How to Make Documentaries Like Michael Moore

Critically acclaimed moviemaker Michael Moore has created some of the highest-grossing documentaries of all time. As the big guy who looks out for the little guy, Michael Moore investigates the individual costs of national policies often presented as being in the interest of the greater good.

Instructions

1. Get involved in politics. Michael Moore became interested in hot-button topics in his teens. By age eighteen, he'd already secured a spot on his hometown's school board and become one of the youngest Americans to win an election for public office.

2. Report for your local paper to flex your investigative skills. Moore reported for Flint, Michigan's local alternative weekly paper, "Flint Voice." After he became the editor, he re-vamped the paper into the alternative political publication, the "Michigan Voice." Moore eventually left to write for left-leaning political journal, "Mother Jones."

3. Stand up for the little guy. Moore's documentaries often focus on the effects that national policies have on the individual underdogs. For example, his 1989 documentary, "Roger & Me" depicts the economic damage that devastated Flint after General Motors closed their plants in his hometown.

4. Don't be afraid to expose injustice in your own country. Moore's 2002 documentary, "Bowling for Columbine" examines the culture of violence and guns in America, while his 2007 documentary, "Sicko," was "about 45 million people with no health care in the richest country on Earth," according to Moore.

5. Use dark humor. Moore's documentary about 9/11 and the war in Iraq, "Fahrenheit 9/11," placed direct blame for most of the casualties of both events with the George W. Bush administration. However, rather than paint Bush as an evil, tyrannical leader, Moore portrayed him as a comedically stunned puppet of his own administration.

6. Incorporate montages into your documentaries. Moore often sets his montages to ironic theme songs. For example, "Bowling for Columbine" features a montage of frenzied gun enthusiasts set to the song, "Happiness Is a Warm Gun," while another montage of violent warfare is set to the tune of "What a Wonderful World."