What I Learned From My First Documentary Project?

Let me tell you what I learned by directing my first-ever documentary short film.

Still from the shoot

After reading various books, watching multiple videos and documentary films, and reading random stuff about filmmaking, I have finally shot my first-ever documentary.

And I have some lessons to share with you.

Let’s proceed!

Planning is Everything

It can be a waste of words to state the importance of planning, because it is applied to each and every task that must achieve a goal.

To achieve a goal, or at least score close to it, planning is crucial.

Just like you, I had read or heard people talking about its importance. But shooting my own project made me realize its importance.

In the case of documentary filmmaking, planning includes conceptualizing the idea, formulating the base of the project, budgeting, production, creating a team, arranging and allocating resources, marketing, and stuff.

And if you are an independent filmmaker, congratulations, you get the privilege to do all of these tasks alone, by yourself. Hence, planning becomes a deal-breaker for you. Additionally, it will help you become an ACTIVATED THINKER!

Right People

Even if you have planned everything, but your team members are not serious and are unprofessional, then all your efforts can go down the drain.

Executing a project independently is better than having an unprofessional team.

The right people in your team are a must. Now, what makes a person right in this context?

• How much do they know about their work?
• How serious are they about the project?
• How ethical are they when it comes to working on a project?
• Do they understand their priorities well?

Having answers to all of these questions will help you make a better team.

I, My Team, and My Subjects

There could be moments (while you are shooting) when you would feel stuck, and in such a scenario, the support of the right people will boost your confidence, which will eventually be good for the project.

Be Okay with Sudden Changes

The truest sense of documentary filmmaking says that you cannot really stage the scene. So there are higher chances of things not happening as you might have planned.

Let me give you an example from my experience-

On the 2nd day of the shoot, we were supposed to spend a day with the children at a particular location that is usually free of any extra noise other than that of people. But on that day, a regional artist was to perform for a public show. Hence, at the start of the day, we were surrounded by tools, equipment, apparatus for stage shows, a large crowd, and their cacophony.

I had not thought of it happening, forget about planning. Also, we couldn’t afford to waste a full day because of this surprise.

So, to save the day, we decided to accommodate the settings of the stage show and shoot our subject accordingly. In this situation, the diligence and prompt thinking of my team members also helped me.

This example also highlights the importance of having the right team members around.

Know your Story, Not the Topic

A mere exploration of the topic does not produce an engaging documentary. There has to be a story wrapped around a topic/problem/event. People often confuse documentary filmmaking with just knowing about the topic, in and out.

That’s not the case! There has to be a story.

It is only while shooting the project that I understood information about the subject is not enough; it is equally, rather highly important to present that information in a compelling and captivating manner.

How well do you engage the audience with your topic — that’s the mantra!

It was quite hard for me to understand the story of my project. Though I had learnt pretty much everything about the subject through the internet, books, and visits to the location, I had plenty of material, but the story was still missing.

I eventually found my story at the editing table.

Spend Some Casual Time with your Subjects

I should have spent more off-camera time with my subjects — that’s my biggest learning from the project.

As I mentioned above, that story (which I got while editing) holds the greatest importance in a documentary; I would have gotten mine earlier if I had spent more time with my subjects.

Now, if I get a chance to start this project again from scratch, I will spend a minimum of a week with my subjects, visiting their favorite places, eating their favorite food, meeting their close friends and family, etc., etc.

The Subjects

My textbookish understanding of documentary filmmaking says that it is crucial to have proximity to your subjects. The more personal you get, the more meat you get. The more accessible your subject is to you, the more interesting the result of your project will be.

So, be friends with your subject, or at least try to be!

Stick to Your Project’s Timeline

I failed badly in meeting the pre-decided deadlines of the project. My project was supposed to be done and dusted in 2 months, including pre-production, production, and post-production.

Not sticking to the timeline can be counted as an excuse, only if you create documentaries for passion. But if you are somebody who wants to make a career here, then you need to be more careful and concerned about the deadlines.

Another reason to stick to the timelines, apart from the career inclination, is that you then get more time, resources, and effort to explore more stories. If you stick to a story longer than required, then you might lose interest in the process itself, which I don’t want to happen to me.

You won’t Get 100% Results in the First Project

You cannot expect to hit the bullseye in your first project. You plan well, and still, there will be some problems, some unexpected circumstances that can occur, forcing you to change or edit your plan at the very moment.

Like any other creative task, documentary filmmaking also requires practice. And when you are doing your first project, you won’t get the results as you had planned, since you have not practised enough. But that does not degrade the importance of planning; it is important to land close to the result, and for that, you need to plan.

I learned to take the first project as practice and learn enough to hit a home run in the playing field.

Be Proud of Yourself

The very big lesson is to learn, appreciate, and be proud of yourself, as you are one of those few people who actually took a step ahead in building and presenting a project.

I read somewhere once-

Genius is not the one who has ideas, but who executes them.

Though my planning was not on point, though I spent a bit more than I could have saved, unexpected events did break my confidence while shooting, and I didn’t get what I really wanted from the project.

But the silver lining is, I am more improved at working on the next one.

So, yeah, that was it. This is what I learned from the first-ever documentary project. If anyone from the fraternity is reading this, I would love to connect with you. And if you are just a curious person, share your views in the comment box. I would love to know your perspective on this.