Research
From 4docs
There is no formula to how to research your short doc, so please do add your techniques, thoughts and suggestions.
Contents |
What Do You Plan to Do With Your Film
It could be good to start by thinking what you want your short doc to achieve. Perhaps your goal is to connect with the the TV and film industries so you feel appearing at International Film Festivals and winning awards might be a good way of attracting attention. Perhaps you're not interested in the prospect of industry involvement and want to get your film seen by the largest audience as soon as possible on streaming websites like YouTube. Making this decision early on will help you know what kind of film you want to make and will influence the research you do.
Online Research
Of course, the internet is a phenomenal research tool but be careful of the trap of getting stuck in the world wide web and not actually remembering to make your film. It is good to set up Google Alerts around issues / people / places in your short doc so you stay on top of anything that changes. However much online research you do, nothing can quite substitute getting out there, meeting people and speaking to experts when it comes to research.
Form and Structure
Directing a film means making decisions. It doesn't usually work very well to just go out and shoot and hope you have a good film in the hours of material you return with. You really want to consider the structure and form of your film- do you want it be to stylised, structured or purely observational, for example.
Watch Loads of Short Films
Watching films is invaluable for inspiration and ideas. We reckon a good starting place is The Best Short Documentaries ever Made.