Documentaries are the new big thing in this era, people love real and true life stories. Documentaries are an easier way for emerging filmmakers to break in as the production costs can be lower than with a narrative film, making a documentary cost much less than any other project, yet the impact it can make can change people and generations.
Yet it is well known that documentaries take a lot more skill than the art of rolling a camera. These are a few simple yet devastating mistakes that could ruin some of the best projects that can be made, avoiding them is vital.
1. Making A Documentary with No Soul.
A documentary must have a driving force; a purpose it is trying to serve. Art for art doesn’t work in documentaries It is important before you start to ask yourself the question you believe you are trying to answer and see if the documentary you are planning for is expressing your answer through its music, its chapters just through everything it is. You are what you make.
A documentary with no driven desire or purpose is a soulless documentary. A great piece of advice to filmmakers struggling with their film is: What question are you asking in the process of making it? If you already know the answer to that question when you set out, then you don’t have a proper question. A filmmaker should set off on a real journey of discovery when they go out to make a film and having a great question that they are answering along the way gives their film dramatic tension as well as offering the filmmaker creative inspiration.
2. Music, Music, Music….
The soundtrack of a documentary can make an immense impact. Don’t trust the first person coming with the music. You should have an idea of how the music should be and how it should affect the mood. Just because you’ve met a famous composer at a party who has offered to write some music for your documentary, the odds are that he or she won’t be right. Your choice of music needs to come from the overall vision that you have for your film and must serve that vision. The wrong music, or just too much music, can kill your film.
3. So What Is Your Movie Again? Not Having A Great One Line Pitch…
When filmmakers find it hard to give an adequate and compelling one sentence summary of their film (like you might get in a film festival catalog), then know there’s probably trouble ahead. The great thing about coming up with a compelling one liner is that it helps you discover whether you really have a film (as opposed to a piece for radio) and gives a sense of how you’re going to make it.
4. Lack of Storytelling
If you want to make it unique, get involved. People talk about what they love about their favorite documentaries. One of the main things they mention is a great story. This is probably one of the main reasons that people choose to watch a $80,000 documentary at the cinema over a $20 million blockbuster. Concentrating on a story that excites you not only helps give your film much needed structure, but your audience will be eternally grateful for being taken on a dramatic journey rather than being shown a series of unrelenting episodes.
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5. Playing It Safe is for the Weak. Think Outside of the Box.
What do the most successful directors of your favorite documentaries have in common? In all likelihood they didn’t play it safe – they struck out confidently with a real vision of their film. Too many people nowadays produce films. An audience wants films with a personal, distinctive vision and you don’t get that by being one of those play it safe directors. The higher the risk is the more unique the film might be.
Do not let fear and lack of confidence stop your vision from being realized. At the end of a day a great documentary has to have a strong vision, and that vision informs every creative and editorial step along the way. Like mentioned before, your music guy has to share your vision; so does everyone else in the process. Only when everyone is on the same page can the documentary achieve its intended goals.
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