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Film Making requires a good idea and the talent/ability to create your vision for your audience. Here are some documentary masters of their genre talking about making the perfect documentary.

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Film Making requires a good idea and the talent/ability to create your vision for your audience. Here are some documentary masters of their genre talking about making the perfect documentary.

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9 Filmmakers Tell Us What Makes The Perfect Documentary Character

We like to think that the people that capture our hearts and minds as subjects in documentary films are just like us. Regular folks who just so happen to have cameras in front of them for extraordinary reasons. The fact is the filmmakers making those films have very specific reasons why they have selected these individuals, and it's not solely because of the issues they support or the work they do. Here we asked nine topflight docmakers to explain what makes the prefect documentary character. Here, in their own words, are their fascinating criteria.

ROBERT GREENE

Kati With An I, Fake It So Real, Actress

I'm allergic to quirkiness in documentary subjects, so that's the first test for me: is this person a normal human being? Too often documentary filmmakers fetishize unusualness in their subjects because that's what the marketplace seems to demand. But to my mind, too often one subject's quirk can be too easily swapped with another's. Whether the subject is a wacky inventor, an impersonator of a famous person or woman with an impossible dream, the film's end up feeling like repeats of the same thing. Quirk may sell, but it can also bore.

Beyond that, I'm always looking for people who have inherent layers to their personalities, tiny things about them that betray a performative nature that can be detected by a focused observational camera. We are always performing aspects of social identity, with or without cameras on us. I kind of see this fact as a basic building block of society and culture. Certain people at certain (often transitional) stages in their lives (for me this has been a girl about to graduate high school or working-class dreamers who strive to succeed at professional wrestling or an actor dealing with the role of stay-at-home mother) show a certain kind of performance in their everyday being. Training the camera on them and structuring their characters in the editing can reveal an essential quality of being human.

PENNY LANE

Our Nixon, NUTS! (in production)

For me to say YES to a subject, I have to say YES to these questions:
Do I really, really, really want this movie to exist?
Does the subject seem so good that it's like... "Duh, why hasn't anyone already done this?"
Will this subject still be interesting to me 2-8 years from now?
As I think about it more and more, do I think of more and more reasons it is interesting?
Am I the right person to make this movie?
Do people's eyes light up when they hear me talk about it?
Does it seem like it has a high likelihood of failure?
Will I be forced to learn a lot of new things?
Does it not sound like a lot of other movies I've seen?
Is there actually a story-a fairly complicated one, where things change over time?
Do I not quite know how to feel about the subject/the story?
Do I wake up in the night paralyzed with fear that the subject/the story is so good that I will never do it justice?

JESSE MOSS

Speedo, Full Battle Rattle, The Overnighters

If I immediately placed the burden of carrying a feature film on a subject, I'm not sure anyone would pass the test.

Initially, I look for several things: One, do I simply like the person and find them interesting enough to want to spend a lot of time with them. I can't imagine making a film, and expending this much effort, on a film about someone I disliked.

Secondly, are they engaged in some meaningful journey that intrigues me? My criteria are expansive. It could include the demolition derby, role-play in the US Army's Iraq War simulation, or ministering to broken men in the North Dakota oilfield. Passion and obsession are infectious. You know the old sayings from the screenwriter's wall: "character is action" and "drama is conflict." They're useful to consider. Of course documentary can very successfully dramatize interior life. But I am drawn to characters engaged in both external and internal struggles. Which leads to my final point.

I am drawn to conflicted characters, typically men, wrestling with strong contradictions and impulses. Finding subjects who are natural performers helps, but the real interest is locating the deeper motivations, and measuring the distance between the public and private self. Of course screen presence or charisma is essential, but this is hard to define or quantify. But you tend to recognize these qualities when you find them-or perhaps you have no business making feature documentaries.

RAMONA S. DIAZ

Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey

I never really know if a subject-in this case I'm talking about characters-can carry an entire film until I do a test shoot. It tells me a couple of things, the first is does the camera love them? Do they take on the light, do they pop? It is an ineffable quality but you'll recognize it when you watch the rushes-you won't be able to take your eyes off of them. A casting director once told me that she knew when a certain person was right for the role because she couldn't see beyond them when they read their lines, they took up the entire space in front of her. So the characters I'm thinking of building a film around should do the same, they should invade the frame, in a tight shot, in a wide shot, and everything in between. The second thing it'll tell me is if they're good storytellers. They may have a great story to tell but if they're not compelling, then I have nothing. Now the question is, do I believe their stories? Not necessarily. I've found through the years that very few people are truly reliable narrators of their own personal histories, especially in the presence of a camera. But the bottom line is that they are fascinating, and you'll parse out what's real and what's not real as the filming progresses.

