1. Documentary Making
from Start to Finish
Andy Carvin
www.andycarvin.com
www.digitaldivide.net
andycarvin@yahoo.com

2. What is a Documentary?
doc·u·MEN·ta·ry:
A work, such as a film or television program, presenting political,
social, or historical subject matter in a factual and informative manner
and often consisting of actual news films or interviews accompanied
by narration.
Or in simpler terms:
A nonfiction story told through moving images and sound.

3. Essential Elements
 Images: people, places, things, text, etc.
 Sound: narration, voices, music, sound
effects, background sounds ("nats")
 Edits: The integration of images and sound

4. Images+Sounds+Edits=Style
You strike a balance based on what you wish
to communicate:
 Fast edits and loud music to convey action
 Disjointed images and unusual pacing
 Straightforward editing for a journalistic feel

5. The Documentary Team
 Executive Producer
 Producer
 Researcher
 Writer
 Cameraperson
 Editor
 Talent

6. Executive Producer
 The person who’s ultimately in charge
 Usually overseeing more than one production
 Responsible for setting goals, deadlines
 Has the power to delegate tasks
... In other words....
The Teacher is the Executive Producer!

7. The Producer
 In charge of a specific production
 Keeps Exec Producer in the loop
 Plans production schedule, assigns tasks
 In charge of the overall vision of the project
 Keeps log of all footage shot on location
Students share role of the producer

8. Researcher
 Identifies potential interview subjects,
characters
 Fact-checks and verifies all ideas included in
the documentary; quality control
 Helps “fill in the blanks” by researching
information about characters, topics, plot

9. Writer
 Creates storyboards
 Writes script
 Helps weave the story together

10. Cameraperson
 Scouts location with production team
 Shoots video

11. Editor
 Does the technical work of editing
documentary
 Works to insure that story is told in specified
time length

12. Talent
 Interview subjects
 On-screen host
 Narrator
 Voiceover artists (reading/translating voices
of characters)

13. The Team in a
Classroom Context
 Students working in small groups
 Each student given the opportunity to learn
each role (writer, editor, cameraperson, etc)
 Encouraging students to take roles in which
they excel
 Organized into small teams (3-6 students)

14. The Three Stages of
Documentary Making
 Pre-production: Planning the film
 Production: Shooting it
 Post-production: Putting it together

15. Pre-Production
 Team assignments
 "The Pitch"
 Story outlining/storyboarding
 Research
 Arranging interviews
 Scouting Locations
 Shot list

16. Team Assignments
 Breaking students into small groups
 Discussing the various tasks (writing,
researching, editing, shooting, etc)
 Delegating responsibilities to individual
students - or agreeing how responsibilities
will be shared among the group
 Reviewing assignment deadlines
 Giving your team a production company
name (AC Productions, etc)

17. “The Pitch”
 Students have to pitch story ideas to teacher
 Encourage teams to brainstorm stories
 Present top three ideas to class
 Class discussion of story ideas
 Teams take best idea, summarize it in less
than one page of text: what’s the story, why
they’re doing it, and how they’ll do it

18. Story Outlining/Storyboarding
 Mapping out the flow of the story using
drawings and/or text
 Brainstorming what ideas will be conveyed
where in the documentary’s timeline
 Identify major ideas/images to be conveyed
 Optional: planning style of particular shots
 Tools for storyboarding: Inspiration,
Kidspiration, MS Word, pencil and paper

19. Storyboard example
Here’s a typical storyboard
template: a series of boxes for
drawings and text.
Online:
www.chc.edu/grat708/blankstoryboard.html

20. Research
 Investigating the topic
 Fact-checking
 Finding historical documents, photos, etc

21. Arranging Interviews
 Identifying main characters
 Identifying “experts”
 Scheduling appointments
 Planning interview questions

22. Scouting Locations
 Deciding where you plan to shoot video
 Visiting sites ahead of time to get a sense of
the space
 Planning the order in which you will shoot in
different locations
 Identify what the best shots are in each
location

23. Creating a Shot List
 A complete list of shots you want to get
 Images of particular people
 Contextual footage (“B-Roll”)
 Establishing shots
 Shot list often based on storyboards

24. Production
 Shooting Video
 Conducting Interviews
 Capturing Audio
 Collecting Still Images
 Keeping a Shot Log

25. Shooting Video
 Shooting primary footage (interviews, action)
 Establishing shots to provide location context
 Cutaways (peripheral footage for editing)
 B-Roll (footage that accompanies what’s
being said by characters or narration)
 Always shoot more than you think you’ll need
 Safety shots - just in case!
 Make sure your batteries are charged!

