• Make it a topic you are passionate about.
• Don’t film something that everyone already agrees on. The point is to stir up some controversy or show a different viewpoint.
• Decide whether your topic will be grandiose or small-scale. Then stick to it.

The first step can sometimes take the most planning. Defining what your documentary will be about is the single most important step because all other steps in filming a documentary follow this first step.

• Take notes as you conduct research, so no important details are left out of the film.
• Interview people, read up on appropriate literature, and check other similar documentaries.
• Decide which points will enlighten your audience and resonate the most with them.
• Make the angle of your topic interesting, emotional, and inspiring.

Shooting Tips

• Use a lot of close-ups and medium shots over wide shots—wide shots are great for establishing scenes but aren’t enough to maintain audience attention. Close-ups & medium shots make the speaker on camera more relatable.
• Avoid jump cuts with b-roll of multiple camera angles. This can be jarring, and you usually want to guide your audience smoothly through the narrative.
• When you don’t have footage, use photos. Using photos can help hide edits, jump cuts, and static shots.

Here is a close-up and a medium shot: