Documentaries, what do I have to do?

G

gorillaonabike

I am planning to shoot a documentary next Movember. Every year, there is a village competition with winners and losers etc...

It ends in a village festival with music and lots of people showing up.

I have been invited to shoot it as a documentary by the organising committee. The only issue is I've never shot a documentary like this before. Anyone have any essential tips for shooting a documentary?

Thanks in advance.
 
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get more footage than you could ever dream of using, if your doc is 15 minutes long get 8 hours of footage if not more, I once heard a little factoid that in a feature doc every 30 minutes on screen was 24 hours of footage before the edit, it may not be totally true but its a good thing to have in the back of your head.
 
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Having sound in the hands of someone competent is more important than ever. You only get ONE chance at 99% of the events you will capture visually and aurally. You will have ZERO opportunities for ADR. There will be ZERO alternate takes, so "fixing" the dialog is impossible.

If you have been asked to document by the organizing committee you do have a little weight to throw around. As it appears to be a competition of some sort there will most probably be a PA system of some type - see if you can get a feed and record that audio to a separate recorder. The same applies to any "after" events - dances, concerts, fireworks, etc. If there is a concert, for example, see if you can get a feed from the mix console while you shoot the band.

Make sure that YOU are comfortable - clothing and footwear appropriate for the prevailing weather. Have a complete change, plus rain gear, sunscreen, extra warm/cold clothes (depending on the season/weather/whatever). Have a small "first aid" kit with pain reliever, band aids, decongestant, Q-Tips, Rolaids, Pepto-Bismal, etc. and even toothpicks and/or a toothbrush (to get that annoying piece of popcorn stuck between your teeth that will otherwise really annoy you all day and night). Have some munchies and plenty of water. Your cell phone is freshly charged and you have the contact numbers of the event folks programmed in. Triple up on spare batteries. Double up on SD cards, tapes, or whatever you use - and make sure that they all work.

Be EXTREMELY well organized. Have a check list, check it twice, then check it again. Make sure that you have everything that you require carefully packed away and easy to access. Have back-ups/replacements for everything - that includes the camera and mic. Have a basic tool kit that can be used for your gear. Make sure you car has a full tank, check the tires, etc. before you go - maybe a tune-up a few days prior?

Make sure that you are in good shape and well rested - you will be extremely active for a very long period of time.

Be entirely comfortable with your camera and other gear - this is not the time to be experimenting!!!

Have a contract. They have asked you to do this (you haven't mentioned compensation, BTW), you didn't volunteer. Make sure that they take responsibility for the safety and the security of you and your gear (i.e. there is someplace secure to leave your replacements, extra clothes, etc. and the security staff knows who you are and what you are doing). Make sure that you are fed and "watered". Make sure that you have the proper access passes, and that where you can and cannot go are clearly spelled out in the contract. Make sure that (if applicable) the contracts for the sound contractors specify that they provide audio feeds for the documentary team, or be sure the people who "hired" you understand that there are sonic compromises if you do not have such access. Have what the organizers want to capture prioritized in the contract. Make sure that the tickets, participant/entrants waiver (or whatever) have the "fine print" that lets you use the voices and likenesses of the participants and attendees without a specific release form. (Doing interviews???...) Will you be documenting the few days prior? Organizational meetings, set-up, etc.?

The whole idea is that you plan for every disastrous contingency and be sure that your ass is completely covered, both logistically and contractually.
 
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Plan, plan, plan! Don't just go in like a dude on vacation, carrying a camera. Have a specific focus. What exactly is the doc going to be about? What shots do you need to tell this story? Create a shotlist.

What questions do you need to ask, and of whom? How do you frame those questions, to get them to talk about the stuff you want them to talk about? Heck, if you've got an agenda, you might even consider ways in which you frame your questions in order to get them to say a specific thing. Regardless, make sure your questions are designed to elicit responses that have complete sentences (no yes/no answers).

During the interviews, don't stop them from answering the questions. Shut the hell up, and listen. When you think they've finished talking, allow there to be an awkward pause, before you say anything again. If it feels too awkward, just make a face like you're thinking about their response. If you let the awkward pause linger, they will fill the void. They will often start talking again, and the 2nd part of their answer is often the best.

Get cutaways, cutaways, and more cutaways! Include specific cutaways in your shotlist, but then also get a bunch of random cutaways.

And use a tripod. Good luck! :)
 
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Are there docs from this year and previous years to review and ask questions about?

Do the organisers have other documentaries in mind that they would like for you to emmulate?

Watch plenty of documentaries yourself. Take written notes about what they did and what you like and don't like.

Shoot and edit your own test docs: House/business under construction. School football game. Day at the park. Day at the beach. Your city when the sun goes down. People on the square. An ant hill. Neighborhood dogs. Skater kids. Train yard. etc.
 
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There is an incredible amount of advice on this thread, I will definitely save it for future reference - thanks!

For the documentary, you can go a couple of different routes;

A) Do you want to document the event as a whole?
The way it comes together, the amount of work it takes, the group in charge and how they handle the craziness, etc.

B) Do you want to document a specific part of the event?
The main competition, it's precious winners and losers, how did the competition came to be, etc.

C) Do you want to document group of competitors?
Let's say a family/group has been trying to win a specific event for a number of years and each year something happens and they lose. Or there is a big rivalry between two different groups. Or there is a new group chomping at the legs of the previous winners and there is some arguing, etc.

Those are some basic ideas, but you should be able to form your own from there. Overall my advice is to have a specific "story" you want to tell cause if you go there trying to film every aspect of it, you will end up with a camel.

Good luck and have fun!
 
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All great advice so far! I agree with what the others are saying.

Sound is key. The documentary can be shot on VHS but you'll want crisp, clear sound.

Some other stuff, which you may already know:

- Ask open-ended questions, as opposed to yes/no answer stuff. Imagine the audience having to understand what the question/topic is without having heard the question.

- Give thought to eyeline. (ie. Subject looking just slightly above and to the side of the camera. Which side depends on where they're sitting in the frame.)

- Usually best not to center the subject (use the old rule of thirds). ...unless it calls for it, like when you're interviewing an OCD architect. Not even sure if that makes sense.

- Keep sound and camera rolling. Don't stop the camera to change focal length. Just zoom or pull-back quickly and plan on using b-roll to mask this later.

- Get plenty of b-roll. Grab longer than you think you'll use.
((I made the mistake of getting just a few seconds (literally) of each b-roll shot in my last film, but from now on I always get at LEAST 10 full seconds, usually more, of even the most mundane shot... to give myself plenty for the edit.))

- Get lots of ambience / walla / room tone for the edit. You don't want sharp audio cuts between shots.

- Very good idea to get someone to help w/ shooting, to pick up the stuff that you miss while you're interviewing.

- Change up the shot/framing at certain points. Study your questions and anticipate how the final product will build. For example: wide initially to closeups for the more intimate shots later, etc.


Hope this helps!
 
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