There are many ideas about what makes a documentary film. But a true documentary does not use actors or have scenes “recreated” based on a true story or not. The 2014, 386 page, third edition of Create Documentary Films, Videos and Multimedia is a book that looks at the craft and art of telling nonfiction stories, in particular, in a documentary style. Written by James (Jim) R. Martin it is based on over 33 years of teaching filmmaking and forty years making award-winning documentaries. The following is an excerpt from the beginning of Chapter Two on development.
Developing and Researching Documentary and
Nonfiction Projects
“My aim as a filmmaker is to approximate some of the complexity of the real world, rather than to simplify it” – Frederick Wiseman
Considering and Selecting an Idea for a Documentary Project
When considering ideas for a documentary, think about the feasibility of doing the project and how it might be approached. What is the story? Is the idea something that can be accomplished with the resources available? How likely is the cooperation of the people, the institutions, government or officials involved?
It’s one thing to have an idea for a documentary, it is another to conceptualize the idea and come up with an approach and a point-of-view on that subject. By taking certain steps in the process of developing an idea it is possible to see where the story might be and what areas to explore. A documentary story begins with an idea, notion, questions, problem or issue, that can be explored.
There are many ways to structure a story but all of them must be comprehensible to your audience. All stories have a beginning, middle and end whether they are fiction or nonfiction/documentary. Stories are a narrative including events, conversations, action, reaction and observations that include whatever conflict and tension that naturally occurs in the nonfiction material and whatever conflict and tension the storyteller builds into telling the tale. In a documentary context the storyteller may use existing conflict to tell the story but not distort the conflict to create false arguments or themes. As in all storytelling from a joke to an epic novel, timing, structure, pace and delivery are important.
The best stories engage the audience in a way that brings them into the process, allowing them to discover, ask questions (which at some point are answered) and that evokes emotion. Questions to consider about ideas are; will it shed any new light on the subject? How interesting is the subject and how much time will it take to present it. Is the subject large? If it is a large subject, on what area will it focus?
The approach and process depend in part on what the subject is and the context of how the documentary will be used. An educational film on a given subject may be approached differently than a social advocacy documentary. However, there are some basic steps to at the beginning of the journey.
Other topics covered in Chapter Two include:
Audience
Researching
Exploring
Asking Questions
Find the Story
Consultants
Where to Begin
Writing a Concept and Treatment
Writing a Shooting Script
In many respects Create Documentary Films, Videos and Multimedia is a documentary itself, as it includes step-by-step directions on telling documentary stories and case studies based on the author’s experience making documentaries in all types of situations, from feature-length documentaries seen nationally on PBS, to short documentaries for not-for-profit clients.
Making documentary films is more than theory and more than knowing how to run equipment. Making documentaries combines theory, technical expertise and storytelling style. Create Documentary Films, Videos and Multimedia combines elements from all areas to bring to the reader the real craft, and rich tradition of making and telling actuality or nonfiction stories. Stories now known as documentary. Documentary style story telling is not confined to films and videos. The book looks at other forms of documentary presentation including still photography, books, audio presentations, slide presentation and other forms.
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