{"id":159686,"date":"2021-09-27T14:15:15","date_gmt":"2021-09-27T19:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/?p=159686"},"modified":"2021-09-27T14:15:16","modified_gmt":"2021-09-27T19:15:16","slug":"short-form-documentary-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/short-form-documentary-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"Quick Tips: 5 Rules for Making a Short-Form Documentary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Follow these basic rules, tips, and tricks to keep your short micro-documentary projects fast, fun, and informative.<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As we\u2019ve covered in the past, a new age of micro-documentaries is dawning<\/a>. Filmmaking has shifted from cinema cameras<\/a> to smartphones<\/a>, and content has become shorter, tighter, and\u2014well\u2014more content-y.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, in no genre has this been more noticeable than the documentary genre<\/a>. Long associated with feature length (or longer) films that explore complicated subjects in great detail, many documentary-style projects are now sped up to fit into more bite-size consumption online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless of whether or not you\u2019re a fan of the trend though, it’s an important filmmaking realization to see that creating content for social audiences with a shorter attention span is simply the way of the future. The only question is: How can you adapt to it?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, let\u2019s dive further into this world of short-form documentary filmmaking. Explore five rules to follow to keep your content fast-paced, yet informative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

1. Build an Outline and Follow Up<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Videographer<\/a>
Even with documentaries, it’s not a bad idea to start with a script. Image by Jonas Torres<\/a>.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So, before we get into some shooting and editing rules, tips, and tricks for documentary filmmaking, we have to talk about your planning and pre-production stage. This might be a bit controversial in true film circles, but even for documentaries you can (and perhaps should) build an outline and script your documentary out<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only will this help give you the framework you need to shoot and edit effectively, it’ll also force you to put on a narrative filmmaking hat to shape the story as much as possible to fit within a more constrained time format. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think about it. Let’s say you want to document the polluting of a local shorefront. Even if you have the basis of your documentary, it’s going to be impractical to turn up at the coast in the hope that your subject will find you. However, if you preemptively outline the basis of what you want to capture, even though this is a documentary, you’ll see a return of greater results. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only once you have this outline either written out (or, at least, in mind), can you put your creative documentarian hat back on and give yourself some flexibility to explore within the filmmaking process. The trick is to find the balance you need to keep things on-topic and on-task without compromising too much creative flexibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

2. Don\u2019t Slow Roll the Exposition<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another traditional hallmark of the documentary genre style is the challenging and often long-delayed sprinkling of exposition throughout the early parts of the film. And, while this is handy for slow burn types of films<\/a>, for short and micro docs, you risk losing your audience with your long takes and little information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The name of the game in modern, social, and digital video is to hit audiences hard and hit them often with as much information as they can handle. Consider using all the filmmaking tools in your arsenal to get your audience up to speed early and often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some options to consider include using voiceover narration<\/a>, text on-screen<\/a> (preferably animated and presented interestingly), as well as fast cutting techniques<\/a> that will hit audiences with lots of information in a short period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

3. Embrace Stylistic Looks and Effects<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n