The Introduction
The basis of a good documentary film, like with any other film, always starts with the story. As a documentary film maker, you must have an interesting story to tell. Whilst many documentary films can be serious in nature, many are funny, quirky, strange and unique. But above all, they have a story to tell.
Additionally, the storytelling of a documentary can be bolstered by interesting visuals and slick, high level production values, meaning, in simple terms, it looks really professional.
Have a look at the documentary Ball Art, below left. The premise of the entire documentary is how cricket balls are made. It may not sound terribly engaging to somebody who doesn’t care a great deal about cricket, but the visuals and excellent use of camera make it a visually stimulating and well told story. This film was made by a Year 12 VCE student a few years ago and was selected as part of the VCAA Season of Excellence Top Screen exhibition.
The documentary on the right, is a story that was made as part of a lifestyle program that aired on Channel 31 entitled Fringe Lane (www.fringelane.com). This story, like many other documentary stories on lifestyle programs sticks to a pretty standard formula, which we’ll explore further down.
Additionally, the storytelling of a documentary can be bolstered by interesting visuals and slick, high level production values, meaning, in simple terms, it looks really professional.
Have a look at the documentary Ball Art, below left. The premise of the entire documentary is how cricket balls are made. It may not sound terribly engaging to somebody who doesn’t care a great deal about cricket, but the visuals and excellent use of camera make it a visually stimulating and well told story. This film was made by a Year 12 VCE student a few years ago and was selected as part of the VCAA Season of Excellence Top Screen exhibition.
The documentary on the right, is a story that was made as part of a lifestyle program that aired on Channel 31 entitled Fringe Lane (www.fringelane.com). This story, like many other documentary stories on lifestyle programs sticks to a pretty standard formula, which we’ll explore further down.
Ball Art |
Fringe Lane |
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The Breakdown
Each half hour television program runs for roughly 22 minutes without advertisements. This means, with a one minute introduction to the episode overall at the start and a one minute farewell at the end, you have time for five 4 minute-long stories (or four 5 minute long ones too).
So, if each story is going to run for between 4 and 5 minutes, the formula, whilst not being rigid and not the only way it can be done, can be broken down as this:
Whilst all of that is flexible and certainly not the only way it can be done, it provides you with a solid structure of how to craft and create the story you want to tell.
Here are some more good documentaries you may wish to have a look at, to get more of an idea about what documentary films can be about and see how they can be structured. You might also want to look at the documentary channel at:
https://www.shortoftheweek.com/channels/documentary/
Article: What Makes A Good Documentary?
http://www.documentarytube.com/articles/what-makes-a-good-documentary-film
So, if each story is going to run for between 4 and 5 minutes, the formula, whilst not being rigid and not the only way it can be done, can be broken down as this:
- 30 seconds: montage of quickly cut footage, no longer than 2 or 3 seconds per shot, providing context for the story the audience is about to see.
- 30 seconds: presenter talks to camera introducing what the story is about, or a voiceover provides the same information over more montage footage.
- 60 seconds: first interview. An interview with an expert/somebody related to the topic of the story. Usually, rather than show a whole section of someone being interviewed, you will show maybe ten seconds at the start of the clip with a lower third title to establish who they are and why they’re relevant, and then you’ll cut up the rest of their interview using just the good sound bites, hiding the cuts with B-roll footage that is edited over the top of it, so we can only hear the voice of the interviewee.
- 30 seconds: more montage footage, to provide further context to the story, or provide lead-in footage for the second interview.
- 60 seconds: second interview. Another person relevant to the story who provides another perspective, or adds more to the previous interview.
- 30 seconds: final montage
- 30 seconds: presenter talks to camera summing up/signing off on the story, or a narrator provides a final insight over B-roll montage footage, or another final sound bite that is particularly poignant from one of the previous interviews is used to provide a final stamp on the story.
Whilst all of that is flexible and certainly not the only way it can be done, it provides you with a solid structure of how to craft and create the story you want to tell.
Here are some more good documentaries you may wish to have a look at, to get more of an idea about what documentary films can be about and see how they can be structured. You might also want to look at the documentary channel at:
https://www.shortoftheweek.com/channels/documentary/
Article: What Makes A Good Documentary?
http://www.documentarytube.com/articles/what-makes-a-good-documentary-film
The Beast Files |
Caine's Arcade |
This is Scootering |
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The Task
You are to plan, research, create and complete a short documentary film that MUST be between 4 and 5 minutes in length.
