Transcripts
1. Intro: Directing a documentary is very different to directing
a narrative film. What the role of
the director is, just as if not more important
when making a documentary. Typically, the subjects are not actors and of course
don't have a script. So oftentimes the director
really has to work with individuals to get them feeling comfortable enough to
share their stories. Hi, my name is Zoe. I'm a cinematographer,
occasional documentary director, and a Professor of Film. I've directed to documentary so far and both have been
great experiences. Today, I'm going to go through everything you need
to know so that you can go out and film your
first or next documentary with confidence.
Let's get started.
2. How to Choose a Subject: How to choose a subject when you're choosing a
subject for any film, but particularly
for documentaries, it's important to
do your research. With documentaries, you'll
often do a lot of filming upfront and having a strong
grasp of your topic, the right people to talk to, and the best questions
to ask can have a massive impact on the
quality of your film. Both of the documentaries I've
done have either involves substantial research or
my own life experiences. And when it came time to
work on the questions asked in the interviews or
even the shots to capture. I felt confident
making those lists due to my familiarity
with the subjects. As far as who should speak to. If you're doing a
documentary with interviews, that will really depend on the subject you
choose to work with. However, another tip is to have an informal
conversation with any potential contenders
you're considering to get a sense of what stories
they could bring to the film. Makes sure that you're taking either mental or physical
notes during this discussion, as you may end up
wanting to tailor some of your questions to
each of your subjects. Ultimately, if you're
struggling to pick a topic, think about what things
you're passionate about or what story you could
tell to try and help make the world
a better place.
3. AV Scripts: Av scripts. Although documentaries
don't rely on scripts in the same way that
traditional narrative films do. They can still make use
of something called an AV or audio visual script. This script is a basic
two-column table that lists the audio elements
on the left with the corresponding video
footage on the right. If you plan to do a voiceover throughout your documentary, this can be a great way to
plot out the footage for it. Av scripts are also
a great way of figuring out what B-roll
you may need to capture throughout your
shoot and help you plan those shoot days to
include those moments. Here's an example of what an
AV script could look like.
4. Treatments: Treatments and narrative
film treatments are a way of outlining your story before writing the
actual script. With documentary, the
general idea is the same, except that there'll
be used until and possibly throughout the
filming and editing process. A documentary treatment
typically has four elements. The working title of
the film, the logline, a summary of the topic, and a narrative synopsis. It's important to make
the distinction between summary and narrative synopsis. The summary might contain
some backstory or other necessary information
to understand what the film is about and why now is
the time to make it. The narrative synopsis,
on the other hand, is the explanation of the
plot of your film in prose. As far as length goes, documentary treatments are
typically between 15 pages. I definitely recommend creating a treatment
for your film. Not only does it help you get your story clear before
you start filming, but if you have people who are interested in investing
in your project, it can be a great way
to provide them with concise information on
what the film is about.
5. Which Setup to Use: Which set up to use having the right camera setup when
shooting a doc is crucial. But honestly, you can shoot on almost anything from an
RA Alexa to your iPhone. What's more important is
ensuring that you have the right tools to support the device that
you're working with. What do I mean by tools?
6. Camera Support: Cameras support if you're
gonna go out into the field following your subject
around as they go about their task or daily life, you'll want to make sure that you have a setup that's going to allow you to be as
portable as possible. For this, I'd recommend
either a shoulder rig, but preferably an easy trick. To clarify, a shoulder rig is a tool that allows
you to rest your camera on your shoulder for balance and take a bit of the weight
off of your arms. These are great for short bursts are particularly
styled documentaries. But with most documentaries,
the reality is, is that you usually rolling for 51015 or 20 minutes at a time. If you can get access to one, I'd highly recommend either buying or renting an easy Rick. These devices are
wearable vest that allow you to hang the camera
right in front of you, even when you're not
holding onto them. They work using an extremely
strong and secure cable to hold your camera and then distribute that weight
throughout the best. This then freeze
your arm muscles to do the more important tasks like focusing and guiding the general movement
of the camera. I've worked with an
easy read before. And while the whole setup
does have some weight to it, I'd much rather use one
of those than carrying a Canon C3 100 with
a zoom lens on it, with a monitor on the camera, on just the shoulder it alone. If you're just shooting
talking head interviews, then a tripod will be essential as these usually last
upwards of 20 minutes. You'll want to
ensure that you're maintaining the same frame and the entire way through
for flexibility in the edit.
