Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video Suitable for: Improver Advanced

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video ImproverAdvanced

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video Making a documentary video Improver

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video Improver Documentary videos explore real-life events and people. Great documentaries can change how people think and act.

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video Improver Just like a drama, a good documentary is planned around a story. What story do you want to tell? A good documentary has something new and interesting to say about its subject. Improver

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video Improver Start with research. What do people already know? What are the facts? Make sure you get your facts right in your documentary. Improver

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video Improver Research helps you find the people and places you could include. Who could you interview to find out more and get different points of view? Where can you film footage of places and events? Improver

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video Improver Plan your documentary. Make a list of everything you want to include, like interviews, scenes of events and places. Use this list to make sure you film all the scenes you need. Improver

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video Improver Interviews let the people involved tell their side of the story. Think about how to get in touch with people you would like to interview. Explain how you will use the interview in your documentary. Write down all the questions you want to ask them. Improver

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video Improver In your interviews, keep the camera recording all the time. Focus on the person. The interviewer does not have to be in the shot. Improver

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video Improver Record lots of footage of the event or place that your documentary is about. Think about the right time of day or year to get the footage you want. Improver

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video Improver Use other photos and video clips. This can be photos, videos or film clips from the past, or footage that other people have taken. You must get permission to use other people’s photos or video, including any you find on the internet. Improver

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video Improver You could include a presenter in your documentary. They can interview people, describe and explain things and link each scene together. Don't use them too often. Let your interviews and other shots tell the story. Improver

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video Improver Your presenter can also record a narration for your documentary. This is where you hear the presenter, but they are not on camera. Record your narration after you have filmed and edited your video. Write a script. Base this on the final version of your documentary. Use your narration to link interviews and other clips together. It can ask questions, add drama and give a conclusion. Improver

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video Improver Remember to thank everyone who takes part in your documentary. Invite them to a screening, and give them their own copy. Improver

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video Improver Well done You’ve completed the tutorial! Visit the ‘Tutorials’ section of the website for information on using other equipment and software. Or you can visit the ‘Case studies’ section and be inspired to use your new knowledge in creative ways! Improver

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video Making a documentary video Advanced

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video Advanced Interviews make your documentary more personal. The person can tell their story even if they are not in the shot. Ask the person to repeat the question in their answer. For example: Q When did you start going to the meetings? A I started going to the meetings when I …

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video This type of answer means you don't need to include the question in your finished video. You can also use the answer as a voiceover for video clips of what the person is talking about. Advanced

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video Don't use narration to tell the whole story; wherever possible, try to show rather than tell. Don't say ‘The squirrels started coming close to the house. They ate all the food left out for birds. Now the birds are looking for food because they are hungry.’ Just say ‘The squirrels started coming close to the house’ and show the audience a clip of the squirrels taking bird food. Show a clip of birds looking for food and only then add ‘Now the birds are hungry.’ Advanced

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video When filming, keep your camera on all the time. Capture the highest quality video you can. You are more likely to capture the ‘real moments’ that bring a documentary to life. Advanced

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video Think about the style of documentary you want to make. What is the right approach for your subject? Advanced

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video In some documentaries, the presenter takes part in what’s happening. This can make the documentary more personal. The presenter might want to find out the truth about something or they might have a point of view they want to get across. Advanced

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video You don't need to have a presenter that you see on camera. Many good documentaries just use a narrator that you don't see. Advanced

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video Music can add atmosphere and drama, but it should not distract the audience. Try not to add music to every scene; start by just using music when you set a scene. Advanced

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video Add diagrams to help explain facts in your documentary. This could be to show how something works, or to present facts and figures. Advanced

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video Maps help show where events take place. Advanced

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video Use an external microphone to record your narration. Record somewhere quiet so there is no background noise. As you read from the script, think about the right tone of voice for each scene: do you want to create suspense, excitement, or sound calm? Record the narration for each scene as a separate clip, so you can insert them into your video. Advanced

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video Watch your documentary as you edit it and add narration. Make notes on what works and what doesn’t. Keep working on it until you can tell the story you want. Advanced

Copyright ©: SAMSUNG & Samsung Hope for Youth. All rights reserved Tutorials Cameras and photos: Making a documentary video Well done You’ve completed the tutorial! Visit the ‘Tutorials’ section of the website for information on using other equipment and software. Or you can visit the ‘Case studies’ section and be inspired to use your new knowledge in creative ways! Advanced