5 Steps To Shooting A Documentary

INTRODUCTION

The world of documentary is one that is fundamentally different from other forms of planned fiction filmmaking, like music videos, commercials and features. What differentiates these disciplines is that one is more pre-planned and structured ahead of shooting, while documentaries rely on a broader plan with inevitably less precision.

This means that documentary cinematographers need to always be on their toes and be quick to adapt to unexpected situations as they unfold. Having said that, this doesn’t mean that you should just go in with a camera and rely purely on luck and instinct. There are some clearly defined ways that we as filmmakers can use to shoot more consistent, stronger content.

So, I thought I’d use this video to unpack five steps that I take whenever I get an opportunity to work on a new documentary project.    

1- IDENTIFY THE CONTENT

Gone are the days where most documentaries meant setting up a few sit down interviews which would then get cut with archival footage. 

Today documentary, or documenting a version of reality, comes in many forms - from commercial, branded content that uses touches of non-fiction, to purely observational filmmaking, re-creations of events, nature documentaries, traditional talking head documentaries and everything in between.

It may seem obvious, but as a cinematographer, the first thing you need to do when starting a new project is clearly define the form of the film and identify the types of scenarios that you will be filming.

The reason this is so important is twofold, it’ll help you to identify the gear you need to bring along and will help you to nail down a visual style. But we’ll go over those two points separately.

When you’re dealing with real life situations, planning and having a clear vision for what you need to get will make it far easier to execute on the day. Half of making documentaries comes from producing and putting yourself in the right situation to capture whatever the action is.

Most of these decisions come from the director. In documentary work, the director may also be the cinematographer. If there is a dedicated cinematographer then knowing the form of the project and the kind of footage needed is still crucial. 

For example, you may go into a shoot knowing that you need an interview with the main character that should be prioritised, some B-roll footage of the location and one vérité scene with another character. 

If the schedule of the main character changes and they suddenly aren’t available to do an interview in the morning anymore then you know that: first priority is scheduling the main interview, second priority is finding time with a secondary character, or looking for a potential scene to present itself and thirdly the B-roll can be gathered throughout the day in the gaps of the schedule. 

Making a list that prioritises footage that is a must have, footage that would be nice to have and footage that would be a bonus to get is useful going into the shoot. It’s always easier to improvise and get unexpected, magical moments when you already have a solid base or plan to work from that tells the core of the story. 

Once you’ve put the edges of the puzzle in place, it’s much easier to then fill in the rest.     

2 - GEAR

As I mentioned, selecting the gear needed for a project will be determined by the kind of scenarios that need to be captured. 

For example, a verite documentary may be captured by a single handheld camera, with a single lens, which also records sound, operated by one person. While larger budget true crime documentaries with re-creation scenes may have an entire crew, complete with a cinema camera package, a lighting package, and a dolly.

Whatever gear is needed on a documentary shoot there is always one certainty: you need to be able to work fast. For that reason, you need to have a high degree of familiarity with the camera you are shooting on. If you need to quickly capture a moment in slow motion can you find the setting within a few seconds? Or if the light suddenly changes and you need to compensate for overexposure can you quickly adjust the ND filter? 

This is why going into a shoot I’d recommend configuring the camera in such a way that you are able to make changes as quickly as possible. This may be through user buttons, through having a variable ND filter on the front of the lens, or by having a zoom that can use to quickly punch in or out to a specific shot size. When you’re capturing real life, you don’t ever want to miss a crucial moment if it can be avoided.

Having less gear also speeds things up. It means less to set up, carry around and to pack away. There’s a sweet spot between having the tools that you need and not having too much stuff to lug around.  

Although there are loads of different approaches to selecting gear, let me go over what is a fairly typical setup.

Starting with the camera, a popular choice is something like a Sony FS7, a Canon C300 or something newer like the FX6. These cameras have great codecs that produce high quality images with a relatively small file size - which you need on documentary projects where you often need to shoot a lot of footage. They also come with XLR audio inputs to feed sound directly into the camera and have user buttons and internal ND filters for quick operation.

When it comes to lenses, I personally prefer working with primes, but zooms are probably more popular as they allow you to quickly readjust shot sizes. Something like a 24-70mm is a pretty standard choice. Depending on the content it’s usually useful to also carry a long zoom like a 70-200mm.

I like to carry screw-on filters with me, such as a variable ND and maybe a diffusion filter or a diopter filter, depending on the look.   

Then you want a lightweight tripod with a fluid head that is smooth to operate, but light enough to carry around all day and to quickly set up. Many people now like to shoot with a gimbal too.

I also like to carry around a little lighting bag and a stand. This can be used for an on-the-fly interview, bringing up the exposure in a dark space or lighting observational scenes so that they are more ‘cinematic’. 

I exclusively choose LEDs that are both dimmable and are bi-colour. This means you can easily change their colour temperature and the intensity of the light with the turn of a knob. Again, speed is key.

3 - VISUAL STYLE

Whether you are conscious of it or not, every decision that a cinematographer makes while shooting contributes to some kind of visual style. Even the act of just picking up a camera quickly and pressing record to capture a moment creates a visual style with a loose, handheld, verite look.

