Academic Media Studio
Making Documentary
Videos
What makes a good documentary?
April 2009
“The essential groundwork for a good
documentary is no different than for a
good narrative work. Structure, structure,
structure.”
Steps
1. Plan your video
2. Record Video Footage (and Monitor while recording)
· Know Your Camcorder—Check out a mini-dv camera from AV (first floor,
Cole Library). ALWAYS TEST YOUR EQUIPMENT BEFOREHAND.
“A good documentary tells a story.”
“I think 90% of the actual work of a
compelling documentary ends on the
cutting room floor.”
“I would have to say original camera
work, a logical and chronological
approach, historical accuracy, interesting
interviews with experts and witnesses (if
applicable), and stick to the FACTS. Of
course a well voiced narrator couldn’t
hurt either.”
from an internet discussion, 2007
http://forums.randi.org/archive/index.
php/t-94655.html
· Use a tripod. Use headphones.
· Lots of light see the short video “How to Set Up Videography and Photography
Lighting with Leann Bello” at http://video.about.com/desktopvideo/Lighting-Three-Simple-Setups.htm
· Sound add a microphone; Limit Background Noises (turn things off—music,
fans, etc); Record background sound to add later, beware of the wind. Monitor!
· Set Up an “Establishing Shot” which lets viewers know where your movie takes
place. This is the first shot in your movie (a sign, a long view, an overhead, etc).
· Hold every shot (10 seconds +)--that gives you room to ‘cut.’
· Rule of Thirds—the subject should not always be in the middle of
your frame.
Resources
• Chronology of Documentary History,
UC Berkeley http://www.lib.berkeley.
edu/MRC/docexhibit/docuchron.htm
• Music & image sources for your video:
~Digital History website (Music)
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/
audio/music.cfm
~Public Domain, Copyright Free,
Open Source, and Student Use Images
and Media http://eduscapes.com/tap/
topic98.htm
~Secrets of Professional Video
Editing http://desktopvideo.
about.com/od/desktopediting/qt/
proediting.htm
~Good Advice from documentary
film makers: http://pov.imv.au.dk/
Issue_13/section_5/artc1A.html
3. Editing Video Footage. You should have gathered your materials, the video
itself (e.g. interviews) and what is called the “B-Roll” (extra footage, for setting
the scene, for providing transitional clips or background noise....). Also consider
adding ‘still’ photos, & music; but remember to consider the question of copyright
and permission with everything / every person you include in your video.
As you evaluate and reassemble your materials, keep the following “rules” in
mind:
· Every “cut” should be done for a reason. Ideally, because it advances your
story.
· Consider the angles of your shots: don’t Jump, and stay on your plane
(i.e. stay on your side of an imagined horizontal line between you and your
Academic Media Studio
Software Tutorials
I-Movie 2006 http://www.apple.
com/support/ilife/tutorials/imovie/
or
http://www.apple.com/support/ilife/
tutorials/imovie/im1-1.html
I-Movie 2008 http://www.apple.
com/findouthow/movies/imovie08.
html
Adobe Premier CS3 http://www.
adobe.com/designcenter/tutorials/
Other Guides
Video Guide: http://pblmm.k12.ca.us/
TechHelp/VideoHelp/VideoGuide.html
includes information about everything
from basic lighting to critiquing
camera shots
Video Compression Tutorial
http://www.wave-report.com/
tutorials/VC.htm
subjects).
· If you use multiple camera angles, join shots that are at least 45 degrees
different. Otherwise the shots will look too similar (and appear to be a “jump
cut”
· Cut when the subject is in motion.
· Change Focal Lengths—It may make your video (especially of a long, low
motion event such as an interview) more interesting to change focal lengths (e.g.
a medium close up to a wide angle). Possible shots (and typical vocabulary):
Close-up
Medium Shot -- your mainstay
Wide Shot
Establishing shots
Cut-aways (i.e. “insert”, be careful with ‘sound’ here, e.g. someone
talking)
Shot/reverse shots (avoid the “jump cut” here)
Over-the-shoulder shots (i.e. over someone else’s shoulder)
Point-of-view shots
· Cut on visually similar elements (e.g. the ceiling fan to whirling helicopter in
the movie “Apocalypse Now”
· Wipe (the gradual replacement of one image with another). See the article and
examples here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wipe_(transition)
· Match the Scene e.g. If you end a scene with someone holding an umbrella,
don’t cut directly to them standing empty handed.
AMC Filmsite’s list of the “Greatest
Documentary FIlms” http://www.
filmsite.org/docfilms.html
4. Saving Your Finished Video Project.
After you have edited your footage, you will export your video to an appropriate
format. First ask yourself what you want to do with the video—how do you plan
to view it? Your choices:
DVD -- You would burn a DVD for play on televisions with a program such
as iDVD or Encore. You may set up menus, or simply burn your movie without
embellishments. Generally the playable DVD contains an MPEG-2 version of your
movie. The video and audio has been compressed so that it can fit onto a DVD
disk. Although it looks like it is “full quality,” it isn’t.
If you want to re-edit the movie at some point it is a good idea to keep your
uncompressed full-quality project files. Because these are usually very large files, the
two simplest ways to keep them are either to put the movie files onto an external
hard drive or to record the finished version back onto a mini-dv tape. For small
videos, you might be able to use a USB Flash Drive.
Vancouver Film School, student
showcase: http://www.vfs.com/
showcase.php?id=6&category_id=61
Putting it on the Web -- YouTube and similar vendors have requirements
listed on their websites. Some have size and length restrictions. Usually they limit
you to certain formats (typically mov, avi, or mpg4 file types).
DVD formats: http://www.
wave-report.com/tutorials/
DVDRWTutorial.htm
Examples of Short Documentary
Films:
Teaching Online Journalism http://
mindymcadams.com/tojou/2006/
documentary-video-short-examples/
Viewing it on a Computer -- Any of the formats above can be view on
a computer, but you may want to keep preserve a higher quality, less compressed
copy if you are not going to view via the web. If you want to use a video in another
program, such as PowerPoint, be sure to check the format requirements of that
software. (PowerPoint, e.g., requires avi or wmv)