So when you do a test, make sure you shoot your potential subject in varying ways and in as many situations as possible but most especially film them in silence-meaning to say film them doing nothing and ask them nothing. How they handle silence is really very telling.

Beyond this, what I've found over the years of shooting famous, not so famous, and about to be famous people is that unpredictability is really key. Hopefully the person you've chosen to spend the next two, three years of your life obsessing about will surprise you-in both good and bad ways-and will take you places you never even imagined.

CHRIS HEGEDUS AND D.A. PENNEBAKER

Dont Look Back, The War Room, Kings of Pastry, Unlocking The Cage (in production)

We don't have exact rules about choosing a subject because one never knows how things will turn out. But we do look for certain things. And of course sometimes we'll make a film about someone simply because there's funding. Usually our subjects select us. Well, not the subject exactly but someone else who has seen our films will say to us, "You should make a film about xxxx." Optimally for us, this person is totally passionate about what they are doing and about to risk all to pursue a dream.

Next we'll meet the person and see if we like each other because making a film together is a relationship. And like any relationship, in the beginning you don't know how it will turn out. You don't know if you will like each other through thick and thin, for "better or for worse." It comes down to trust. For access, they need to let us into their lives and we need to respect the privilege of going on the adventure with them. And if we're lucky we'll stumble upon Bob Dylan or James Carville.

HEIDI EWING

I mostly make character-driven films, so choosing that character to hang your hat on is a big, big deal. Like so many things in filmmaking this is mostly a gut decision. You just know a great documentary character when you see one-which is not that often actually.

Still, there are specific things I look for in a documentary personage, when debating if he or she can carry, or at least partly lift up, a film. For starters, a great documentary character is someone who is exactly the same no matter if the cameras are rolling or not. A person who lights up only when we are shooting and suddenly feels performative in some way is definitely a red flag for me, and my frequent collaborator Rachel Grady. It's like, "If we want to cast we'll just make fiction already!"

A robust ego is also a bonus, someone who feels they have something important to say and that people should listen up when they walk in a room...but yet doesn't give a damn if you agree with them or not. That does not preclude them from depth or a level of human insecurity, but I find I am drawn (and I think audiences are too) to people who have more extreme personality traits than the rest of us.

A good doc subject needs to be unsettled in some way, actively searching for something in their life they have yet to attain (an education, a relationship with their father, salvation, etc.). Passivity just doesn't carry a film (although one could argue that in Searching for Sugar Man things mostly happened TO the main character, Rodriguez, as others sought him out, but that was such an epic and incredible tale that it didn't matter).

I rarely see another film and wish I'd made it, but when I do it's because the character was so well chosen and did all the right things to keep us watching. Great examples include Billy in Billy the Kid, Philippe Petit in Man on Wire and Mr. Vig in The Monastery, which if you have not seen, you should. Like right now.

BETH MURPHY

The List, What Tomorrow Brings (in production)

Meeting someone who I believe has a story worth sharing with the world-specifically a story I want to help them share with the world-is so exhilarating and intense it once made me hop on a plane three days after giving birth. I have the sense that everything before in life has led me to this moment. And that's exactly how I felt when I met Razia Jan, the woman featured in my new film, What Tomorrow Brings.

Razia saw the desperate need to educate Afghanistan's daughters, and opened the country's only free private school for girls. Through the sheer force of her will and passion, she keeps the school open in a strongly patriarchal society that has little regard for women's rights. Razia is a mother in every sense of the word: loving and compassionate and tough; wanting the best for her girls, the best for her school, the best for her country.

For me, Razia is a great character because she's someone I admire and who makes me question my own contributions to humanity. She challenges what I know about the world and asks me to connect more deeply to it. She teaches me something about life and love and death and suffering. She helps to give voice to the voiceless and dares to hope in the face of adversity. And like all great characters, Razia inspires action through example.

JOANNA LIPPER

Inside Out: Portraits of Children, Growing Up Fast, The Supreme Price

My documentaries thus far have involved female characters who defy expectations and shatter stereotypes in ways that often surprise, amuse, move and engage audiences. I have worked with women and girls ranging from six to sixty. Across that entire spectrum I am looking for incandescence, something intangible but luminous that emanates from within and is visible onscreen. Voices are the threads that weave the internal world of subjective reflections with the larger overarching narrative, conversations, scenes and exposition. From my first conversation with a potential subject through the final sound mix I pay close attention to many details related to how voices sound and to how listening to someone speak makes me feel.

