SS and WWII Archive Footage Needed

[Stephan Wahl]

In the spring my brother and I will be interviewing both my grandmother (Former NAZI Party Member and Daughter of Gold Party Badge holder) and my grandfather (Former SSTK soldier from 1937 to End-war). We will be videotaping hopefully 8 hours or more of footage and building a documentary of approx 90 min. It will include my grandfather's time spent in his unit's (Oberbayern) base of Dachau, his role in the invasions of France, Poland and also Operation Barbarossa. When we interview my grandmother we will be asking questions about Adolph in Munich during the infancy of the NAZI party, how my Greatgrandfather helped him, my grandmothers role inside the NAZI party and her being straffed by returning P-38 lightnings while fleeing Berlin with my mother as a 2 year old in 1945, etc.

In order to keep the viewers eyes busy we will require stock footage that is either free, or borrowed or ultra low cost, etc., etc.

We will be using more easily found music, composed by Wagner (most likey his Taunheuser,) Samual Barber's Adagio for Strings etc, etc.

Have any of you guys ordered or have access to some of the stock footage from these website, or does anyone know where we can find WWII, SS and NAZI party stock footage?

[PanzerJager1944]

Stephan,

Sounds like a great project, glad you are recording your family's story before they are gone and it is lost like so many others. I would love to see a copy once you complete the documentary. You may want to check out the “Germany at War” DVD’s, they are all re-mastered 35mm newsreel footage. I have a few of the dvd’s and they are well worth it. Another source may also be the period training films available on dvd as well now. Check out this link for the Germany at War series:

http://www.1944militaria.com/germany_at_war_dvd.htm

As for period music I believe most if not all of the period music as well as news footage would fall under public domain therefore I don’t think you would be breaking any copyright laws and would not have to pay royalties. Don’t quote me on this though, as I am not a legal expert.

Hope this is a starting point, and keep us up to date on how the project is coming.

[Mr.Jerry D]

The US national Archive has all kinds of footage. I am not sure how to get it though. But I would contact them.

As for "public domain" music, while the music itself or very old performances may be in public domain the newer performamces and recordings have been copyrighted. Be sure to cover your butt with whatever you use. Assume copyright until told otherwise.

I edit educational videos for a living, so I am curious to hear how this project turn out for you. Good luck!

[Larry deZeng]

Although none of us want to be guilty of copyright infringement, bear in mind that to bring such a case the plaintiff must be able to show "material financial loss". The current threshold for "material financial loss" is c.$250,000. But even at that, there are few courts that would even consider hearing a copyright infringement case unless the provable losses impacted 50% or more of the entity's or individual's income generated by that copyright. Case law and the courts are decidedly on the side of the writer rather than on the side of the copyright holder. And don't forget the 10% fair use rule.

[Fishman, Stephen. The Copyright Handbook: What Every Writer Needs to Know. 9th edition. Berkeley (CA): Nolo, 2006].

--Larry

[Mr.Jerry D]

True, (well somewhat)
But in a world where 12 year olds are being sued ( for well under 250,000), I would err on the side of caution.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertain...ic/3096340.stm

I would rather avoid the situation than find out who has the highest paid lawyer. (who gets paid even if you don't go to court)

There are plenty of copyright free resources out there. Anything worth doing is worth doing right. There's no way PBS ot the "H"itler channel would run a program that might get them into hot water. Just my un-legally advised opinion.

Legano?- no legano? is grey area... -Anton Pamchenko - The Cutting Edge 1992

[Stephan Wahl]

Panzer Jager, Jerry and Larry. Thanks for the input. I'll be looking for as much input as possible and I guess I can keep this thread going with up dates as we progress. I'm not so sure this will be something The "H"itler Channel will want to air. It wont be filled with any "spooky piano hits" or insinuations that the SS were only soldier in history that were ever trained to kill. They wont like it. Not enough sensationalism I would guess. When finished I'm certain it wont be thee most interesting NAZI Germany story ever told, however, maybe a 7 out of 10. Depending on how it's done it could be nicely made and very watchable though.

Mr. Jerry D. My brother will be using Sonic Foundry Movie Making software to edit. Have you heard of any limitations with it that we should be aware of going in? I saw a few "shorts" that he made with it and was rather impressed.

[Stephan Wahl]

Panzer Jager: "Ja... *weez* Jackpot!" Good link on that Germany at War series. There are no first person naratives to edit out. AND it's in German.

If the documentary goes mainstream public, I guess we'll just have to strike a deal with the publisher if one is needed. Cross bridges when we get to them.

[Mr.Jerry D]

Sonic foundy should be fine, I use Final Cut Pro on the Mac. but I haven't seen anything that I would say is bad.

Most of the problems in production are with bad footage & audio. Be sure to use decent 3 point lighting (no backlighting from windows) an uncluttered background, no ambient noise, and use lavalier microphones. Ask questions then be quiet while they answer. Be sure your audio levels are hot enough but not overdriven, the new digital audio can be kind of pain that way. And record in the highest audio bit rate availible, so you won't have to deal with your audio drifting out of sync with the video.

Good luck!

[F L Clemens]

I agree with the comments about lighting and sound. You absolutely must have silence in the background. If accidental noise happens, redo that segment. When I was interviewed by a National Geographic crew, they paid off a neighbor to mow his lawn some other time.

Take charge of the interview. Don't let the interviewees meander. Break their speaking up into discrete stories. Rehearse with them what each segment will be about. Cut them off when they wander. Otherwise, only the most courageous will be able to watch the video. Don't believe me? Try it!

You don't have to have motion footage, you can get by with still photos. Still photos can be made to "move" by moving the camera. Zoom in, zoom out, pan, etc - but not like a spastic monkey - take your time.

[Stephan Wahl]

Mr. Jerry. The microphones are the only thing that scares me about the interview portion. Obviously we don't want to use the condensor mic on the front of any DVR camera. We will most likely rent the microphones, and my brother already has the Yamaha mixing board ready for multiple channels of input with "narrative effects" etc.

Usually when my Oma and Opa discuse these things in front of the family they are together, however, this time we will have them talk seperately and wont allow the other one in the room while the other is talking.

My brother and I are both perfectionists. I don't know, maybe it has something to do with being raised by a bunch of NAZI's! LoL We'll reshoot anything that has unwanted ambient sounds. Three point lighting is on the menu too. My borhter is a still photographer as well.