How To Shoot A Documentary in One Day - Full Guide

one day documentary this is something we've been doing for a while we've seen hundreds of people make their first film and shoot it in only one day and then they get about a month to edit it this is a competition that we do in art of documentary and it's for the members only people who are part of aod but whether you're part of aod or not I I want you to make your first film so we have this tutorial video that we released to our community to help them accomplish shooting a film in one day and then releasing it and working through all the hurdles that you may face when having those types of constraints and you might be thinking why why shoot a film in one day well this process this restriction of only shooting 24 hours helps you actually finish the film because then you don't have months of footage and you don't have more opportunity to get lost in the edit or get confused with the storytelling it helps you be precise and focused on what you're trying to accomplish and that's why we've done the one day dot competition and that's why like I said we've seen hundreds of people shoot their first film you're a Storyteller and you have a voice in and perspective that you should bring to the world so take a watch for this video again it's designed for our members so there might be some stuff that might not apply to you if you're not part of our documentary and if you're not part of aod we do have a Black Friday flash sale coming up because so many of you missed out on our last launch so we wanted to reopen the doors very quickly for anyone here on Black Friday so there's more information about that at the end of the video but here's the tips whether you're part of aod or not go shoot that film go make the film on your heart cannot wait to see what you produce thanks hey hey oh forgot this kit come on Focus there it is we're giving away this film making kit and everything inside it which includes an fx3 Sigma 24 to70 and an MK 400 from siser we just shot a whole entire documentary on this package wa see that lightning did that flash the room well that made the whole office Shake anyways we're giving this away all the details are below on how you can enter into this contest don't miss out we've given away this will be our fourth fx3 in the past year and we just gave away fx6 it's been one of our favorite things that we've gotten to do part of the art of documentary is equipping filmmakers like yourself to shoot the stories with the gear that they deserve so enter into this one lucky winner will be winning this fx3 and whole Cinema film making Cine Video package anyways without further Ado get into the details down below to find out how you can enter into this we'll take like 30 seconds to enter and let's get back to the video [Music] first tip I want to give you is finish the film regardless even if you feel like it's terrible and you don't like the film it's so important for you to go through the actions of shooting editing and exporting your film this is a muscle memory for you as a filmmaker even if you don't like it still submit it because we'll give you feedback and if you're in module 2 Mike will be able to work through the film with you this is really important for you to actually get the film done don't let the circumstances get in the way even if you hate the film in the end get it done and move on and make a new film after that second point is pick a story that you have easy access to make sure this isn't just some film and way off Foreign lands in Antarctica that will be really challenging for you to get there I would recommend putting your energy into the story not necessarily having to actually get access to that person so meet someone that you know someone in your town something nearby where there's less hurdles for you actually getting your camera in front of them and recording third pick someone who wants to be doing this it's so much better when you have someone enthusiastic about the story who will bring in energy and will bring a passion to the project that will help you complete it this is great too because sometimes when you're filming a story that happens over 24-hour period you want to be working with people who are okay to be filmed a lot over that time we've seen great films the ones that have won like late Frost or extension these are films where their characters were really bought in and really love the idea of these films and you can see it in the end of the film it really shows so pick a person who's excited about this your next rule once you have that person lined up do a pre-interview with them get on a call get on a FaceTime before you ever go to film and ask them some questions about the story you want to tell make sure to hone in on one specific desire that they have the idea of a one-day dog competition isn't necessarily to tell a whole person's life story that will be really challenging you want to keep the film nice and short in that 4 to 7 Minute range is really great we've had people win our emerging filmmaker award where they've done a film that was 2 minutes long longer is not better and you'll be able to determine that by doing a pre- interview and really understanding what part of their life or what part of their story that you are trying to tell next tip I would say location scope get out there and see the places before you go to film this is a great way to help your day when you actually go to hit record if you go to these locations ahead of time you get your iPhone out and you begin looking at these places and you with your pre-interview you've already asked the main character where locations that they like what mean means a lot to them in your town or wherever you're filming them your location scale and your pre-production will help you be the most efficient on that actual day of shooting so get out there and find some beautiful locations next tip would probably be the most important the biggest issue we've seen with people's one day docks in the past is what I call they fall into the visual podcast category this is where they just shoot an interview and then some random b-roll and the whole film becomes just someone talking about a past event this is more so what a podcast would be and it's less of a documentary it's kind of the least engaging or least creative way to make a