Honesty is key, along with authenticity, self-acceptance, humor and spontaneity. For me as a filmmaker, the messiness and discomfort of the truth is preferable to the lies that are perpetuated when it comes to some of the roles women and girls are socially conditioned to play, the illusions they are expected to uphold without even having a forum within which to question them, the myths they are pressured to reinforce and the sometimes impossible ideals they struggle to conform to at the expense of their integrity. If a subject presents a highly calculated, carefully pruned and polished version of herself, I as a director along with the editors will have fewer dimensions and nuances to work with. I prefer to work with subjects who are willing and able to access and express a broad range of affects and emotions while being filmed both in public and very private settings in a wide array of circumstances. This involves risks for the subject and a leap of faith because in order for someone to be unselfconscious she has to be fearless.

Audiences around the world who watch documentary films are diverse and not everyone is going to like-let alone agree with-women and girls who are iconoclasts, revolutionaries, fighters, outsiders and dreamers. As a director, I am intrigued by the delicate balance required when it comes to shaping the portrayal of female subjects who are secure enough not to need approval or validation from the mainstream-but still vulnerable enough to inspire identification and empathy. Most of the women and girls I find most engaging on screen own their anger and use it as a catalyst rather than repressing it. The resulting energy and determination can inspire activism and spark animated interviews and dynamic interactions. These elements help keep the audience alert, thinking and engaged with what's at stake as they watch a film.

NISHA PAHUJA

My favorite part about making docs is finding great "characters." In fact, that is how I started off in this business. My first jobs were to find compelling "characters," for various docs and series. I always felt like a detective-chasing leads, sleuthing, making umpteen phone calls-all to locate that perfect someone who had an incredible story to tell and who embodied the ideas that one was trying to convey. Over the many years I've been doing this, I've come to realize a few things.

1. Finding a great doc subject is essentially casting. Yes, this is documentary and a lot of people are fascinating and live incredible lives, but a great doc subject is someone who is entertaining-and by that I don't just mean charismatic (though that certainly helps) but someone who is open, complex, articulate, and for me, they have to be someone I like-regardless of whether I agree or disagree with their choices and/or what they stand for. When you spend a number of years making a film with people, a relationship develops and that closeness and affection is often what we are witnessing on screen.

2. The people I find most compelling are those who have a goal and are willing to let me follow their journey to reach that goal. When I was making my first film my editor gave me a brilliant piece of advice (though sadly after I'd finished shooting), he said, "Action is character." Finding subjects who are after something and following their process is a near guarantee that you will uncover truths about who they are, far more interestingly and fully than by simply interviewing them.

3. The most fascinating characters for me are always those whose lives, choices and conflicts help us articulate something about the larger world. This has always been a guiding principle. The idea that we can extrapolate from the specific to the universal and that one, lone person on the other side of the planet actually holds up a mirror to all of us, that is extraordinary to me. I want constantly to be reminded that all of us are in fact a mass of swirling multitudes. Characters who speak to that are the ones I gravitate toward.

[Photo: Dont Look Back]

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9 filmmakers tell us what makes the perfect documentary character

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9 Filmmakers Tell Us What Makes The Perfect Documentary Character

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We like to think that the people that capture our hearts and minds as subjects in documentary films are just like us. Regular folks who just so happen to have cameras in front of them for extraordinary reasons.

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Isn't that a question for the ages?

We work in a building with some of the greatest, most creative documentary filmmakers in Canada, so we decided to put the question to them.

Here are some of their answers:

Compelling

A great documentary crafts a compelling cinematic portrait of the heart and soul of people's lives and inspires us to see the world with greater clarity and compassion. Great documentaries remind us that our lives are complex, tragic, funny and magnificent and that it's always worth waking up for another kick at the can.

- Garry Beitel, director (The Socalled Movie, )

Powerful story arc and character arc

New perspective

Exclusive access

What makes a great documentary is access. I want a film to take me where I can't go.

- Thomas Hale, director ()

Depth

Great documentaries go deep. They take time. They help the subjects, the makers, the users, the audiences to think, feel, do, listen, speak, shake, cry and sing.