7. Cameras + Lenses: Cameras and lenses. As far as lenses go, in an ideal world, you'll wanna be
using some level of a professional cinema zoom lens, ideally one that maintains the aperture as you
zoom in or out. I'd recommend zooms
over primes due to the unpredictability
of docks at large, you'd be better off
sacrificing some depth of field by using a zoom lens
with an aperture of 2.8, then missing the most
important moment of the duck because you're swapping
around your 1.4 prime lenses. Ideally, you'll also have two cameras and two
camera operators, especially if you're
doing sit-down interviews or if you're covering multiple
subjects at the same time, having more cameras
will give you as the director more to worry
about, but with dots, It's definitely worth it, as you'll usually only have one chance to get each
moment authentically. And this thing, you'll
also want to make sure that you have the largest
memory cards that work with your setup
and that you get as many of those as you can
fill up during a day. The most important thing
when shooting a doc is to not have to stop
because of technical issues. You want to be able
to be as efficient as possible with the
tools that you have.
8. Natural and Available Light: Natural and available light. As far as lighting goes, if you're out and on the go, you probably won't be able
to set up lights as you're following your subject down the street or wherever
they're going. In this case, you want to
try and get your hands on another tool for your
lens and ND filter. Nd filters will enable
you to make the most of the natural
outdoor lighting without sacrificing stops with aperture because your
images are too blown out. Nd filters come in
different size threads. So if you do choose to use one, make sure you get the
compatible size for your lens. You can also use step,
step down rings. If you find that
you have access to an incompatible lens
and filter combination, if you're shooting at
night, on the other hand, you won't need the ND,
but you'll definitely, definitely want to bump the
ISO of your camera as much as it can handle without
producing noticeable noise, as I've mentioned
in other videos, this is something
you'll want to test beforehand by shooting
with the lens or the camera cap on and seeing at what point the noise becomes unpleasant
within the camera. Another tip when you're using available light is to remember the fundamentals
of lighting. Does the key to fill ratio suit the story that you're
trying to tell? If not, is it possible to use a better position
for the shot? Are you shooting with a
short or a broadside key? These are all questions
you can ask as you get in position
for your current shot. But what if you do have
access to a lighting setup? Let's go over some of
those fundamentals and talk about studio lighting.
9. Studio Light: Studio light. If you do get the setup lights or even work near ones that
you can adjust, try and remember the
principles are short side and broadside key lights as a quick refresher
on what those are. Let's keep in mind that the key light is your
main source of light. While your field is
the one that fills in those shadows that are
created by the key, right? Moving on to the setup when
you're setting up lights, most cinematographers favor
a short key lighting setup. This is when the key light hits the opposite side of the
actor than the camera. This follows an idea in
cinematography that lighting is more interesting
when it comes from either the side or behind, rather than from somewhere
closer to the camera. Regardless of whether or not you have studio
lights to work with, you'll want to attempt to
have your subjects sit in a direction that will
allow for short key lighting. That way, you're getting that additional
cinematic dimension without too much
additional work. Opposite to short key lighting
is broad key lighting. This is a situation where
the light from the key and the cameras are on the
same side of the subject. This type of look has its
own place and is typically reserved for more dramatic or
jarring moments in a film. But you should definitely try both out to see what
works best for you. Depending on whether or not
you're shooting an interview, you'll want to be aware of what role light plays in your scene. If you're shooting something
other than an interview, you want to make sure that your lighting setup doesn't
interfere with the natural and realistic
feel of the documentary. For instance, seeing a Seasat at a nature documentary might
throw off your audience. If possible, make use
of the ability to bounce light and generally just like your
overall environment, it's also worthwhile to
test the practicals or the existing lights location
and see if any of them could work either on their own or with the studio lights
that you might set up. If you are shooting
an interview, there are a few ways in which
to best set up your lights. Sometimes in a
documentary interview, it won't be desirable to have
the background lit up as the focus of the shot is
really just on the subject. Sometimes directors actually
