What are the standard guidelines in making documentary?

What are the standard guidelines in making documentary?

Making Documentaries Step-By-Step: How To Make a Documentary

• Tell a story you care about. Start with a subject that excites you.
• Research. Learn everything you can about your documentary subject.
• Make a Plan. Create an outline.
• Create a Shot List.
• Start Shooting.
• Write a Script.
• Begin Editing.
• Check Legal and Copyright Issues.

What are the rules of documentary?

10 Rules Of Documentary Filmmaking

• Don’t film if you can live without filming.
• Don’t film if you want to say something – just say it or write it.
• Don’t film if you already knew your message before filming – just become a teacher.
• Don’t film something you just hate.

Do you need permission to do a documentary?

Desktop Documentaries: Technically, anyone who can be seen (clearly) in your documentary needs to give you their permission in writing using a “talent release form”. If not, you would need to blur them out.

What are the ethical issues in Central to documentary filmmaking?

Ethical issues are central to documentary film making because documentary films can representing the values and beliefs of the subjects in the films and those representation should be fair to the subjects (Maccarone 2010).

How do I sell my documentary on Netflix?

Netflix only accepts submissions through a licensed literary agent, or from a producer, attorney, manager, or entertainment executive with whom we have a preexisting relationship. Any idea that is submitted by other means is considered an “unsolicited submission.”

What are the three key elements of a documentary?

Elements of a Documentary Film

• Subjects. The subject is what your documentary is about.
• Purpose. The purpose is what the filmmaker is trying to say about the subjects of their film.
• Form. The form is the formative process of the film.
• Production method and technique.
• Audience experience.

How do you sell a documentary?

5 Tips for Selling Your Indie Documentary

1. From day one, Know your audience and build awareness.
2. Apply for a doc grant or program, and/or attach a notable executive producer.
3. Get a sales agent.
4. Find the Festival where you can stand out.
5. Go with the distributor you can trust.

Can I copyright my documentary film?

“Can I copyright my documentary idea?” This is a common question that comes in to Desktop Documentaries and we wanted to set the record straight. Short answer: You CAN’T copyright your idea.

Is filming illegal activity illegal?

It is not illegal to film criminal activity unless it involves sexual assaults and similar crimes, especially when it involves children (or filming in bathrooms, locker rooms or other places where filming is generally prohibited).

What are ethics in documentary filmmaking?

A documentary ethics approaches a foundational level when it addresses the need to respect the dignity and person of subjects and viewers alike, as well as acknowledge that a struggle for power and the right to represent a distinct perspective are at issue.

What are the four basic approaches to documentary cinema?

Documentary filmmaker and film theorist posited four different approaches to documentary filmmaking, referred to as “modes”: observational, expositional, poetic and reflexive.

What’s the first rule of making a documentary?

1. My number one guiding principle in making documentary films is essentially the “Fight Club” Rule. What is the first rule of “Fight Club”? The first rule of “Fight Club” is: “Don’t talk about ‘Fight Club.’” The first rule of documentaries is: Don’t make a documentary — make a MOVIE.

Can you use humor in a documentary film?

Humor can be devastating. Humor, ridicule, can be a very sharp edged sword to go after those in power, to go after those who are hurting others. I don’t understand why more people don’t do this — use humor in their documentaries.

Do you need copyright to make a movie?

Whether or not a producer needs to obtain copyright permission depends on the source of the film concept. For example, a producer will need a copyright assignment or a license if the film is based on any kind of existing work such as a novel, short story, stage play or a remake of an older movie.

What’s the best way to finance a film?

The methods of financing film projects are as diverse as the film projects themselves, the most common ways being; “debt” (such as borrowing money); “equity” (such as selling membership interests); or a combination of both (such as a production support agreement).