This visual style may affect the audience in a subtly different way than if the same scene was shot locked off on a tripod, or shot with lots of movement on a gliding gimbal.

There are a million different directions to go in. Maybe you decide on a specific type of framing for the interviews, maybe the entire film is handheld, maybe you only use natural light, maybe you use artificial light to enhance reality, maybe you use a drone to give context to the space, maybe you suspend time by using slow motion, or shoot with a diffusion filter to make the images more dreamy. These are all decisions that influence a film’s visual style.

Therefore the next step in documentary cinematography, before arriving on set, is coming up with an idea for an overarching visual style that supports the film. This style could be rationally decided upon based on thought or based on what feels right.

This step also needs to be considered with the first step of identifying the kind of content you are shooting. You need to find a style that is balanced with what you can realistically achieve. For example if you’re shooting a fast paced fly on the wall documentary it might not be possible to shoot everything from a tripod with perfect lighting.   

Usually, I find I have a stronger connection to films that have some kind of visual cohesion and an artistic vision that stretches across the entire doccie.

Of course since we are shooting in unpredictable situations, with less control over the environment, it’ll almost never be possible to get exactly what we want visually.

But, going in with a plan or an idea of the look, or finding the look as you begin shooting, will almost always result in stronger images than if you go into shooting with no vision or ideas at all and just get whatever you can get without giving any thought to how the images look and the feeling they will convey.

4 - SOUND

Next, let’s talk about something that is sometimes loathed by cinematographers, but which is as important, if not more important, than the image: sound.

Some documentaries may have the resources and the need to hire a dedicated sound person, but often in the field of documentary the job of recording sound may fall on the cinematographer.

Therefore it’s important to at least know the basics of how to record sound. There are two ways this is done. With lav mics that are clipped onto the subject, which then feeds a signal wireless to a receiver which is plugged into the camera or a recorder that captures the sound. Or with a boom mic that can either be mounted on-board the camera, or used by a boom operator on a boom pole. For more on this I made another video on boom operators.

The main point to be aware of as a cinematographer, is that getting good sound may involve compromise. For example, you may want to shoot a beautiful wide shot of a scene, or an interview, but if you are shooting in a noisy, uncontrolled environment you may be forced to scrap that plan and shoot everything in a close up so that you can get the boom mic nice and close to the subject.

It may be frustrating to sacrifice the better shot for the sake of sound, trust me I hate it, but what I always tell myself is that it’s better to get a worse shot that has usable sound, than to get a beautiful shot that has terrible sound. 

If you get a beautiful shot but the sound isn’t usable it’ll just end up on the cutting room floor anyway, never seen by anyone besides the editor.

Of course this is dependent on how necessary the sound is, but as a general rule if you’re working with an on-board mic and there is crucial dialogue - prioritise getting usable sound over getting a beautiful image.  

5 - COVERAGE

The final step to shooting a documentary is, well, the actual act of shooting it. Understanding coverage, which refers to the angles, shot sizes and way in which a scene is shot is an invaluable skill in documentaries.

While in fiction filmmaking you can shot list, storyboard or consider the coverage of a scene between setups as you shoot it, when you are working in unexpected situations that will only take place once, you have to make these decisions in real time.

It’s a difficult thing to give broad advice on as different scenes can unfold in different ways, but let’s go over some basic ideas for capturing an average vérité scene.

I find it’s useful to edit scenes in your head as you are shooting them. For an average dialogue scene you know you’ll need a few things. One, you’ll need a wider shot that introduces the audience to the space of the location so that they can orient themselves and understand the context. Two, you’ll need a shot of whoever is talking, specifically the main character or characters that you are focusing on. Three, you’ll need to get reaction shots of whoever isn’t talking, so that the editor can use these to shorten a scene. 

For example, there may be one sentence at the beginning which is great, then they waffle for a bit, then they have another three sentences which are great. If you have a reaction shot, then you can start on the person saying the first sentence, cut to the reaction shot while you keep going with the dialogue from the end three sentences. Then cut back to the person saying the dialogue. This naturally smooths things over and ‘hides’ a cut. 

If you only have shots of whoever is talking, then the editor will have no option but to either select one section of dialogue, for example the final three sentences, or to jump cut - which can be abrasive.

Also remember that the size of a shot affects how an image is interpreted. So for more personal moments you want to try and get as close as you can. However, you also need to take into consideration that your proximity to a person will affect how they act.

 If you meet someone for the first time and get right up in their face with a camera immediately they will be put off and likely won’t open up to you emotionally. 

That’s why I usually like to start shooting scenes wider and then begin to move closer to them as they become more comfortable with your presence and the conversation starts to heat up.

Covering a scene in a documentary situation comes with experience. It’s like an improvisational dance that needs to balance getting shots that will cut together, making the subject feel natural and at ease and anticipating the right shot size for the right moment.   

Although this just touches the surface, if you want to cut a basic, verite dialogue scene together and make an editor happy, then make sure you get, at a minimum, a shot that establishes the space, a shot of the person talking and a reaction shot of people who are not talking.