want to make it appear as if the subject isn't in a
completely black space. In this case is, we'll use three-point lighting
to our advantage. Assuming we're using short key instead of
broad key lighting will want to ensure that we're ever replace
our key light. We leave room between the key and the camera
for the interviewer. This can mean requiring
a stronger light, taller stand, or a larger room, but this is an
essential step to allow for a proper eyeline
to be established. While shooting islands are essential when shooting
documentary interviews, as they make us feel as if the subject is connected
to another person's, even though we may or may not
ever see the interviewer. If we do feature the
interviewer in the scene, then we'll need to adjust our lighting setup
just a bit as well. Now have at least two
or maybe three cameras pointing at different angles in order to cover
the whole scene. In this scenario,
we'll want to maintain having individual key lights
for each of our subject. But instead of to fill
lights will just have one large Philip that can
actually cover both subjects. That way, we avoid having too many unique sources of light to manage and work around. In this modified
three-point lighting setup when position correctly, the two key lights
actually serve as hair or back lights for
the opposite subjects. Now if you want to use
four-point lighting, it's a slightly different setup. Four-point lighting features, the four lighting positions
we spoke of before. Key, kicker, backer hair, and a background light. Here's an example of what the
left that would look like. As you can see, the fill
light on the bottom right of the image is placed at an opposing angle
to the key length. This is so that it can
fill in the shadows on the front of the subject
created by the key. The backlight, hair
light or kicker in the upper right hand illuminates
a subject from behind. Finally, the background light in the upper-left illuminates
the background of the scene. When you're doing
quick lighting, It's important to
remember to keep the setup a simplest possible, and focus on telling
the best story you can.
10. Audio: Audio with documentaries,
as with narratives, having a good audio
setup is essential. If you're doing
running gun work, It's a great idea to get your subject Mike
with a wireless lav. That way, even if they're
out of the frame briefly, you can still hear what they're saying and connect
it to the scene. Another essential
Mike to have is an on-camera or other
types of boom mic. This will ensure
that not only do you have the clean audio
from your subject, but you also have
an environmental noise trap that you can build your sounds around in post if you're
shooting an interview. On the other hand, let's
talk about your options. If you only have an
on-camera mic, that's okay. What I recommend
is that you get as close to your subject
as possible without distorting your shot
to ensure that what they say is picked up
clearly through the mic. If your camera allows it, you'll also want to be
monitoring your audio. Now, monitoring is when you're listening to the
audio on headphones. As it comes in. This will allow you
to ensure that you're getting good quality
sound the entire time. And you'll be able to make
adjustments if necessary. Ideally, especially if
you're the interviewer, you'll want to have
a second person just focusing on the
audio as you want to keep your mind focused
on what your subject is saying as opposed to
how they're saying it. If you do have a lavalier mic, that's great and you
should definitely be using it to get better audio. When using level ears are labs as they're
called in interviews. Don't be too concerned if
you end up having to place it in a position that's
visible to the audience. Unlike in fiction
films where it'd be a bit odd to see an
actor as loud mike. Seeing these mikes
and documentaries or other types of interviews
is fairly normal. And it's not something
that would typically distract the audience or
take them out of the film. You'll want to make
sure that your lab is connected either
directly to your camera or to some kind of secondary recording device
like the H4 and pro, or a sound advice. If you are using a
secondary recording device, it becomes even more important to have someone
monitoring your audio as they will need to adjust for spontaneous moments
like Louder laughter. Or if your subject
starts speaking more softly than they did at the
start of the interview. Finally, if you
have the equipment, a third Mike to have
would be a boom mic. These are professional
Mike's use on film sets usually held
by boom operators. Although in documentaries
due to their length, I've typically seen them
rigged up to C stands. These mikes are a great
way to get audio if your subject is facing the same direction
throughout the interview. However, if you can only choose one out of all the
mikes I've mentioned, I definitely
recommend a lavalier, preferably a wireless one, as it will give your subject the most freedom and
if placed correctly, give you the best audio.
