6 Essential Documentary Filmmaking Tips for Beginners (from 15+ Years of Experience)

These six documentary filmmaking tips for beginners will save you a lot of frustration and help you create a film you're proud of.

Starting your first film is a journey full of excitement and, if I'm being honest, plenty of frustration. After 15 years in the industry, I've realised that most beginner mistakes are entirely avoidable. I wish someone had handed me these tips before I picked up a camera for the first time.

Whether you're struggling to find a story or feeling overwhelmed by the edit, these six documentary filmmaking tips will help you turn your raw documentary footage into a compelling, professional film.

What You'll Learn

• Find a compelling documentary subject
• Create a documentary treatment
• Assemble a crew for your documentary
• Create sequences, not random shots
• Capture great audio for your documentary
• Use a documentary editing workflow
• FAQ

1. Find a Compelling Documentary Subject

If you make a film about someone who doesn’t have an engaging story, you'll get to editing and you'll be pulling your hair out, trying to make it all work.

So, how do you know if you've found the right character for your film?

All good stories have a character that wants something. In my freediving short film One Breath, the main character Cristina wants to attempt a world record dive with her husband, Eusebio. That want sets Cristina off on her journey. If she didn't have a goal and was just freediving, we'd have a topic, but no story.

This is a mistake I see so many filmmakers making. They're excited about a subject, and there are cool visuals to go along with it. But there's no story, no journey, because the main character doesn't have a strong desire to achieve something.

Next is external and internal obstacles. When a character is working towards their goal, you want to make sure you've chosen a character that has to overcome tough obstacles. If it comes easily, it's boring to watch. The harder it is for the main character, the more the audience feels invested.

What's the difference between an internal and external obstacle? External obstacles are what's happening in the character's physical world. In One Breath, that's the lack of oxygen underwater and the huge pressure on Cristina and Eusebio's bodies. Internal obstacles are what's going on for the character emotionally. For Cristina, that's the mental strength free-dive training takes.

All great documentaries focus on a character going through both internal and external obstacles.

Then we have stakes. A stake is what is at risk if the character fails to achieve their goal. In One Breath, the stakes are high because failure means life or death. The higher the stakes, the more compelling the story.

For a deeper breakdown of what makes a strong documentary subject, read What Makes a Great Documentary? 7 Key Elements.

2. Create a Documentary Treatment

It's tempting to start shooting right away without creating a treatment. But if you don't have focus or direction, you may have to reshoot big chunks of your documentary because the material you captured doesn't fit the story or isn't engaging.

A documentary treatment helps give your film focus and helps you make better decisions when filming. That makes putting the story together in post-production much easier.

What should you include in a documentary treatment?

• Title and Logline: ideally keep your title to no more than three words
• Synopsis: introduce your main character and summarise the story
• Filmmaking approach: your personal filmmaking style and vision for the project
• The team: why you and your crew are the right people to make this film
• Budget: your budget for potential investors to weigh up
• Distribution: your aims for where the film will be shown

To save you time, you can access my go-to documentary treatment template here:

Get your free documentary filmmaking treatment

Once you've created a treatment, you'll find it useful to share with potential investors, crew members, and fans. They can see what your project is about and what it will look and feel like, without you spending ages explaining it. As a result, they will take your project more seriously.

For a full walkthrough, check out How to Write a Documentary Treatment That Gets Funded.

3. Assemble a Crew for Your Documentary

When I first started making films, this was something I really struggled with. No one else in my community was making films, and all the professionals I found online were too busy to help. I felt stuck.

I then tried making films by myself. That was great for learning the basics, but I quickly realised that to move forward, I needed to collaborate with other filmmakers.

How do you find a crew when getting ready to shoot your documentary?

• Connect with filmmakers online: Reach out on filmmaking communities and Facebook groups. The key to building strong working relationships is to show interest and add value first, then share your projects.
• Attend film events: Go to film festivals and premieres in your local area. Introduce yourself to other filmmakers and offer to take them for a coffee or help on their next film.
• Contact local film schools: Get in touch with their reception or Facebook group. Ask teachers if they could recommend their star pupils.
• Ask friends and family: They don't need to be experienced. Run them through exactly what you need them to do beforehand and have fun!

I built my early crews entirely through passion and persistence, not money. For more detail, read How to Find a Film Crew for Your Documentary.

4. Create Sequences, Not Random Shots

When I first started making documentaries, I would just try and create beautiful shots without thinking about the edit or how the scene would come together.

It's much better to get a couple of incredible sequences rather than lots of random shots that don't make good sequences.

I recommend using one camera and following what's called the five-shot rule. This is a technique popularised by Michael Rosenblum, who trained video journalist students at the BBC.

The five-shot rule means you film a sequence using five different camera angles:

• Close-up of hands: shows what is being done
• Close-up of face: shows what the subject is feeling
• Wide shot: shows where the scene is taking place
• Over-the-shoulder: gives the viewer's perspective
• Unusual angle: something creative. Climb a tree for a high angle, crawl low, or tilt for a dutch angle.

Using the five-shot rule helps you decide what angles to use when filming a scene. It's especially useful when you have limited time to film. Once you've got it down, you can add, subtract, and mix up angles to develop your own visual style.

For more on shooting techniques, read Camera Angles: A Complete Guide for Documentary Filmmakers.

5. Capture Great Audio for Your Documentary

When you're on location filming, there's so much to juggle: camera equipment, lighting, directing. With so much happening, it's easy for sound to slip under the radar, only to come back and bite you in the edit.

