A short guide on crucial questions one should think of and answer while preparing and researching a documentary.

1. +A short
documentary
crash course.
Maria Leonida
maria@karposontheweb.org
www.karposontheweb.org

2. +
What is it?
Documentary can be a
 multi-modal
 strong
 informative
 expressive
medium
and

3. +
Think of ALL possible ingredients
 still
images (photographs)
 moving
 sounds,
 titles,
 and
image (video)
music, speech
effects
MAINLY story, characters, rhythm

4. +
What makes a documentary creative?
 YOUR
point of view!

what is your personal opinion?

what story can you tell better
than others?

what would you like the audience
to think, learn and feel?

5. +
Step 1. How to start?
 Be
able to answer “what, were, who and why”

6. +
Research

What is your theme?

What story will you
say?

Which
are
locations?
Who
are
characters?
the

Answer these questions as
SPECIFIC and PERSONALY as
possible for the area or issue
you are studying.

1 sentence for each question!
the

Exercise 1

7. +
Step 2. Do documentaries have a cast?

Watch and listen carefully to your subjects

8. +
“Casting”

Are the subjects charming
or interesting? Will you
remember them when
you go back home?
Exercise 2


Did you learn something
from them? What?

How are they connected
to your story?
Make a logbook of your
characters, answering the
previous questions.

9. +
Step 3. Do locations matter?
 Look
at your locations: they “speak” too!

10. +
“Scanning” sites for shooting
o
Look carefully and find
interesting points of view.
o
Think of the time of the day
that they look more
interesting.
o
Find details that reveal your
theme, e.g.
a footpath sign
could mean 
broken trunks of trees could
mean 
Exercise 3

Find 5 important details that “tell
their own story” which CAN
become a still image with your
camera.
people are involved in this
form of tourism/ recreation
misuse, or building process
or…

11. +
Step 4. Does action matter?
 What
part of the action helps me understand better
the issues I want to show?

12. +
“Breaking down” activities


Think of the action happening in
front of you (e.g., people
walking, cars parking…)
What
exactly
doing?Why?
are

they
Is it important for you?

Exercise 4
E.g if you see:

Think HOW you can shoot the
actions involved I your theme.
(point of
view, distance, combination of
shots)
students listeningthen ask
is it regular? who does it?
people walking in groups 
are they tourists, university
students, is it normal or exceptional?

13. +
Step 5. The role of sound
 Sound
is a language by itself: it may communicate
fear, joy, tension, anxiety and many other feelings.

14. +
Close your eyes and think

What sounds do your locations have? Write them down

Which have a dramaturgical power?

Which can be juxtaposed to the images and actions you have
observed?

15. +
Step 6. How to structure our story?

What connections can we make among the elements we have?

16. +
Develop in at least 3-4 scenes

Put all your facts, events and characters in an imaginary line.

Think of an introduction, a development and a subversion.

17. +
There are many ways to build a
documentary story…



find the one that suits your subject and style, but…
keep the connections among scenes
develop each scene enough to be self contained

18. +
Technical tips

Use tripods or somewhere to keep the camera stable when you
can

Use external mikes for better quality of sound

Use headphones to control the kind of sound recorded

Make tests both for image and sound

Unload your material at the end of a shooting day and keep a
backup.

Name the digital folders according to location, scene and date

19. +
So…go ahead and try!
CU soon
Maria