- Katerina Cizek, director ()

Artful animation

What makes a great documentary? More animation! Seriously. Documentarists want to change the minds and preconceptions of audiences, right? Be subversive; seduce audiences - with brilliant, artful animation - into enjoying themselves and being vulnerable, dropping their defenses (and defensiveness), then make your point and transform them. As evidence, I offer up Persepolis, Waltz With Bashir, Drawn From Memory (Paul Fierlinger), Ann Marie Fleming's upcoming I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors, or the subtle brilliance of Sweden's Jonas Odell ( Never Like the First Time) or UK filmmaker Jonathan Hodgson ( Camouflage).

- Michael Fukushima, producer/director ()

Creative quality of fiction

Eye-opening

Find out how some of the other great documentary minds answer this question by checking out Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary, which is a collection of interview clips on the genre with some of today's most well-known filmmakers.

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What makes a great documentary? Tips & advice from our filmmakers - NFB Blog

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Learn how to make a great documentary - Tips & advice from leading documentary filmmakers in Canada. Characteristics & qualities of a good documentary film.

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Planning is the key to successful film making - this guide is a good start.

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Planning is the key to successful film making - this guide is a good start.

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Want to be a documentary filmmaker? We've put together this comprehensive guide to lead you through every step of the process, from initial documentary concepting to distribution.
Top image via Shutterstock
What Is a Documentary?

If you're looking for a definition, here's a great post about the history of the documentary and its different sub-genres. Basically, documentaries have been around since the dawn of cinema. They've developed over the years into six main "modes" of which you may or may not be familiar. Here's a brief list, but check the article for more in-depth descriptions and examples.

1. Poetic Documentaries - focuses on experiences and images to create a feeling rather than a truth.

2. Expository Documentaries -aims to persuade and inform, often through "Voice of God" narration.

3. Observational Documentaries - simply observes the world - your classic cinéma vérité style.

4. Participatory Documentaries - includes the filmmaker and influences the major actions of the narrative

5. Reflexive Documentaries - includes the filmmaker but focuses solely on the act of making the film.

6. Performative Documentaries - the "Michael Moore" style that uses subject experience to share an emotional response with the world.

If you're interested in the history of documentary film, here are some great resources to check out:

Picking Your Subject

While it's important to understand and appreciate the documentary genre's history, the biggest deciding factor in your documentary's success is going to come down to your subject. All other aspects of documentary planning, production and post-production will be centered around and tailored to best tell your documentary subject's story. There are an endless number of opinions on what makes a subject good and unique ( here's a great example), but here we break down the three questions to ask yourself. Check out the full article for a more in-depth look.

Image from Bigstock

1. What Are Your Interests?

The first place to look is at yourself. Making a documentary can take several years and requires lots of research, coverage and editing. You'll want to make sure your subject reflects something you're interested and invested in.

2. What Is Available to You?

3. What Is the Most Visually Interesting?

The final question to ask yourself: what will make your documentary the most visually interesting? This means taking a hard look at your ideas and subject to see if it " clicks."

If you're still hung up on what might be the most important decision of your documentary film, here are some more resources and articles to check out:

Gearing Up

Camera Setup

PBS's POV website created an awesome poll and infographic which surveyed documentary filmmakers about their gear of choice. For cameras, it's no surprise that Canon products were overwhelmingly preferred, with the C300 closely beating out the 5D and 7D options. DSLRs are always good choices for filmmakers on a budget and for those looking to draw little attention to themselves. However, in the last few years Sony's cameras have been making big strides in terms of compactness/mirrorless and high-end censors.

Here are five cameras to consider:

Sound Setup

So you have your camera setup, but now you need to ensure that you're capturing quality audio. You should setup a small shotgun mic on the top of your camera. This way you can capture an overall audio tone, specifically room tone. However, for the actual interview audio, you'll want to use a lavalier microphone setup. Here's a sample load out of what you will need.

1. Zoom H6 Field Recorder: $399.99

2. Sennheiser Wireless Lavalier Mics: $629.95

3. Rode VideoMic: $106.99

4. Sennheiser HD 280 Pro Headphones: $99.95

5. SanDisk 32GB Ultra SDHC Card: $14.99

For a broader overview of what a pro documentary sound designer uses for gear, here's an informative video from The Location Crew. In this video, sound recordist Dean Miles goes through his entire gear setup, which is quite impressive.

