Making a Documentary Film

Contrary to popular belief, making a documentary is not at all a difficult task - especially if you have all the required resources and proper guidance at your disposal. In times wherein small budget films are making quite a buzz in the creative arena, one doesn't necessarily have to spend a huge chunk of money on a documentary. A documentary film documents reality - and this itself highlights the fact that you need to stress more on the subject, rather than spending huge amount of money on high-end technology to make it look good. There is no doubt about the fact that the high-end technology can produce amazing results, but that is not a necessity.

Initial Preparations

If you intend to make your own documentary, you can either opt for some educational course in filmmaking to get well-versed with this concept, or try and the learn all the tricks of the trade on your own. If you are an amateur, watching documentaries can be a good starter. By watching the works of some renowned documentary filmmakers, you will get a rough idea as to how you need to go about with this task. You will have to set aside a considerable part of your budget for the technical equipment. If you don't have the required equipment, you can borrow it from some person you know or get it from one of the various companies which provide such equipment on rental basis. If you are not well-versed with the technical know hows of using it, you can take help from some professionals in the field.

Steps in Making a Documentary

As we mentioned earlier, documentary films are factual representation of issues. Even though the choice of topic will entirely depend on you, you will have to make sure that you choose the topic only after taking into consideration the availability of resources. It would be foolish to choose the Effects of Global Warming on Polar Bears as the subject of your documentary, when you don't have any funds to make it to Antarctica to shoot the same. Also make sure that you choose some topic of your interest. Doing this will make sure that you don't give up on your project as a result of lack of interest or information.

Once you are armed with the documentary idea, you will have to proceed and prepare an outline of the same. In order to do this you will have to be well versed all the information about the subject, and that is something which will only happen when you do through research on the topic. In course of research, you will have to go through books, websites, etc., meet and interview people and, if possible, watch documentaries on similar issues. Once you have attained expertise on the subject, you will be able to create a visual outline of the same. This outline will act as a blueprint of your documentary film, and guide you through the remaining process.

That brings us to the main task - shooting your documentary video, which will depend on the subject you that you choose. A documentary on nature will require you to shoot outdoors wherein your basic requirements will be a digital camcorder (and lots of valuable time). In order to make a documentary on roller skating, on the other hand, you will have to arrange a roller skater and shoot at a skating rink. Once you have shot the entire film, you can go ahead with the editing part. In order to do this you will have to go through the entire film that you have shot, and delete the portions which are not required. You can also resort to sound, voice over in particular, to make your documentary appealing. When it is completed, you can arrange for a screening for some people in the field, and take their inputs to make the required changes.

One of the most crucial, but difficult part of making a documentary is to get funds for the same. You do have the option of putting your savings for this project, but that will depend on how important the project is for you. Unless you have some critically acclaimed documentaries to your credit or some good contacts in the field, you are going to face a tough time finding a financier for your project. There also exist some organizations which give grants for amateur filmmakers. You can get in touch with them, and apply for these grants as this will be the best way out.