Making a documentary part IV
With our documentary cut down from hours of footage to just those few scenes we need, it's time to pull the whole thing together using narration, music and text.
Scripting and narration
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It's likely that when you cut together your factual film, there will be parts of the story missing. In other words, the interviews and visuals will be able to tell some of the story, but parts of it will need to be clarified, explained, or simply linked together so that they make sense and flow.
This is where you, the filmmaker, come in to put your perspective on the events of the film, and make the film say what you want it to say. You can do this in a number of ways, but either text captions or a narrated voiceover are the most popular.
If you find the film's story mostly makes sense and just needs a little clarification, simply placing a few text screens can often be the answer (the key here is to keep it brief - 30 words or less on screen at a time).
Most of the time, however, you'll need to script and record a voiceover, so here are some points to remember:
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Speed: most narrators speak at about 100-120 words per minute, so write clearly and succinctly |
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Language: keep your language direct and simple. Loads of adjectives and flowery descriptions are off-putting. |
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Repetition: don't constantly repeat the things your interviewees have already said. Try to say something new in each sentence. |
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Respect: Respect your viewers' intelligence. There's nothing worse than watching a programme which talks to you as if you're an idiot. The best documentaries don't dumb down. |
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Who are you? Decide who you are as a narrator - a dispassionate observer or part of the action. If the film is about your journey in making the film (as Michael Moore or Louis Theroux films are), you can appear on screen and speak conversationally. If your narrator isn't part of the action, (i.e. David Attenborough) speak more independently and formally. |
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Covering shots: unless the narrator is on the screen, something else has to be. Choose relevant shots, and be prepared to refer to them in the script if you need to. |
Mood
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The narration will tie together your film's story, but it also needs changes of pace and mood. Your shots and content will go a long way towards producing this, but choosing appropriate music to fade in and out over visual montages, or use at low levels under speech can help to set the mood.
You can't use commercial music on any production you plan to show publicly (and that includes putting it on youtube). However, you can buy royalty free music from sites like www.productiontrax.com for a few dollars which you can then use in any of your video work.
The key here is not to overpower your scenes with music, or be too prescriptive in telling the viewer how they should feel about a scene if it's not clear from the story. Use music to underline what's going on in the film, not to "paste in" emotion and excitement where it isn't appropriate.
Music can be a sound effect just as sound effects can be music - so remember, silence, or the original sound from your video can be just as effective as music, and try to think of the audio as a whole.
Next month
Next month, in the final part of our series, we'll take a look at what you can do with your documentary once it's finished.
Also in this series:
Make a documentary Part I - Planning Make a documentary Part II - Shooting Make a documentary Part III - Editing *Offer ends 30 April 2009.