11. Asking the Right Questions: Asking the right questions. If there are points
within your documentary, we'll end up asking
your subject questions. You should sit
down ahead of time and make a list of
what those are. Try and keep the list between
ten to 20 questions at most as you don't want to exhaust your subject
within one side. This is also where your familiarity with the
topic will be essential. You want to make sure that
you're asking questions that allow your subjects
to tell a story. Try focusing on questions that can't be answered
with a yes or no. Typically, questions
that begin with how or why are good
place to start. You always want to think about the edit before
you start filming, which leads to my next
to think about the role and the presence
of the interviewer is the interview scene. And are they miked? If they are, great? But if not, you may need to coach your interviewee a
little bit beforehand. Since the audience
won't be hearing the questions that
they are being asked, it might be in your favor
to ask your interviewee to repeat or summarize a question they'd been asked
before the answer them. That way, the audience
has contexts. And if you find
that your subject is a bit nervous about
being on camera, it might help to start off the interview with some
throw-away material. Ask them about things that are unrelated while the camera
is already rolling. That way, once they
do get comfortable, you can seamlessly transition
into the interview. If you're interviewing multiple
subjects for your film, you'll also want
to consider what your processes for
asking questions. Do you ask each of your
subjects the same questions? If not, which subjects
get which set, and why did they get
those questions? Do you have a core set
for everyone that you interview and then specific ones for each subject depending on their unique circumstance or
relationship to the topic. These are all things
you want to think about before you start shooting as having a clear idea of your questions will be
essential in the edit.
12. Editing: Editing. Once you're finished,
it's time to edit, right? Right. With any documentary, editing will take up the
largest portion of your time. They say that a documentary
is actually made in the edit because
unlike scripted work, you really don't
know what you're gonna get when you
set out to shoot. You want to leave yourself
as much time as possible to edit your film before it's due to be screened or submitted. By not leaving your work
to the last minute, you can put yourself in the best position
to get the most out of what you shot with
documentaries in particular, depending on how
many interviews you have or how long the HR, some directors find
it useful to get their interviews
transcribed before they sit down to edit them. That way they can go
through and highlight the exact portions they need for their film and begin to flesh
out the script that way. If you've asked a core set or even all of the
same questions, it becomes really
easy to catalog each subject's response to that question or even
summarize it in a few words. A lot of the time,
you'll find that you only use a small portion of what each subject says in their entire interview when you get to the final
cut of your film. So it's important to go through
their responses and see which part of the interview contributes the most
to the overall film. For instance, do they bring a unique perspective to the topic and one
of their answers? Or do they simply summarize
the topic itself the best? These are a few things to think about when
working on your edit.
13. Less is More - Cutting From Your Film: Less is more cutting
from your film. Nine times out of ten, once you've finished your
first pass over your edit, your film will fall into
one of two categories. Way too long or way too short. If it's way too short, this usually means
you didn't get enough solid footage
the first time. And you either need to
go back and reshoot or shoot some additional content
to fill out your story. If your doc is too long, you're faced with
the task of cutting. There are several ways you
can make a film shorter. You can remove a theme, character or a repetitive seen, something that has already been established in another scene and really doesn't need
that additional scene for that added reinforcements. Cutting your film can be hard depending on your
chosen subject. It might even involve
removing a family member or a close friend from
a film that they may have been really
excited to be in. Trust me, I've been there. I've shot interviews
that ended up just not working with the
overall theme of a doc. Usually the person
you're working with will understand and hopefully there's a project you can include
them in, in the future. I've also found that once that person sees the
final cut of the film, will understand why
their segment didn't fit in with the overall
direction you decide to go in. That's the exciting but also challenging thing
about documentaries. You can pick a
subject and choose a theme and have
everything prepared. But at the end of the day, you never know what
someone's going to say when you ask them a
question in an interview.
14. Re-shoots: Reshoots. Sometimes when you're editing, you will notice that you might
not have enough footage. Maybe you forgot to
ask a question on your list or you simply
ran out of time. If you've tried to work
with what you have, but find your story is stuck. Let's talk about
what you can do. It's very typical
for films to either include reshoots are
additional shooting days. This can be because a
mistake was made on the initial shoot day or the producer might
have underestimated the time it would take to
capture all of that footage, and then the production needs
those extra days to finish. With documentaries
in particular, this can be a great
opportunity to go back and to speak
to your subject. Again. Oftentimes you don't even
have to completely redo the first interview unless a
technical mistake was made, you can simply add onto what
you capture that first time.
15. Conclusion: We've talked about a
lot in this video, from choosing a subject
to cameras, to editing. I hope that some, if not
all of it will be useful to you as you go and get ready
to shoot your documentary. I have a few other
videos on how to work with cameras,
lenses, and lighting. So be sure to check those out. As always, let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns with
anything I shared today and I'd be more than
happy to address them.
Zoë Davidson, Software Engineer & Cinematographer
