Are you thinking about making a documentary but don’t know where to start? This guide will show you what steps you can to take to make meaningful progress on your passion project and how to begin crafting it into an story that can make an impact.

A story – at its core – is a telling of an event crafted to engage an audience.

What elements are essential to command attention?

In the realm of documentary filmmaking, you figure this out during the transition from research to planning. Creating the story summary is crucial moment, when you finally able to define the backbone of your narrative. This is not merely a step in the process; it’s an art form that involves weaving together crucial elements to ensure your audience is not just watching, but experiencing and engaging with your narrative.

Here’s how you can craft a compelling story summary that will serve as the foundation of your documentary production.

The production process is an integral part of creating any form of creative content, regardless of its length or medium. It’s a structured system designed to guide creators, especially documentary storytellers, through the journey of crafting their narrative. This process becomes particularly crucial when you delve into stories that are not inherently your own. Venturing into unfamiliar communities to tell their stories can indeed be daunting. However, understanding the production process can significantly ease this challenge.

The documentary storytelling process consists of four key stages: research, planning, documenting, and editing. Each stage features clear milestones that, when completed, indicate when you are prepared to move to the next step.

Shoot. Capture. Subject. Take. Trigger.

These words are starting to feel uncomfortable.

We used to love using them. They made us feel special. These words and others are the coded language we could speak, signaling to others ‘in the business’ that we belonged.

Yet, these words are inherently violent…