Lighting Setup

Now that you have your camera in place and audio ready to go, you need to light your interviewee. There are a host of options on how to do this, but many find LED lights to be the very best option for a doc shoot. They don't produce tons of heat and are more energy efficient than tungsten. Yongnuo makes a quality light kit for $60 per light, but if you want something that will produce amazing light, then look at Genaray LED lights. A suggested setup: Use a traditional three light setup with stands and gels. Run stingers to power each light. If you're on the move, the LED can use Sony V-Mount batteries, which is handy.

Image from Cinescopophilia

1. Genaray SpectroLED: $374.00 ea.

2. Impact Light Stand: $44.99 ea.

3. Pro Gel Vivid Color Pack: $22.95

4. Watson 25ft AC Power Cord: $12.95

For a more in-depth look at how to properly light your interview subject, check out this helpful video from Stray Angel Films.

Not seeing all the gear you'd like to use? Here are some other opinions and options for documentary gear to consider:

Filming Interviews

1. Prepare Accordingly, but Remain Adaptable
Image: Documentarian Laura Poitras researching, via The New York Times
Research, research, research before you film your interviews. Do pre-interviews if possible to know the answers and talking points that will work best. Here's a good article on preparation.

2. Avoid "Yes" and "No" Questions

The art of interviewing can be a little awkward or intimidating at first. The goal of a good interviewer is to put your subject at ease and invite them into a dialogue. Any question that is not open ended gives them a quick escape and nothing for you to use.
Image: Fredrick Wiseman's crew before filming National Gallery, via DVDExotica
3. Ensure Your Subject Is Comfortable

Making your subject comfortable begins long before you begin to roll the cameras. Try to build a strong relationship from the beginning and work to learn what makes them tick. Once you understand them, you can get the best results.

For more in-depth interview advice, here are more places to check out:

Shooting Coverage and B-Roll

Documentaries are much more than just interviews. The real meat of many documentary films is found in the coverage and B-roll which merely uses the interviews as narration. Your subject will dictate what types of coverage are most important, but here are a few basic types of B-roll to be sure to include:
Image from Vice
Exposition Shots

These are the shots that establish the who/what/when and where - the why will come later. They can be exteriors of buildings, scenic nature in the area, historical pictures leading up to the time and place, anything that gives background information to your audience that will save you from having to write it on the screen or have it explained by a subject.

Narrative Shots

Wrap-Up Shots

Wrap up shots are your reverse exposition shots. They are similar, but serve a different purpose. They move you back away from the unique world which you are giving your audience access to, and give them more outside information to help them shape their opinions and understanding. You can also use some film tricks like slow motion, dissolves, and " curtain shots."

Here are some more coverage and B-Roll resources to check out:

Audio Coverage

While out in the field or in interviews, you should be just as focused on getting clean audio as you are on capturing strong visual coverage. Documentary shoots often include a sit-down interview in a semi-controlled environment, but there will be plenty of times you encounter unwanted ambient noise. When you first arrive on location, start listening for any unusual sounds. Is the A/C unit rumbling, the refrigerator humming, or do you hear the annoying clink of a ceiling fan chain hitting a light bulb? These are all sounds you want to stop.

Here are some tips and tricks for ensuring your documentary audio coverage is top-notch:

1. Freeze Your Keys

If you're shooting in a location that is near a refrigerator, you'll notice that annoying hum kick on and off throughout the shoot. Of course you'll unplug it, but a good trick to remember to turn it back on is to leave your car keys in the fridge. You won't be leaving without them, and you won't forget to turn the fridge back on.

2. Use Gaff Tape to Hide Lav Mics

3. Use a Boom Pole Adapter Instead of Your Arms

If you're on a shoot without a boom operator, you can always set your boom mic on a C-stand using a boom pole holder. It will also save a thankful friend from having some tired arms.

Here are dozens of more audio tips and tricks for documentary film audio:

Editing Your Documentary

The real magic of documentary filmmaking doesn't begin until all the footage has been shot. In editing your documentary, you get your first real chance to explore how your subject's story is going to stack up. Undoubtedly, this can also be the most tedious part of the documentary filmmaking process due to the sheer scope of coverage. Here are some tips and tricks that may help you through the arduous process:

1. Organize Folders and Label Bins

You're going to rack up lots of footage making a documentary. You've simply got to start and stay organized. You'll want to set everything up as much as possible in the beginning or else things can take a turn quickly and you'll be looking at a mess.

You can use some free programs like PostHaste from Digital Rebellion to create folder structures, or you can put together your own templates.

2. Create Sequences for Individual Interviews

When doing your pre-edit, create sequences for individual interviews which have all of the footage available. This will help with transcribing, locating, and putting said sequences together on a larger timeline later.

