PBL - Making a Documentary

 

This post was created to help support the English 3 PBL class with creating short documentary films.

We were tasked with helping our PBL English classes learn a little about documentary films and how they are made. This post was used in class and then sent to the students as a reference.

Background

In class, we watched this video to build a common understanding of how documentaries are put together and how they address the audience.

The first time we watched the film we split into teams of two. Our goal was to help answer these big questions.

1. What was the purpose of this video?
• to answer a question
• to shed light on an unclear topic
• to present a new argument on a topic
• to improve society by sharing this knowledge
• to entertain the viewer
• to uncover a hidden truth or meaning
• to connect to a thematic truth about society
2. What did the creators include in order to achieve this purpose?
• rhetorical appeals
• How did they establish credibility?
• Did they appeal to emotions?
• Facts and evidence?
• evidence used
• Who is interviewed?
• What facts were provided?
• What visuals were used and why did they choose those?
• surface features
• Editing.
• Music.
• Lighting.
• Camera Angles.

For the second viewing we broke up into the five focus groups listed below. We rewatched the video with each group just focusing on one element.

• Sound - Whatever your subject is, it should be heard loud and clear. If there is too much distracting background noise, or the subject is super quiet, the whole video becomes nearly unwatchable. Sound can include voiceovers, background noise, music and more.
• Lighting - If you are in a basement, the overhead lighting tends to be too harsh. Dim the lights and add a second light source such as a lamp.
• B Roll - How does these video shots help tell the story without just being a talking head? 
• Background - What is behind the subject? A blank is exceptionally boring, can you move them in front of a bookshelf? 
• Plan - Sketch out your shots before you shoot, it will save you time and effort. This is the most important step of any video project. 

Sound

While Sam works the narrator is doing a voiceover. Soft music plays in the background. The key is the music is consistent throughout the whole video without overwhelming the video or when people speak.

Lighting

I really like how they used lighting in this part of the video. The lighting has illuminated two things, the background and the narrator. What makes this standout is how the right side of the screen is not lit making the whole left side pop out.

A few minutes later you can see the entire soap rack is illuminated while still lighting the narrator. This small movement makes it almost seem like you are in two totally different locations, it adds a lot of depth and movement.

Always strive for more than one source of light. For example, one lighting the background and the second on the person. If one source is the Sun, the better your subject will look.

B Roll

While soap is an important part of the video, it is really all about Sam. Many of the b roll shots are of Sam. I really like this shot as it is a full screen of things to look at. There is the store to our immediate left, the condos across the street and the famous Spencer's Grill in the center of the screen.

While the narrator is talking you can see soap being made! You can see the mixing and cutting while someone talks about the company. These b roll shots help fill in the gaps while the narrator talks.

Background

I am sure she has an office but shooting in the office would be boring. It is a soap company so why not sit in front of all the soaps? This makes the whole shot come alive and tell a deeper story.

Plan

Knowing that you are going to be shooting inside a soap company, then plan some of your shots to show them making actual soap. Whatever you are talking about, plan out your shots so your viewers can actually see it.

Editing

All high school teachers and students have access to the premium version of WeVideo. Your teacher will give you the code if you have not already activated your account. In this section we will highlight a few ideas on how to edit on your Chromebook. While you can do this on a mobile device the screenshots below are from a browser.

Prior to importing your clips, create a Drive folder. This folder is where you should upload all your videos to. It will make the whole editing process much faster.

Importing

I am assuming you have already shot all your videos on your mobile device.

Open the camera roll on your mobile device. Select your images and click Share.

Select Drive.

Find your Drive folder. Make sure all your files and selected. Click Save.

Check notifications. Make sure it shows that you are uploading all the files you selected. Every once in a while it will only upload one of five selected videos. 

Basics Editing - on the web

Login at wevideo.com

Click Projects.

Click the blue plus in the lower right.

Title your project and add a simple description.

Choose the project type and click Next. For this project I selected Collaborative so I can work with my team.

I now can invite others to start editing with me if I send them a link. The link will be on one of the following screens.

If you forget to send the link, it can be found in the lower left of the editing screen.

To start importing your clips, click the big blue button in the upper left.

Then click My Media.

Click the Google Drive icon. 

Shift + Click to select all your clips.

Once imported, drag to the timeline below.

The key to any good video is editing. To split your clips, move the blue play head and click the scissors.

You can also click on the clip for more editing tools.

Transitions - on the web

Click Transitions.

Choose and drag to the time line.

Pro Tip - choose one transition and stick with it.

Click the transition to open the editing panel. You might need to increase the duration.

Audio- on the web

Music

1. Click Audio.

2. Choose a folder/type.

3. Drag to timeline.

Voice

To add a voice over, click My Media and then Narrate.

If it asks, give access to WeVideo.

Rehearse, when ready click.

It should give you a 3 second countdown.

The video will play on the right. Click Stop when finished.

Preview then save.

The clip will appear at the bottom of your timeline.

Basics Text- on the web

Click Text.

Select and drag to the timeline.

Click to edit and then save.

Publishing

Click Finish when done with the project.

Name it and be super specific.

Upload to YouTube.

Note: It won't upload unless you have a YouTube channel.

The system will email you when it has been published. Send that link to your teacher.

Need more help?

Check out the WeVideo YouTube channel. 

Other great examples can be found on real estate websites. Selling a home is kinda like shooting a documentary. There are a ton of great examples, especially how they use text to highlight the best parts of a room. 

WeVideo created this page to help answer some of the most common questions and issues.