Directing a documentary
- Thread starter Vischalla
- Start date
Tip 1: Do not film in places where they don't want you to film.
Tip 2: Get a lot of coverage.
Tip 3: Be respectful to the people and places.
With a single exception: if the whole point is to obtain "forbidden" views -- say, to expose criminal behavior. Not as an "extra" bit, but the real core of your project.
In which case you need to depend on your own charm, luck, courage, stealth, or arrogance -- depending on your supply and the situation.
I visited India a decade or so ago. I found it fasinating. The craziest thing I can remember is taking a cab in Old Delhi to a mosque and the cabbie just stopped. A cow had ventured out into the street and decided to stay there and the cabbie would not pass her out of respect. So we were ditched then and there.
Then in a tour bus we were headed to the Taj Mahal. I remember looking out the window at the poverty. The family moving mile high piles of hey via an elephant on the side of the road and there was an accident. The police had placed rocks around the scene.
The cars honked their horns for everything and I had a headache from it (I thought NYC was bad but the honking in India was apparently encouraged).
Anyway, I wish I had documented my trip then. From the point of view of a tourist anyway.
Oh yeah and I got my nose peicred there too.
Then in a tour bus we were headed to the Taj Mahal. I remember looking out the window at the poverty. The family moving mile high piles of hey via an elephant on the side of the road and there was an accident. The police had placed rocks around the scene.
The cars honked their horns for everything and I had a headache from it (I thought NYC was bad but the honking in India was apparently encouraged).
Anyway, I wish I had documented my trip then. From the point of view of a tourist anyway.
Oh yeah and I got my nose peicred there too.
As devhaven pointed out, one of the most important things is that you're passionate about your subject. You also need to know precisely what your documentary is about - What question are you asking? Once you can articulate that, you can make sure that everything you shoot is connected with that question and so avoid shooting large amounts of footage that you'll find you can't use in the edit suite.
If you're interested, one of our Raindance course tutors wrote an article on 5 Mistakes Documentary Filmmakers Make which you might find useful - http://www.raindance.co.uk/site/index.php?id=47,4186,0,0,1,0
Hope this is helpful and best of luck with your documetary
If you're interested, one of our Raindance course tutors wrote an article on 5 Mistakes Documentary Filmmakers Make which you might find useful - http://www.raindance.co.uk/site/index.php?id=47,4186,0,0,1,0
Hope this is helpful and best of luck with your documetary
If you're doing any interviews, I suggest starting them with some very easy questions that may not even be important to your documentary. Most people are uncomfortable in front of a camera, so if you start with a few easy questions, the people you're interviewing will have a chance to get comfortable before they start answering more important questions.
Best of luck!
Best of luck!
I just finished my documentary a few months ago, and I must agree with what everyone here is saying.
And, I know it's a noobie thing but it's very important, make sure your audio is plugged in right. Yeah, I accidentally plugged it into the "audio out" plug and the result was virtually no sound at all. And, especially with documentaries, you get almost no chance at reshoots.
And, I know it's a noobie thing but it's very important, make sure your audio is plugged in right. Yeah, I accidentally plugged it into the "audio out" plug and the result was virtually no sound at all. And, especially with documentaries, you get almost no chance at reshoots.