How to make a documentary film

Makinga documentary presents an opportunity to explore a subject in depth, tell a compelling real-life story, or share a perspective the target audience may not otherwise encounter.

However, to be clear, there’s much more to successful documentary film making than pointing a camera at an interesting subject!

So, how do you make a documentary that achieves your goals?

The process moves through several stages, including research and development, pre-production, filming, editing, and distribution.

At Eight Engines, we work with individuals, organisations, and businesses to turngreat documentary ideas into professionally produced films.

Workingas a partner throughout, our documentary video production service incorporates every step from developing an idea to delivering the finished film.

How do you start a documentary?

The first step begins well before you pick up a camera.

Before filming, an idea needs to be explored to establish it has the depth, access, and characters needed to carry an interesting documentary.

Experienced documentary filmmakers will usually begin by asking questions like: what do you want to investigate, reveal, explain, or understand? And why should your audience care about your subject?

Your starting point should clearly identify:

• The subject: What is the documentary about?
• The central question: What are you trying to explore?
• The characters: Who can bring the story to life?
• The access: Can you reach the people, places and information you need?
• The audience: Who is the film for?
• The purpose: Is it intended to entertain, educate, investigate or communicate an idea?
• The format: Are you making a short documentary, feature film, broadcast documentary or series?

There are lots of interesting ideas that never reach the filming stage because they fail on one or more of these points.

Others can run out of steam, or fail to reach their potential, because these questions haven’t been properly answered.

Documentary filmmaking depends on having something that can unfold visually and emotionally, sustaining viewer interest from beginning to end.

Research the story

It’s impossible to overemphasise the importance of research in learning how to create a documentary.

It gives you firm grounding in the subject, and helps to identify avenues of interest and potential contributors.

Crucially, it lets you uncover narrative possibilities before significant production resources are committed.

Research might include:

• Interviews with potential contributors
• Reviewing historical records and archives
• Reading relevant publications
• Identifying locations
• Establishing timelines
• Checking facts and claims
• Investigating legal or ethical issues
• Assessing whether important events can be filmed

Research might challenge your original assumptions, with stories often evolving considerably once you start speaking to people and examining the evidence.

Develop the documentary concept

Once research is underway, you can turn the idea into a documentary concept that can be delivered.

A treatment explains what the film is about, why it matters, and how the story will be told. It can also establish the visual approach to be taken and the tone.

A useful documentary treatment might include:

‍

This key information provides a useful reference as the documentary develops.

How do you write a documentary?

A common question when learning how to make a documentary film is whether documentaries need a script.

This differs, from film to film, and between makes too. Some of the most skilled documentary makers can go without, but most will probably need some form of framework.

Documentaries will often develop organically during the production process.

While the broad story might be clear, you can’t always predict exactly what an interviewee might say, unexpected events that happen during filming, or what discoveries will emerge.

Interesting angles you hadn’t considered might be revealed part way into filming.

Instead, documentary filmmakers tend to combine research, treatments, interview questions, story outlines, narration scripts, and editing notes.

Build a narrative structure

Documentaries are built on story telling. Even if the subject is factual, audiences still need a reason to keep watching.

A basic structure might include:

1. Opening: Introduce the subject, question, character or conflict.
2. Development: : Establish context and different perspectives.
3. Complication: Introduce new information, challenges or discoveries.
4. Climax: Bring the central story to its most significant point.
5. Resolution: Show what happened and leave the audience with a conclusion or question.

Not every documentary will follow this exact formula, but thinking about how the narrative will progress helps prevent the film becoming a collection of apparently disconnected interviews.

How are documentaries made?

While each production is unique, most documentaries develop through five broad stages:

Research and development → Pre-production → Production → Post-production → Distribution

The success of each stage will impact the next.

Weak research can create problems during filming, while insufficient planning can result in missing footage or contributors.

Pre-production

Pre-production turns the documentary concept into a practical shooting plan.

This can include:

• Finalising the concept
• Confirming contributors
• Recceing locations
• Organising travel
• Developing the shooting schedule
• Booking crew and equipment
• Preparing risk assessments
• Reviewing archive requirements
• Planning sound and lighting
• Establishing data management and backups

Documentaries are one of the most unpredictable fields of film making, so preparation must leave room for the unexpected.

Good pre-production provides a framework, while giving filmmakers space to respond to what happens in front of the camera.

How are documentaries filmed?

If you’ve watched documentaries, you’ll know there isn’t a single documentary filming style.

Instead, how documentaries are filmed will depend on the subject, story, and creative intention.

It might combine handheld observational footage, archive material, aerial shots, cinematic sequences, and location sound.

Interviews

Documentary production is often built on interviews. This can establish facts, introduce personal experiences, and give your audience the real emotional depth that sustains interest.