documentary think about if this was a movie what you would see what are the scenes how do we shoot more than just the person sitting in a chair talking what do we actually get to see them do and don't just settle with shooting them in one location get them moving around their house their Town locations let's see them in a few different places this is my next tip is shoot scen don't just shoot random b-roll it's not enough just to have a person at Sunset and shoot some 60 frames slow motion cool stuff that's great and that will help your edit but where else do we get to see them living as a person do we get to see them even just get in their car and drive somewhere and buy something this could be a scene this is them living life as a person avoid just the b-roll and interview approach think about them moving through their scenes moving towards their desire and if you want more information about this get into module one get into module 2 and watch those videos about storytelling about story structure and it will help you begin to plan out your film next avoid wall-to-wall music a lot of one day docs will pick one song they'll place it on their timeline and then they'll drop their quotes and then they'll drop their b-roll and they'll hit export problem with this is your film is just going to have the same emotional tone as the song and that's usually going to be the same tone throughout it becomes a bit forgettable it's like hearing the same thing over and over again choose moments where there's no music where we get to hear the sound environment where we get to hear the location sound as part of that person's lived experience it's important not just to hear music the entire time and switch up the song we give you a playlist usually with a one day doc competition from music bed so you get different songs that you can choose or if you have another music software that you use from one of their libraries get different songs use stems pull it apart it doesn't necessarily even need to have music late Frost one of our favorite one day docks ever only had a song come in at the end the rest of the time it was just the location sound and this was very powerful two more quick tips one hide your mic this is a documentary and we want to be forgetting that we're watching an actual film unfold we want to feel like we're in a new story world that we're living alongside the person and when you have this big chunky mic sticking out there we suddenly are reminded that we're watching a film get into module one and watch how you can hide a mic this is so important to have it hidden in my opinion I really think it really helps the film it's so just I don't know takes you out of the story when you see this big black mic when someone's wearing a white T-shirt or it's clipped on somewhere hide your mic get a shotgun mic get the best sound possible do not compromise on good audio and my last tip this is from Michael Delonte it's get feedback for this you don't necessarily have to wait until you submit the film to hear what people think about it show it to your friends and family show it to some other filmmaking colleagues that you have get some good feedback and ask for honest feedback and be specific don't just ask people did you like it that's not going to be helpful they're not going to want to hurt your feelings they'll say yeah it was great that's not helpful ask them specifically go do you understand the story where did you get bored did you like the music is there anything that you would want to see me change what scenes did you like get more specific feedback and it will help you understand what is working and what is not there that's a lot of tips it's a lot of rules but in the end it's quite simple get out there shoot a good documentary story find a character who wants something something and make sure it all happens in 24 hours you should go make sure to check out some of the one-day docs over on our YouTube channel or ask around on the Facebook group if people have their one day docs that they want to share with you that would be really cool for people to get to watch them uh thank you for watching this and I cannot wait to review your film and hopefully if you get selected you'll be at one of our film festivals or one of our online film festivals there's great breakthrough on the other side of making one of these films for you so get out there and get shooting [Music] thank you for watching this like I mentioned we have our Black Friday flash sale so if you want to be a part of the aod community if you want to actually have your film reviewed and perhaps win in our competition where you'll get it screened it'll appear on our YouTube channel it'll be at our Festival there's Awards there's cash priz and also too you get to be part of a community of like-minded filmmakers people from around the globe aod were represented in about 70 countries now we have over 5,000 filmmakers so there's someone either in your city in your country or who has a similar Journey as you who can come alongside you and encourage you or maybe vice versa maybe you have something to offer someone else who's in the same struggle or same point in their career I love getting to do my career with others I hate being isolated no person is an island just like that film we made no country is an island well hey I made that with another filmmaker Mike we co-directed it don't do this journey on your own if you want to go fast go alone but if you want to go far go together and aod is there to help you accomplish your goals so don't miss this opportunity the doors are open but regardless if you can jump in right now or not go make those films that are on your heart thank you so much for watching this I hate [Music] goodbyes

Channel: Mark Bone

Views: 43,365

Keywords: how to make a documentary, filmmaking tips, how to, how to make a movie, filmmaking for beginners, how to film yourself, how to become a filmmaker, documentary filmmaking equipment, documentary filmmaking course, filmmaking for beginners course, travel filmmaking for beginners, filmmaking tips and tricks, mark bone, art of documentary, art of documentary mark bone, art of communication, art of communication erwin mcmanus, guide to shooting a documentary

Id: FvozfEQ5UeY

Length: 11min 1sec (661 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 08 2023