Many people are fascinated by documentaries based on history - biographies of famous personalities, detailed accounts of famous wars, the evolution of technology and several other aspects of history tend to attract the interest of most viewers. This deep interest and fascination is evidenced by the numerous television channels that are focused on this theme. Two popular examples include The History Channel and The Military Channel.

Now if you watch these documents with an investigative eye (as opposed to an 'it's just entertainment' eye), you'll begin to realize exactly how they are created and developed. You will observe how they work with still images, how they handle scene transitions and how the script and pictures are skilfully weaved together to present an informative and compelling story. Once you've watched plenty of documentaries this way, you'll soon be able to come up with a solid formula for creating your very own documentary.

And thanks to the goldmine of public domain graphics and film clips that are freely available to the public online, assembling all of the necessary components for a top class documentary can easily be accomplished on a shoestring budget.

It all begins with an idea

First off, you want to think of an interesting topic to pursue. Thereafter, you've got to create an outline of the plot. This could be done using a storyboard or a storyline - basically, you need to have a sketch of the key points of your documentary and the order in which you plan on presenting them. You may either use a piece of paper to jot down your storyboard or you could do it with sophisticated software. Simply head over to Google and type in the following 'story boarding software.' Then pick a software package that meets your needs and budget. The advantage of using software over paper is that the former makes it super easy for you to rearrange the story pieces as many times as you wish, in order to ensure the entire plot line flows smoothly.

Once you're storyboard is complete...

It's time to write out your script

Obviously, the length of the script is going to be determined by the length of your documentary and the speed at which the commentary is provided. For instance, if you're aiming for a 60 minute documentary and the commentary is produced at around 150 words per minute, you'll require a script that's about 9000 words long. Furthermore, when fleshing out your script, it's important that you emphasize the type of tone that's required for each section. This is because you'll most likely be handing over your script to a voice talent and this person will need to know what tone to use when reading it out. If you fail to do this, you could end up with a dull monologue that will ruin your documentary.

Record the script

After you've finalized the writing of the script, you'll have to get your script recorded and digitized for importation into your chosen video editing program. Next, you want to link your script to the storyboard - you can do this by matching the start points in each segment of your storyboard with the equivalent start points in the script. This will help you figure out the amount of visual material that's needed for each and every segment. Speaking of visual material...keep in mind that you can obtain plenty of high quality images and film clips for free by browsing through the listings on public domain resource sites. (Hint: OpenFlix.com and PublicDomainFlicks.com are two excellent resources for obtaining PD movie clips)

Video editing

Once the script and storyboard are finalized, you've got to assemble the visual material and begin organizing everything in your preferred video editing software. The whole process is bound to take a while, as you'll need to ensure that the length of each segment matches the ending point for that particular category in the audio version of your script. Additionally, you'll have to make sure that the transitions of material between categories as well as within each category is smooth and flawless.

In conclusion...

Depending on your skill set and the type of equipment, visual materials and voice talents you have at your disposal, you can easily come up with an informative documentary in a short period of time. Who knows, the end result might even be good enough to sell to a television channel!


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