26. Conducting Interviews
 Getting subject comfortable in front of camera
 Eye perspective
 Looking at camera or just off-camera, but not both
in the same interview
 off-camera is more common
 Avoid too many people behind the camera
 Have subject repeat question as statement
 Q: When did you start the band?
 A: We started the band back in 2003...

27. Capturing Audio
 In a professional shoot, an audio engineer
would record a continuous audio track
 Not necessary for classroom purposes
 Compromises:
 Bring two cameras, one always rolling, capturing
continuous audio
 Bring handheld audio recorder
 Continuous audio important for music footage

28. Collecting Still Images
 Photos very useful when video footage isn’t
available
 Public library photo archives good resource
 Scan photos at very high resolution
 Higher quality
 Allows you to zoom in on parts of the photo
 Example: The Atlantic City Boardwalk

29. Keeping a Shot Log
 A notebook of all footage captured on video
 What you shot
 When you shot it
 What tape it’s on
 This means you need to label your tapes!

30. Post Production
 Transcribing interviews
 Annotating shot log
 Uploading footage
 Story planning
 Script writing
 Editing

31. Transcribing Interviews
 Identifying useful quotes
 Noting location of quotes on each tape
 Transcribing saves time in the long run!
Example:
Tape 3, Sam Sheridan Interview
15:13: “Sure, it’s a dangerous sport, but so is
football or hockey....” ****
16:04: “I’m a little worried, but not too worried.”

32. Annotating Shot Log
 Similar to transcribing interviews, but focuses on
summarizes where images are located.
 Adding more detail to your shot log, now that you’ve
had time to review it. Example:
Tape 13 Flea Market Footage
21:03: Establishing shot of comic book stand
21:44: Close-up of customer, looking down, reviewing
comic book
21:58: ECU of customer’s hands, counting money

33. Uploading Footage
 Upload all the video clips you may use
 Be sure to give each clip “padding” - several
seconds before and after meat of the clip
 Organize clips in bins either by tape or subject
 Name clips by time stamp and subject:
Tape 3, 16:04 Sam: “I’m a little worried” =
031604SamWorried.mov

34. Story Planning
 Outline of the entire script
 “3x5” planning: writing best quotes, main story
sections on 3x5 cards to experiment with story
order; Inspiration/Kidspiration useful as well
 Identifying best footage, matching them with story
sections/quotes, putting them in order

35. Script Writing
 Done in conjunction with story planning
 Script should weave together story elements,
quotes, matched with appropriate images
 Judge the script by how it sounds read aloud,
not how it reads on paper
 Basic script for narrator: narration/quotes
 Three-columned script for everyone else:
 Time Code
 Video
 Narration/Interview Quotes

36. Editing
 Recording narration - do lots of takes!
 Rough cut - putting clips in order, no F/X
 Team, teacher, class review rough cut
 Corrections based on group input; another review
 Polishing: adding dissolves, graphics, etc
 Final cut: documentary is complete
In real world, review/corrections process
repeated again and again and again!

37. Questions to consider
 How much time each week/month will be
dedicated to production?
 Will production take place throughout the
year?
 Should students work on one project all year
or produce multiple projects?

38. Don’t Forget Copyright
 Videos shown publicly/online must honor copyright
 Red flags: TV video clips and music
 Using someone’s music w/o permission can get
school in trouble; get permission from publisher!
 Creative Commons (CC): http://search.creativecommons.org
 Magnatune.com: Free music for nonprofit projects
using noncomercial/attribute/sharealike CC license
 License low-cost music: http://www.productiontrax.com
 GarageBand
 Use original student music - they own the copyright!
 Always cite copyright holders in credits

39. A New Twist: Video Blogging
 Create a school blog for premiering videos
 Upload videos to the blog
 Mentoring opportunity - Get experienced
filmmakers and video bloggers to critique
students’ work
 Cutting edge: only a handful of educational
video blogs in the world today
 Would have to conform with school AUP

40. Thank You!
Andy Carvin
andycarvin@yahoo.com
www.digitaldivide.net
www.andycarvin.com