What do you look for in a documentary?

Here are a few things to keep in mind when you want to shoot and edit a longform documentary.Make a plan. Find protagonists. Prepare your gear / care for sound. Interview your most important protagonists more than once. Shoot tons of b-roll. Edit wisely. Think in chapters. Look for twists and turns.

How can I make my documentary successful?

Key Steps to Making Documentaries:Tell a story you care about. Start with a subject that excites you. Research. Learn everything you can about your documentary subject. Make a Plan. Create an outline. Create a Shot List. Start Shooting. Write a Script. Begin Editing. Check Legal and Copyright Issues.

What makes a good short documentary?

So here are five tips to help you rise above.Research. Image via Rawpixel.com. Outline. While narrative films have a script, documentaries live and die by an outline. Find the Deeper Story. Image via Andrzej Sowa. Invest in Sound. Sound is important in any film. Less is More.

How do you structure a documentary?

Documentary Structure The Three-Act DocumentaryBeginning | Act One. The beginning of the documentary needs to capture the audience’s attention. Middle | Act Two. This is the main guts of your story. End | Act Three. The ending of the documentary usually brings some kind of resolution to the questions and conflict established at the beginning of the film.

How do you storyboard a short documentary?

Follow these steps to create your first storyboard.Make a shot list. Take a scene from your script and make a shot list. Sketch it out. Whether you’re working on a feature film or a short animation, choose one of the more complex sequences, and scope out a vision for the scene. Fill in details. Add words.

How do I make a documentary on my phone?

A Guide to Filming a Documentary on a SmartphoneAudio. You can actually get away with the inbuilt smartphone microphone, especially with later, high-end phones. Stabilisation. Release forms. Camera app. Why a smartphone is perfect for shooting documentaries. Feeling of Being There. With documentary the quest is for observation footage. You are part of the story.

How long does it take to make a documentary?

Based on availability of people for interviews, supplemental filming, archival footage and research, and music scoring, it generally takes up to 8 weeks to edit and complete your personal documentary all depending on the scope of your film.

How much does it cost to shoot a documentary?

As a rule of thumb, a lot of producers assume that a finished corporate production or high-quality YouTube video will cost about $1,000 per finished minute of footage. From there, you can extrapolate the final cost based on length. A 60-minute documentary will therefore cost $60,000.

How do you come up with a documentary title?

When choosing your title, choose words that are memorable, unique and catchy, not generic and vague. For example, the words “disease” and “health” are vague. “Generation Rx” is catchy. Once you choose a title that clicks with you, check the internet and make sure no one else is using it.

How do you pitch a documentary on Netflix?

If you have an idea, script, screenplay, or production already in development that you’d like to pitch to Netflix, you should work through a licensed literary agent, producer, attorney, manager, or entertainment executive who already has a relationship with Netflix.