Your finished documentaries are going to be compiled into a number of half hour long Bialik Media Documentary episodes to be screened on Channel 31, so the time restraints are important.
Your planning and ideas, story, etc., as always, should be planned in your folio.
STEP 1
You may wish to take a few screenshots of documentary films you’ve watched that have given you ideas and then stick them into your folio and annotate them so you have a page of Inspiration to start with.
(if you’re on the Macs in the Media Room, holding down Command+Shift+4 on your keyboard turns your mouse into a cross and you can then click and drag to select what you want to take a screenshot of. This screenshot will then be saved as a .png image on your Desktop).
STEP 2
Decide what your topic/story will be. You should be able to express this as a single line synopsis (plot summary). The single line synopsis for Caine’s Arcade, for example, is, “A 9 year old boy builds an elaborate cardboard arcade in his dad's used auto parts store. All he needs now is a customer.”
STEP 3
Research your topic. You need to have a lot of background information about your topic, so you can adequately prepare the script for your documentary film and have a clear idea about what you want to convey in your documentary film.
STEP 4
During your research step above, you should also be finding at least two people that are experts, or related to your topic, that you can interview for your documentary.
STEP 5
Contact the people you wish to interview, explaining what it is you are doing, why you want to talk to them and asking them if they would be prepared to be interviewed for your film. NOTE: if they say no, or don’t reply in a reasonable amount of time, you will need to contact somebody else. Your documentary film MUST have interviews.
STEP 6
Once you’ve got interviewees lined up who are prepared to be in your film, organize a time and place where you will record the interview. Sound and lighting are very important for this, so make sure you use proper microphones (not the built-in microphone on the camera) and lights when filming the interviews.
STEP 7
Film B-roll. What is B-roll? Good question. B-roll is footage that can be edited together for part of the montage sequences you’ll need in your film, but it can also be placed over the interviews when they’re edited into your film to hide the cuts.
You may interview somebody for 20 minutes, but you’ll really only want 15 to 30 seconds of good sound bites from that interview, so you’ll cut the interview up considerably to only have a sequence of the best bits, but if the audience can see all those cuts, it will look unprofessional, so you show the first ten-ish seconds of the interview, to establish for the audience who is talking, and then you place your B-roll over the top of it to hide the takes. You’ll be able to cut out the boring/less relevant bits of the interview, cut out all the “ums” and “ahs” and have a good sounding sequence, that sounds like it is just one well spoken section, with good footage over the top of it.
Good B-roll shots, when edited into your film, shouldn’t really be longer than 3 to 5 seconds, so you need to film a lot of B-roll footage for your documentary. Your 30 second opening montage, for example, may consist of 10 different shots. If you have multiple montages throughout your 4 to 5 minute film, you may need to shoot 50 or more individual shots. It is important when shooting these, however, that you don’t just film random things, and that you shoot relevant footage that will provide greater context for your documentary and help you tell your story visually.
STEP 8
Film the interviews with your interviewees
STEP 9
Edit your film together using Final Cut Pro (if you haven’t used Final Cut Pro before, you will need to learn it for this task. Your teacher will teach you how to use the program in class time, but you can use the tutorials at the bottom of this page as backup if you need a reminder later on). Add music, titles, lower-thirds, narration (if applicable) to your documentary and finish the edit of your film. All music, etc. used in your film, because it’s going to be publicly broadcast, must be royalty free, e.g. it can’t be songs you like from iTunes and the charts, etc.
STEP 10
Export your finished doco and either upload to an Unlisted link on YouTube, or upload it to your OneDrive folder.
IMPORTANT: High production value is important for this task. Your finished product is something that is going to be publicly broadcast, so it's vital that it looks professional if it is going to make it to air. The term "high production value" means that your finished product is of a high standard. This means that lighting, sound, content, quality shot selection and camera work and editing are all a priority. The story that you choose to tell is important and should appeal to a wide audience. Plan out your topic carefully and get approval from your teacher before proceeding. You may need to spend extra time practicing your technical skills before creating the product, to ensure the production value of your completed documentary film is excellent.
Your finished documentaries are going to be compiled into a number of half hour long Bialik Media Documentary episodes to be screened on Channel 31, so the time restraints are important.
Your planning and ideas, story, etc., as always, should be planned in your folio.
STEP 1
You may wish to take a few screenshots of documentary films you’ve watched that have given you ideas and then stick them into your folio and annotate them so you have a page of Inspiration to start with.
