Research into the documentary process

The first step to making a good documentary is to have an idea, and research it. You have to learn all that you can about the subject which the documentary is going to be about before you can produce a truly extraordinary documentary. This includes things such as whether or not there is existing footage that can be used (and if so finding out how to gain permission to use it), who the primary character(s) will be (if any), what the core points are that you want to get across, as well as how you could create intrigue for the audience, making it as watchable as possible. You will also need to plan out the budget, which involves both how you would raise and spend the money needed for production and possibly distribution.

The next step is to create a shot list. This is a list of footage and interviews which will be needed to produce the documentary. Depending on how complicated this becomes; you may or may not need to formulate a budget. This can be a difficult task because you need make sure that you are being as efficient as possible. 

Next step is to start shooting all of the footage that is needed for the documentary. One important factor to remember is that less can be more - quality over quantity.  Trying to include too many interviewees etc. could take away a certain aspect from the documentary, as it could make it difficult to follow. It's also important to remember that different types of documentaries will call for different qualities of filming, for example some could get away with being shot using an iPhone, whereas other might need more precise and higher quality cameras – with different lenses in order to get the perfect shot.

Next, you write a script. This doesn't just include what narrative there is, but is everything which the audience can see and hear. To be more specific, this consists of SFX, VO and Visuals etc. Once this is done, you need to edit all of the clips from interviews and archive footage etc. together to form a concise and flowing documentary. This will require great editing capability to ensure all the techniques are well chosen and well integrated.

The final step in the process is to distribute it. Keep in mind the target audience, which will determine the channels and times which your documentary is distributed to.

There is one more step, although this should be checked on throughout the whole process, and that is ensuring that no legal copyright boundaries are being infringed upon.

There are two main motivations for producing a documentary. These are educational and financial. A company/artist could produce the documentary with the intent of providing an educational experience for those who are interested, this could be to fulfil a sense of helping the community, or to try and transfer their passion for the topic, onto the audience. Alternatively the primary motive could simply be to provide revenue for the artist/company, with no real care being put into whether or not the documentary sparks interest or helps to educate.

The average cost for making a documentary is entirely dependent on the type of documentary, which is being produced, as well as what it's about. This is because a documentary which features clips and/or interviews from across the globe would have a very high travel cost and its expenditure will be through the roof along with its cash flow, whereas a documentary focusing on one estate would have minimal travelling costs. Another factor which causes the price of documentaries to vary is the quality and standard of the equipment. It is very possible to produce a low-budget documentary; however it will never be as crisp, or as sharp – in terms of its resolution and FPS as one which had a budget of upwards of a million pounds. The BBC's highest budget for a documentary has been around £25 million –hope it was worth it.

Done by Aiden, contributed by Paris.