First Documentary at DVinfo.net

Jaime Espiritu · November 18th, 2012, 12:57 PM

Hi, Everyone

I've been approached to do a documentary that should be about 60 minutes long. I've done short 3 min videos on documentary type material and I was wondering how difficult would this be to do a 60 minute one.

Thanks for your insights...

Tim Paynter · March 2nd, 2015, 12:03 AM

I remember my film prof rolling his eyes when my team announced instead of a short clip for class, we were going to shoot a zombie movie. He was so perplexed he had a hard time explaining how much work we were in for. The class ended log before we were able to put the plan together, one of the students died, and we shelved the idea.

Shooting a documentary is a major effort. How much time did you put into the three minute clip? I am not talking about the 3 minutes of the video you used, but rather, all of the video you shot from which you pulled your 3 minutes? Who mastered your sound? Edited your clips? Came up with the ideas and the script? It is a lot harder to capture a person's attention for a 1 hour production than it is capture attention in a 3 minute short.

That being said, there are all kinds of documentaries playing on a million forums. To really have a good idea of what it takes, you need a good script and story board to figure out what kind of team and kit you will need. Once you get it all together, but before you begin, it is nice to have an idea about where it is you want to display your work, a whole 'nother profession called marketing.

There is my 'how to make a doc' manual in a few paragraphs. Some people have done docs and put them on youtube, so it can be done. It just depends upon what your expectations are when all the work is over. If this is your dream then don't let anyone keep you from it, but in order not to be let down, it can't hurt to think things through.

November 18th, 2012, 12:57 PM	#1
Jaime Espiritu Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: San Francisco CA Posts: 154	First Documentary Hi, Everyone I've been approached to do a documentary that should be about 60 minutes long. I've done short 3 min videos on documentary type material and I was wondering how difficult would this be to do a 60 minute one. Thanks for your insights... __________________ Creative Video. Excellent Service

March 2nd, 2015, 12:03 AM	#2
Tim Paynter Major Player Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Denver Posts: 255	Re: First Documentary I remember my film prof rolling his eyes when my team announced instead of a short clip for class, we were going to shoot a zombie movie. He was so perplexed he had a hard time explaining how much work we were in for. The class ended log before we were able to put the plan together, one of the students died, and we shelved the idea. Shooting a documentary is a major effort. How much time did you put into the three minute clip? I am not talking about the 3 minutes of the video you used, but rather, all of the video you shot from which you pulled your 3 minutes? Who mastered your sound? Edited your clips? Came up with the ideas and the script? It is a lot harder to capture a person's attention for a 1 hour production than it is capture attention in a 3 minute short. That being said, there are all kinds of documentaries playing on a million forums. To really have a good idea of what it takes, you need a good script and story board to figure out what kind of team and kit you will need. Once you get it all together, but before you begin, it is nice to have an idea about where it is you want to display your work, a whole 'nother profession called marketing. There is my 'how to make a doc' manual in a few paragraphs. Some people have done docs and put them on youtube, so it can be done. It just depends upon what your expectations are when all the work is over. If this is your dream then don't let anyone keep you from it, but in order not to be let down, it can't hurt to think things through.