Good interview preparation is essential, and consists of obtaining some understanding of the contributors, and the kind of open questions that will encourage them to tell stories rather than just provide information.

Informed follow-up questions will often uncover unexpected details.

Observational filming

Observational footage lets you capture events as they unfold, with minimal input from the filmmaker. Rather than asking for explanations about what happened, the camera captures it happening.

This can create compelling authenticity for your audience, particularly when people are filmed in familiar environments.

Cinematic footage and archive

Cinematic cinematography creates atmosphere, establishes the uniqueness of a location, and can make the documentary more visually engaging.

This is achieved through attention to camera movement, lenses, composition, lighting, and colour.

Historical footage and archival material can provide valuable insight. Photographs, documents, and personal recordings can all help to connect the past with the present. This will need to be cleared for use, so rights and licensing should be applied for during development.

Capturing a human story

Good technical production skills matter, but the strength of documentary filmmaking lies in people.

Contributors who experienced the story first-hand and can communicate it honestly are often the most compelling.

Creating an environment where contributors are comfortable opening-up is therefore a major part of documentary production.

‘Lost Down Mexico Way’, a documentary produced by Eight Engines, was filmed in informal environments including pubs, bars, and even a ranch.

These relaxed settings helped contributors feel comfortable sharing experiences and allowed their personalities to shine.

The result was a documentary full of humour and energy driven by a compelling emotional story.

The choices the production team made created the conditions where stories and personalities could come to the fore.

Post-production: where the documentary takes shape

Great footage is essential, but it’s during post-production that exciting material is transformed into a coherent film.

This process can include:

• Organising and backing up footage
• Reviewing and logging material
• Transcribing interviews
• Building a paper edit
• Creating a rough cut
• Fine-cut editing
• Sound editing and mixing
• Music
• Colour grading
• Motion graphics and titles
• Archive integration
• Subtitles and captions
• Final mastering

It’s during editing that the documentary’s structure takes shape.

The film’s direction might change based on something a contributor says, or an insignificant moment captured during filming can become a key scene.

Good documentary editing requires good editorial judgement, not just technical skill.

To find out more, read our guide ‘How long it takes to edit a documentary’.

How long does it take to film a documentary?

There’s no single answer to the question; ‘How long does it take to film a documentary?’

A short film in one location and a small number of contributors can be completed within days.

A documentary that involves multiple contributors, countries, and extensive research, or a story that unfolds and develops over months, is likely to require a much longer production period.

Among the key factors impacting the filming time include:

• Number of locations
• Number of contributors
• Travel requirements
• Availability of subjects
• Events that need to be captured as they happen
• Weather
• Access and permissions
• Production budget
• Length and ambition of the final film

Filming time is only one aspect of the overall production timeline.

A documentary might only take a few days of filming, but take months to research, develop, and edit.

How long does it take to make a documentary?

So, how long does it take to make a documentary from initial idea to finished film?

If a project is clearly defined, and doesn’t involve extensive travel or unusually complex requirements, the overall process might take a few months.

More ambitious productions can take considerably longer, particularly if they require extensive research, multiple locations, or tell a story that unfolds over time.

The main stages are:

These stages are not always sequential.

For instance, research might still be required during filming, and the first edit might reveal the need for additional filming to fill gaps in the story.

To learn more, read our guides ‘How much a documentary costs to make’ and ‘How long a documentary should be’.

Why work with a professional documentary production company?

While anyone with a good idea can begin developing a documentary, turning that into a finished film requires real expertise.

Making a successful documentary film combines creativity, production, and technical experience.

A professional documentary production company can help with:

• Story development and research
• Production planning
• Crew and equipment
• Interview direction
• Cinematography
• Sound recording
• Location management
• Archive research
• Editing
• Colour grading and sound design
• Graphics and delivery

As well as providing access to professional cameras and equipment, experienced filmmakers understand how to find the real story within the story.

Professional production teams know how to structure interviews, respond to unexpected developments, work around production problems, and make editorial decisions to turn hours of material into a coherent, compelling film.

At Eight Engines, a collaborative approach is central to our documentary process.

We work with businesses, individuals, and organisations to develop great ideas into professionally produced documentaries.

Start making your documentary

So, how do you make a documentary?

Start with the story, and ensure it’s thoroughly researched. Test whether it has enough depth to sustain a film, identify the people who can bring it to life, and establish what you want the audience to take from it.

Then you need to develop the concept, plan the production, begin filming, and allow the editing to reveal the strongest version of the story.

No single formula can capture how great documentaries are made. Each subject presents different opportunities and challenges.

If you have a documentary idea and want to turn it into a finished film, then we’d love to hear about it.

Working collaboratively, we can develop the concept, plan the production, film the story and shape the footage into a documentary that engages the audience.

Ready to take the next step?

Talk to Eight Engines about your documentary project.

‍