(if you’re on the Macs in the Media Room, holding down Command+Shift+4 on your keyboard turns your mouse into a cross and you can then click and drag to select what you want to take a screenshot of. This screenshot will then be saved as a .png image on your Desktop).
STEP 2
Decide what your topic/story will be. You should be able to express this as a single line synopsis (plot summary). The single line synopsis for Caine’s Arcade, for example, is, “A 9 year old boy builds an elaborate cardboard arcade in his dad's used auto parts store. All he needs now is a customer.”
STEP 3
Research your topic. You need to have a lot of background information about your topic, so you can adequately prepare the script for your documentary film and have a clear idea about what you want to convey in your documentary film.
STEP 4
During your research step above, you should also be finding at least two people that are experts, or related to your topic, that you can interview for your documentary.
STEP 5
Contact the people you wish to interview, explaining what it is you are doing, why you want to talk to them and asking them if they would be prepared to be interviewed for your film. NOTE: if they say no, or don’t reply in a reasonable amount of time, you will need to contact somebody else. Your documentary film MUST have interviews.
STEP 6
Once you’ve got interviewees lined up who are prepared to be in your film, organize a time and place where you will record the interview. Sound and lighting are very important for this, so make sure you use proper microphones (not the built-in microphone on the camera) and lights when filming the interviews.
STEP 7
Film B-roll. What is B-roll? Good question. B-roll is footage that can be edited together for part of the montage sequences you’ll need in your film, but it can also be placed over the interviews when they’re edited into your film to hide the cuts.
You may interview somebody for 20 minutes, but you’ll really only want 15 to 30 seconds of good sound bites from that interview, so you’ll cut the interview up considerably to only have a sequence of the best bits, but if the audience can see all those cuts, it will look unprofessional, so you show the first ten-ish seconds of the interview, to establish for the audience who is talking, and then you place your B-roll over the top of it to hide the takes. You’ll be able to cut out the boring/less relevant bits of the interview, cut out all the “ums” and “ahs” and have a good sounding sequence, that sounds like it is just one well spoken section, with good footage over the top of it.
Good B-roll shots, when edited into your film, shouldn’t really be longer than 3 to 5 seconds, so you need to film a lot of B-roll footage for your documentary. Your 30 second opening montage, for example, may consist of 10 different shots. If you have multiple montages throughout your 4 to 5 minute film, you may need to shoot 50 or more individual shots. It is important when shooting these, however, that you don’t just film random things, and that you shoot relevant footage that will provide greater context for your documentary and help you tell your story visually.
STEP 8
Film the interviews with your interviewees
STEP 9
Edit your film together using Final Cut Pro (if you haven’t used Final Cut Pro before, you will need to learn it for this task. Your teacher will teach you how to use the program in class time, but you can use the tutorials at the bottom of this page as backup if you need a reminder later on). Add music, titles, lower-thirds, narration (if applicable) to your documentary and finish the edit of your film. All music, etc. used in your film, because it’s going to be publicly broadcast, must be royalty free, e.g. it can’t be songs you like from iTunes and the charts, etc.
STEP 10
Export your finished doco and either upload to an Unlisted link on YouTube, or upload it to your OneDrive folder.
IMPORTANT: High production value is important for this task. Your finished product is something that is going to be publicly broadcast, so it's vital that it looks professional if it is going to make it to air. The term "high production value" means that your finished product is of a high standard. This means that lighting, sound, content, quality shot selection and camera work and editing are all a priority. The story that you choose to tell is important and should appeal to a wide audience. Plan out your topic carefully and get approval from your teacher before proceeding. You may need to spend extra time practicing your technical skills before creating the product, to ensure the production value of your completed documentary film is excellent.
Due Dates
You will need to provide your teacher with evidence of these steps being completed by each of the due dates.
Steps 1 – 4 are due by the end of Week 5 (Friday, 12th August)
Steps 5 – 7 are due by the end of Week 6 (Friday, 19th August)
Step 8 is due by the end of Week 7 (Friday, 26th August)
Steps 9 and 10 are due by the end of Week 8 (Friday, 2nd September)
Steps 1 – 4 are due by the end of Week 5 (Friday, 12th August)
Steps 5 – 7 are due by the end of Week 6 (Friday, 19th August)
Step 8 is due by the end of Week 7 (Friday, 26th August)
Steps 9 and 10 are due by the end of Week 8 (Friday, 2nd September)
Final Cut Pro Tutorials
1. Introduction |
2. Doing A Basic Edit |
3. Adding Music, Transitions & Text |