How to Make a Documentary

Making a documentary can be the most fun and challenging thing you will ever do. If you have a subject that you are passionate about and think that others should hear about it to, you can make a documentary about it.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Camera and Lighting Equipment
• Editing Equipment
• Interviews
• Logging System
• General Idea and Outline
• Flexibility

1. Choose your topic. If you already have an idea you can skip this step. If you have several ideas, narrowing your topic down will be your first step. For a documentary to work you need expert interviews, sources, and personal interviews if the subject calls for it.

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   © Rain Rabbit on Flickr

   Have a story. It's fine if you want to do a documentary on World War Two, but you need to be specific. Your topic needs to be attention grabbing and focused. For example: You can do a documentary on the weapons used during World War Two. Or you can focus your documentary on medical and technological advances that took place during this time.

3. Write an outline. You should have a general idea of the story and write down how you think it will fit together. If you are going to use a voice over, write out what your voice over artist will say. Insert where you think a particular subject or interview will fit. It's ok if your script changes to fit the interviews. Be flexible but also keep your overall message and delivery in mind.

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   © hungthrottle on Flickr

   Hire a crew. If you don't know the technical aspects of filming, editing, lighting, and sound, you will need a crew of people with experience in these area. Post an ad on Mandy.com. Mandy.com is a film/tv production website where television, film, and video production workers look for work. Check the link below.

5. You should bring prepared questions for interviews. Don't be afraid to stray and ask follow up questions if you think it could be something important or interesting.

6. You need to be able to answer the question: Why should I watch this? What makes your documentary important and engaging? Do you know who your audience will be?

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   © jamtar on Flickr

   You need sources. For example: If you want to do a documentary on World War Two veterans, you will need to interview veterans, family members of veterans, and historians. You may also want to consult history books and encyclopedias.

8. Use stock footage and old photographs. Laying images over interviews adds to the richness of the story and makes the importance of the topic more clear. It also adds to your documentary's visual appeal.

9. When possible, shoot your own footage to lay over the documentary. If you are interviewing a nurse about her job, show footage of her on the job dealing with patients, filing charts, and speaking with doctors.

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    courtesy of www2.bcinternet.net

    Use appropriate music to underlay your documentary. If the story is sad, you don't want to use a rock band for the music. Music stock cds are available for purchase. You can also use music that you would find in your local music store. Be careful to not drown out the subject of your documentary with the music. Choose music without words if possible. You can also use music to fill transitions in segments of the story.

11. Edit your documentary. Follow your original or revised outline. You can start by downloading all of your interviews and footage and then begin editing. Or you can download only the parts that you know you will need.

12. SAVE YOUR WORK! If you kick a wire out or have a temporary power outage and you haven't saved your work for 2 hours, you will lose 2 hours of work. Save every five to ten minutes.

Tips & Warnings

• Being organized can save you a lot of time and aggregation. Mark your tapes with what footage or interview is on each.
• Use the most important part of the clip for its name. If your clip is of someone walking a dog in the park, mark it with dog in park or subject in park. Be sure it is something that you will recognize easily.

Resources

• How to Get a Job as a Camera Operator
• Mandy.com