Sound is often overlooked, but poor audio is what makes a beginner filmmaker stand out for the wrong reasons. People will forgive bad visuals for a few minutes. With bad audio, they stop watching within seconds. What people hear is 50 percent of their viewing experience.

How can you make sure you have great audio when filming your documentary?

• Plan ahead: Visit your location in advance. Plan how to minimise noise and decide the best time of day to film.
• Don't rely on your camera's built-in microphone as your main audio source. It's a low quality mic. Instead, use a shotgun mic, Rode Wireless Go, or a lavalier mic.
• Mic placement matters: The closer the mic is to your subject, the cleaner the sound. Try different positions and get creative.
• Check your audio levels, especially for dialogue. Keep your sound below zero decibels, otherwise it will distort. The sweet spot is around -10 dB.
• Record a wild track: a couple of minutes capturing the local ambience. This helps you smooth out cuts when editing.

What Are the 5 C's of Filmmaking?

The 5 C's of filmmaking are Camera Angles, Continuity, Cutting, Close-ups, and Composition. These five principles, first outlined by Joseph V. Mascelli, form the foundation of visual storytelling. For documentary filmmakers, strong camera angles and continuity are especially important because you're often filming unpredictable, real-world events with limited chances for retakes.

6. Use a Documentary Editing Workflow

When you get to editing your documentary, it can feel overwhelming. It's hard to know where to begin when you have so much unorganised footage, photos, and audio files.

This daunting feeling stopped me from finishing a film on more than one occasion when I was starting out. I didn't have a clear vision of what I wanted the film to be, and I didn't have the right techniques to approach organising and editing all the footage.

It's taken me years of trial and error to learn these strategies. Here's the workflow I use now, so your film doesn't get left and forgotten on a hard drive in your desk drawer.

Ingest and Backup Footage

The first thing I do is ingest all the footage straight after the shoot. I use a piece of software called Hedge because it lets you make multiple backup copies of the media at the same time.

Watch Footage and Make Notes

I then watch all the footage and make notes of the best moments, noting down the timecodes so I can easily find them again. I look through all archive material, photos, and audio clips that I may want to use and write notes about what's most useful. I turn this into a "paper edit," which is a basic breakdown of how I imagine the film will play out. It always ends up different from the final film, but it's a great starting point.

Import Elements Into Editing Software

I import all the elements into my editing software. I use Adobe Premiere Pro, but Final Cut Pro and DaVinci Resolve are both excellent options. DaVinci Resolve is free and genuinely professional-grade.

Add Beats to the Timeline

I start laying my favourite shots onto the timeline and watch through them to get a feel for what works and what doesn't. When choosing your favourite shots, look for key emotional moments that make you feel something, whether that's happiness, sadness, or fear. These scenes become the building blocks of your documentary.

Build the Framework

Then it's time to build the framework using the three-act structure: narrow your story into a beginning, middle, and end.

Refine and Re-edit

Once you feel you're in a good place with your story, it's time to refine and re-edit. Keep chopping, changing, and adding footage. Leave no stone unturned. Try every piece of footage and see what works.

Feel free to mix and match the framework. It's not unusual to realise during the edit that the middle or end gives more emotional punch at the beginning, or vice versa.

Show the film to a test audience who have nothing to do with the project and are happy to give honest feedback. It's easy to get so close to your documentary that you're no longer objective. Sharing it with an audience helps recalibrate your sense of what's working and what needs to change.

For a deeper dive into the documentary editing process, grab my free guide: Documentary Editing Guide.

You can also read 6 Steps to Editing a Powerful Documentary for my full editing framework.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I Start Learning Filmmaking With No Experience?

Start by watching lots of films and paying attention to how they're made. Listen to director's commentaries. Read books on storytelling and cinematography. Then, most importantly, go make a film with whatever you have, even if that's just a smartphone. Engage with online communities and courses to speed up your learning. If you want a step-by-step process, check out How to Make a Documentary: A 12-Step Beginner's Guide.

What Are the 5 Elements of a Good Documentary?

A strong documentary needs five things: (1) a compelling character or subject the audience cares about, (2) a clear story structure with a beginning, middle, and end, (3) honest and authentic storytelling, (4) strong audio and visuals that hold attention, and (5) a point of view that gives the film a reason to exist. I cover each of these in the tips above.

Am I Too Old to Start Filmmaking?

No. The richness of your life experience is an asset. Some of the best documentary filmmakers started later in life because they had deeper stories to tell and more emotional intelligence to bring to their subjects. With smartphones, free editing software, and online courses, the tools are more accessible than ever. Your unique perspective matters more than your age.

How Do You Get Into Documentary Filmmaking?

Pick up a camera (any camera) and start filming stories that interest you. Focus on strong characters, clear themes, and visual storytelling. Practice editing, study story structure, and learn from free resources or filmmaking courses. Collaborate with others and share your work. The best way to break into documentary filmmaking is by making films, short, imperfect ones at first, that help you learn by doing.

What Equipment Do I Need to Make a Documentary?

At minimum, you need a camera and a microphone. A modern smartphone shoots 4K video and is a genuine starting point. Your first upgrade should be audio: a dedicated microphone like a Rode VideoMic or a lavalier mic makes a bigger difference than any camera upgrade. A tripod, extra batteries, and storage cards round out a basic kit. For detailed gear recommendations, read my Best Documentary Cameras guide.

Free Documentary Filmmaking Training

If you found these documentary filmmaking tips for beginners helpful, I've put together a free documentary training video where I share how I make cinematic documentaries. Click here to sign up and get instant access.