A behind-the-scenes look at making a documentary – and how to approach crafting your own.

Documentarian and cinematographer Mark Bone has a series of videos about making documentaries. Based on his own experience working on docs of his own and for others, Mark offers insights into approaches to planning and storytelling in a documentary:

Pre-Production

• Find and simplify your theme
• Determine structure – premise > inciting incident > rising action > climax > resolution
• Establish your character

Post-Production

Contrary to what one might expect, Mark doesn’t go into a shoot hoping to miraculously discover the look and feel of his story – instead, he plans backwards from the edit:

Production

• Location Scout
• Pre-Interview
• Get Feedback

Mark also invites you behind-the-scenes of documentary film-making:

Mark even applies his human-story-telling focus to his commercial work – and his approach is full of tips relevant to narrative work, particularly with minimal gear and personnel (including the fantastic idea of scheduling time for “freestyle” shooting)…

… as well as the effectiveness of having a minimal, but solid plan (and bonus, this one includes the final product at the end):

Planning and clear vision is everything, as you can see in the pitch package for Rescate Ambar, one of Mark’s documentaries:

Rescate ambar pitch package by Mark Bone from Martin Michaelsen Thygesen

For more from Mark Bone, dive into his full playlist, Documentary / Directing Tips:

Further Viewing

In Depth Cine takes a break from his usual cinematography breakdowns to cover the process of a documentary in which he was involved:

Film School: How to Make A Documentary (with In Depth Cine)

Film-maker Danny Gevirtz highlights the overlap in his approach to his documentary work, with his music video and solo narrative work:

Film School: One Filmmaker’s Process Across Three Genres