3. Backup Everything

If you'd like more editing tips, here are a few good sources to go along with the points above:

Also, here's a great post on our sister-site RocketStock which takes you through how to create and animate your own lower thirds for any film or video:

Soundtrack and Music

Full disclosure: PremiumBeat.com offers a wide array of royalty-free stock music and sound effects for you to purchase. Still, your options for creating your soundtrack are nearly endless. The ideal way (after PremiumBeat, of course) would be to get a custom soundtrack recorded by a composer once you get picture-lock. However, for many of us that don't have the connections or budget, there are other options. Here are some things to consider:

Determine the Mood or Tone

One of the last components of a documentary film (or any film for that matter) is the soundtrack. That being said, your sound and music are merely tools to help you define the mood or tone that you've already worked to develop. Here's a scene from Into the Mind that shows a great awareness and development of mood and tone.

Don't Be Afraid of Silence

Before you go too crazy with soundtracking your documentary, consider the possibility of no soundtrack at all (or at least, very little). Emotional cues can be built many different ways - here's a great video by Tony Zhou that covers the art of silence.

Music Can Drive Pace

Very early on in your project, you'll find that your documentary has a certain tempo to it. The pacing of how people talk, how they go between excited and tempered - it all feeds into an underlying rhythm. The soundtrack and music will help develop that pace and give a powerful foundation to your film.

The key is to understand that music is vital for your documentary film and not impossible to find. Here are some other resources and tips to keep in mind when soundtracking your documentary film:

Distribution
Jiro Dreams of Sushi via Magnolia Pictures
There's certainly no guarantee of ever having your film released in theaters - no matter how strong it may be. But there are a number of ways that you can drastically improve your odds of getting distribution, some of which come into play before you even shoot your first frame.
Image from Shutterstock
Here are a few critical tips that should be considered when producing or directing your documentary film:
Citizenfour via HBO Films
1. Concept Is Everything

The number one determinant in a documentary's success is, without question, its concept. Your subject, whether that be a person, place, or thing is key to entertaining your audience. That being said, great stories can be hidden anywhere (à la Jiro Dreams of Sushi), you just have to find it.

2. Plan and Schedule Wisely

3. Content Always Trumps Quality

The final point to remember when looking for distribution: always focus on content over quality. Documentaries, maybe even more than narratives, are very forgiving of video and audio quality -if the story is enticing and real. As a documentarian you need to be flexible and ready to record stories that are in the moment despite whatever limitations you may have.

If you've made it this far through our guide, it's safe to assume that you are now an Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker -congratulations! Hopefully some of the advice and articles above will help you in your documentary filmmaking journey. Best of luck!

If you are interested in more of our comprehensive guides, check out Professional Video Editing Tips and Techniques and Cinematography Manual: The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Director of Photography.

Have any other documentary film advice you'd like to share? Let us know in the comments!

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A Complete Guide to Documentary Filmmaking

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Top image via Shutterstock If you're looking for a definition, here's a great post about the history of the documentary and its different sub-genres. Basically, documentaries have been around since the dawn of cinema. They've developed over the years into six main "modes" of which you may or may not be familiar.

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Here is a reminder of some of the shots you can use when making your film. Remember making a documentary is similar ti making a fictional film - you often use the same camera moves and techniques. 

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Here is a reminder of some of the shots you can use when making your film. Remember making a documentary is similar ti making a fictional film - you often use the same camera moves and techniques. 

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Most Documentaries are mad by independent film makers often with a very low budget or no budget at all. Some films are mad speculatively, meaning that no Channel has commissioned it - a big risk. But don't worry if you have no money. Have camera, have desire - have a great idea - get out there and shoot!! Watch this to find out how.

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Most Documentaries are mad by independent film makers often with a very low budget or no budget at all. Some films are mad speculatively, meaning that no Channel has commissioned it - a big risk. But don't worry if you have no money. Have camera, have desire - have a great idea - get out there and shoot!! Watch this to find out how.

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Award-winning filmmakers capturing the esscense of Scandinavian culture. What it is like to make a Documentary without money. Subscribe for upcoming episodes http://bit.ly/cntv-subscribe Download free e-book on cinematograpgy.

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Preproduction phase of a documentary is REALLY important, researching and writing a script/voiceover that are informed well researched and accurate. Check out this video.

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Preproduction phase of a documentary is REALLY important, researching and writing a script/voiceover that are informed well researched and accurate. Check out this video.

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How to Write & Produce a Documentary : Indy News