What to know before making a documentary
Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2025 5:41 am
For some time now, the word “documentary” has not been synonymous with boring, rhythmless, and chatty content. With the popularization of videos on the internet and the success of streaming platforms, people have learned to consume – and demand – high-quality content in a variety of formats. As a result, documentaries have been gaining more and more space among audiences and can be a way to produce rich, interesting, and relevant content.
Check out some tips before thinking about making a documentary:
Waist game
Unlike a fiction film or a commercial, which has a very detailed script that is meant to be followed to the letter, in a documentary many interesting things can happen outside of the main scene and it is necessary to have flexibility in the production to capture these moments. For example, the unexpected reaction of a participant or behind-the-scenes details can greatly enrich the story told in the documentary and set the emotional tone.
Therefore, it is important to plan your team, schedule and equipment to be able to respond to last-minute situations. But be careful: being flexible and prepared for bosnia and herzegovina phone number data different situations does not mean not planning at all. It is essential to establish rules and have a roadmap, but to anticipate unexpected changes of direction.
We’ve already talked about how to write a video script , which can help you come up with some ideas for your documentary. In another article, we talked about the scriptwriting lessons we can learn from “A Quiet Place,” which has a lot of important tips!
Go beyond the facts
What else is there to explore about that topic besides the facts themselves? Sticking to the facts will make your documentary a great piece of journalism. It’s also important to let go of biased opinions and views about the topic and let the ideas flow unfiltered.
Invest time in research
Before hiring the “characters” of your story and writing the script, choosing the locations, etc., do your research. Do a lot of research. Research the people, the places, historical archives (if any), and any and all information about that theme. This will make your documentary much richer and make it easier to plan and script, because you will already know who and what is important.
Cast
Remember that the “cast” of the documentary is not made up of actors, but rather real people who, most of the time, do not have the gift of acting or the ability to memorize texts. Therefore, keep in mind that your script has to be flexible and adaptable and that many things can turn out differently than expected.
Post-production
Post-production is one of the stages that differs the most from a fictional film. This is because, precisely because the script is more open and adaptable, the work of gathering unplanned scenes, selecting what to include and what not, and the final editing is also much more variable. This is important to take into account even when planning deadlines and delivery schedules.
Check out some tips before thinking about making a documentary:
Waist game
Unlike a fiction film or a commercial, which has a very detailed script that is meant to be followed to the letter, in a documentary many interesting things can happen outside of the main scene and it is necessary to have flexibility in the production to capture these moments. For example, the unexpected reaction of a participant or behind-the-scenes details can greatly enrich the story told in the documentary and set the emotional tone.
Therefore, it is important to plan your team, schedule and equipment to be able to respond to last-minute situations. But be careful: being flexible and prepared for bosnia and herzegovina phone number data different situations does not mean not planning at all. It is essential to establish rules and have a roadmap, but to anticipate unexpected changes of direction.
We’ve already talked about how to write a video script , which can help you come up with some ideas for your documentary. In another article, we talked about the scriptwriting lessons we can learn from “A Quiet Place,” which has a lot of important tips!
Go beyond the facts
What else is there to explore about that topic besides the facts themselves? Sticking to the facts will make your documentary a great piece of journalism. It’s also important to let go of biased opinions and views about the topic and let the ideas flow unfiltered.
Invest time in research
Before hiring the “characters” of your story and writing the script, choosing the locations, etc., do your research. Do a lot of research. Research the people, the places, historical archives (if any), and any and all information about that theme. This will make your documentary much richer and make it easier to plan and script, because you will already know who and what is important.
Cast
Remember that the “cast” of the documentary is not made up of actors, but rather real people who, most of the time, do not have the gift of acting or the ability to memorize texts. Therefore, keep in mind that your script has to be flexible and adaptable and that many things can turn out differently than expected.
Post-production
Post-production is one of the stages that differs the most from a fictional film. This is because, precisely because the script is more open and adaptable, the work of gathering unplanned scenes, selecting what to include and what not, and the final editing is also much more variable. This is important to take into account even when planning deadlines and delivery schedules.