documentary, and even to be nominated has been a huge honor and lots of fun.

Sometimes you’re allowed to toot your own horn, and well, here at 20 Questions Film we’re mighty proud to say that Children of Internment – the historical documentary by our very own Joe Crump and his sister Kristina Wagner – has been nominated for a regional EMMY.

30B Documentary – Historical #HeartlandNom pic.twitter.com/Ef9ZDt3Opx

— Heartland Emmy NATAS (@HeartlandEmmy) May 29, 2015

Thousands of German and Japanese families were interned by the United States during WWII, taken from their homes and schools, denied “due process” and imprisoned in over 200 detention and internment camps throughout the United States and Latin America. The documentary, Children of Internment, tells the heartbreaking stories of former internees and their families.

The documentary is nominated in the ‘Best Historical Documentary’ category for the Heartland Region. Winners are announced July 18th. We’ll cross our fingers for Joe and Kristina until then.

A special thank you to Bill Perry and OETA out of Oklahoma for leading the way in getting our film nominated for the Emmy.

Check out the trailer here and read the filmmaker bios below:

Kristina Wagner is a daytime TV veteran with 25 years on General Hospital. She also majored in history and wrote her thesis paper on the detainment of Americans during WWII. With Children of Internment these two worlds collide most beautifully, as Kristina not only approached the material with academical precision, but also with a journalistic accuracy she picked up during her 25 years as a soap star doing countless interviews. She knew that sometimes the things that are said in an interview aren’t always conveyed accurately with the final outcome, so she made it a priority to be as accurate with her documentary storytelling as possible.

Joe Crump is the founder of 20 Questions Film. He graduated film school in 1981 and worked in the industry for a decade, but got sidetracked when one of his scripts were picked up by Fox, then rewritten, then dropped, ultimately giving Joe a desire to finance his own film. Which led him to a career as an investor. With Children of Internment he is back in the business, having fun making movies and already have several new feature film scripts in development.

But what exactly is stock footage?

Broadly speaking, stock footage is any kind of material that is edited into a project, but was not filmed for that specific project. It takes many forms such as audio files, film and television clips, news reports, interviews, and shot-specific footage, such as backgrounds that you can key in, aerials shots overs cities and time-lapse videos of the sun rising or setting.

But why would a production want to use footage that wasn’t specifically shot for their project?

The answer is as varied as the types of stock footage. One big reason can be the budget: paying for an aerial shot of a city at night is much cheaper than renting the helicopter and filming it yourself. And this isn’t exclusive to short films. Even big Hollywood films and television shows use stock footage. In fact, often in TV, the production will film exteriors that are going to be their “stock footage” for the show. The editor uses that footage by inserting it in between interior scenes when there’s a change in location.

Can you spot the stock footage in the clip specifically shot for this killer show? Hint: it’s right at the top of the scene…

Audiences are mostly used to seeing stock footage used in documentaries, particularly in historical or event documentaries. This is because documentaries that explore a moment in time will use stock footage to transport the audience back to that moment. Interviews are intercut with pictures and video to highlight and punctuate the emotion. Think about it: What would a documentary on The Beatles be like if it didn’t have footage of The Beatles arriving stateside? If it didn’t show them performing on the Ed Sullivan Show?

But let’s be clear; editing together a series of stock footage clips doesn’t make a documentary. A documentary infuses stock footage with other elements, like interviews to better tell its story.

Check out this trailer for a documentary that uses lots of stock footage to explore its story:

So now that we understand what stock footage is, let’s talk about how to use it. Because, not all stock footage is created equal. Whatever the type of stock footage you’re using, it can be divided into two categories: Public domain or copyrighted.  Public domain stock footage is free to use. Using copyrighted stock footage, found in archives or stock footage houses (companies that are devoted to stock footage), requires that a fee be paid to the copyright holder.

Where can you find public domain stock footage? The US government is actually one of the largest producers of public domain stock footage. If you’re looking for public domain movie stock footage, the National Archives and Records Administration is one of the best places to start your stock footage search. Another great source is the Internet Moving Image Archive.

Stock footage houses, like Getty, National Geographic, Shutterstock, Pond 5, just to name a few, all provide a rich and myriad selection.

When working on a project that requires a lot of stock footage, such as a documentary, I highly recommend hiring a researcher to search for the best and the cheapest stock footage. Often stock footage houses allow you download comps. Comps are smaller, low quality, watermarked download samples of the stock footage. Your editor can then edit those comps into the piece so you can see whether that specific stock footage clip is best for your project.

Once all stock footage selections have been made, a deal will then be worked out between you (and/or your company) and the stock footage house. This deal includes how long you have the rights to the clips and on which formats your film will be shown, film festivals, TV, online, all mediums, etc.

A piece of advice: Buying in bulk can make for a better deal. Buying separate clips from several sources can be more expensive than buying clips from the same house. Again, this is why it’s best to have a researcher devoted to finding you stock footage. They can work and sometimes negotiate with stock footage houses to get you a better deal.

It’s after this that you’ll be given (either via download or physical copy) a high quality version of the clips that can then replace their comp counterparts. If you’re not familiar with this process, check out this quick primer on offline vs online editing.

Working with stock footage means communication between the editor, the post coordinator, the post supervisor, the director and the producers is key. Things like what house the stock footage clip came from, the cost of the clip per second of being used and how long it’s actually being used in the film all needs to be tracked.

Google docs are a great tool that can help you keep track of all these variables. I recommend creating one google doc that tracks all incoming documents/files and another that tracks their usage in the film.

Remember: Whatever the reason for its use, stock footage is a tool, like visual effects or music, that helps elaborate and illustrate your story. Don’t use stock footage to be fancy, use stock footage to tell the best story.

To close, here’s a clip from a movie that really used stock footage in an innovative way!