Documentary Filmmaking Tips // How to Hook Your Audience
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
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Part two of this series where I'm doing a breakdown of my approach to creating character-driven documentary films. In this video, I'm talking about ways that you can structure the story and edit to keep your audience watching.
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DISCLAIMER
Some of the links above are affiliate links, where I earn a small commission if you click on the link and purchase an item. The money I earn helps me make this type of content consistently.
I am an aspiring documentary filmmaker and have been scouring the internet for a style that resonates with me. I'm pretty sure I finally found it after watching your "How to hook your audience" piece. 99% of youtube documentary tutorials basically demonstrate the "traditional" interview style. Not that engaging. I can really relate to how you tell your story. You invite the viewer in with well executed images along with sound design that compliments and supports the theme of your piece. I love your use of voiceover. I come from a photographer's background, so the learning curve for final cut pro has not been too steep. The areas I need to learn will be color correcting and sound design. Thanks for the inspiration!
I always use the term “Motivated Incident” this is what starts the character reveal point, structure. This is what starts the story from a normal beginning. Into a point of referance. The beginning of the hero’s journey…. Great work in this idea.
Your cinematography is stunning. So natural, but interesting.
Real question: I’ve watched 25 different creators on here and while so much gear was mentioned, NONE of you told us those dad hats are crucial to film making.
They are. Masters wear bucket hats, but none of them are on TH-cam
This was fantastic! Thank you for the input on your process. I am currently working on a film. This was very helpful. I know I will be watching it again.
20 min video packed with a lifetime of knowledge. Many thanks for this!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Wow. So happy to have found your video (and channel) 🙌 I’d seen your Sigma short a couple of months ago and was really moved by its sensibility. By all means, more production & storytelling videos would be wonderful.
I appreciate that Mikel. Glad you enjoyed the film! Thanks for watching.
dude. Amazing video chalk full of helpful information. A great way to kick off my editing session, thank you!
I just found this video as i' am looking for help making a documentry I like to make. And wow I love the story, grading and sound!
Thanks for the tips! And brilliant cinematography! Any chance of a video on your colour grading process?
Wow. Cant understand why it took me more than a year to see this. Beautiful, inspiring and informative. Where can I see this full documentaries? They seem AWESOME.
SO SO helpfull! Thank you really much! I am at the start of filming my first documentary and you are really helping me out to plan my first steps, so thank you so much for that. Your videos are very much appreciated!
Cheers, Severin! Glad you enjoyed this one. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions in the future.
Would love to see some production stuff as well! This was great.
Cheers, Robbie. Glad you enjoyed this one.
Thanks for sharing, great storytelling!
Your inclusion of the portraits of Bruce with his yellow lab really made me connect with him.
looks amazing, been following you re GFX camera.. thanks for these posts.
Thank you Kyle McDougall 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄
Cheers!
Really inspiring, thank you for sharing.
Amazing sound design to keep viewers in the suspense ! Where I can see the full documentary please ?
Love this
Thank you so much for sharing this. It gives me a lot of inspiration to make better documentaries. There is so much information in this video alone!
Your docs are beautiful
The video is awesome and the documentary's are superb.
Thanks a lot
Awesome! Thank you for making this video. I am working on a project that is near to me about veterans. The information you have provided is great!
Glad it was helpful!
What a great video. PResent in an honest and humble way. thank you for this!
Thank you!
Your documentary guide content is fantastic. Have you thought about doing more of it?
good narrative. thanks
Awesome video! Awesome filming! Great stuff, really.
Hey Kyle,
Amazing insight, exactly what I was looking for to help me plan out my first mini documentary. Just wondering, looking your TH-cam channel I can't see any recent or more content about cinematography. Did you move over photography fully?
Only doing doc work here and there for personal projects. But mostly photography nowadays. I did do a recent short doc on the channel though. About two months ago, about my friend Nicholas J.R White.
Your films are inspiring. Keep doing what you are doing! Thank you
Thanks Kevin. I appreciate that.
Excellent work. Lots of great information. Thanks.
Where did you get the copywrite free background music 🎶 sounded perfect to the scene felt right in there
This was great. Thank you so much for sharing. SUBSCRIBED!
Glad you enjoyed. Cheers.
That was great! :)
Keep up the good work!
Glad you enjoyed. Thanks.
I enjoyed watching this. Please where can I watch your documentary films?
this is really great and so helpful for me as an absolute beginner... thank you for that
Really love this series, my man! Super informative and your work is just art. So beautifully done. These tips are great for any video work just for the story telling.
Thanks for sharing and PS. You're in Ontario as well? Keep up the solid work!
Oh, and do you have luts for sale that you use on your videos/documentaries? Love the look
-Tuan
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed this. No LUTS for sale, my process is a combination of grading manually and other creative luts from third parties.
These are excellent tutorials, thank you.
Glad you like them!
You are very talented and I enjoy your content. What focal length did you use primarily?
Well done.
I have two projects in mind. One is a very big documentary, involving learning 2 different languages, and traveling to a different country, as well as loads of research, and the other I can film in my hometown, I have a lot of background knowledge on, no new language required. This would be my first documentary. Should I just continue to focus on the big project, or, since it's my first film, create the smaller project first while still working on the large project to get a hang of how filmmaking works?
I'd go for the small project first. You'll likely learn a lot from making it, and you can apply that to the bigger one.
@@KyleMcDougall thank you, the more and more I think about it the more I think it's a better idea to start on the small one first
keep up the good work!
When your recording the person talk did you ask specific questions to get those clips or did you just let them talk about their story freestyle and collect all the good clips of audio from the video and then just cut the video out and add b roll to the audio? Sort of thing. Just learning.
Great video brother. Lynch fan?
This is educative 💪
Wow!
good job very informative!
Very helpful thank you! I was wondering what camera did you use for the first documentary example you used?
URSA Mini Pro. Cheers!
This is really well shot, did you use your 6k to shoot this?
Ursa Mini Pro and P4K for bunker stuff
Selah, good work. @@KyleMcDougall
Hi what lens mm have you used for the first introduction of bunker history?
hello kyle, how or where can i get or watch some of your documentary films
In the first clip where he was eating (on the wide shot), how did you get that clean audio from the plate/utensil noises?
I believe I had a LAV on him at that point. There was also some sound design done.
Heyyy, great video. Really random question but, did you shoot your whole docs in S-Log?
Thanks. These were shot on the URSA Mini Pro, in BRAW and Blackmagic 'Film' mode. Basically their LOG setting.
Hey, may I ask how did you capture audio for your doc? Did you have a lav mic clipped to your hero for broll or used some kind of a shotgun mic? Are there any additional sound effects added or is it all captured on camera? thanks!
All of the narration/voice was recorded later sat down as an interview with an external recorder and a shotgun mic. There was also a bunch of sound design done.
Nice...GRACIAS.
Love this 🔥 what lenses did you use for these docs? 👍
Contax Zeiss for the Doomsday Doc, Sigma Cine for the Sigma piece.
which film that you are showing this video?
How do you monetize doc filmmaking?
You can get funding for a film, or pitch story driven doc style content to brands and businesses.
Thanks for sharing your wonderful work and knowledge. Wondering if documentary is a side-gig for you or if you're able to earn a living from it? I'm trapped in the corporate promo world but yearn to make a living telling real stories. Not sure how it might stack up financially, esp with wife and kids in tow....
Hi, new watcher here. I want to make an objective documentary on illegal immigration in my area, to bring awareness to it. How can I go about this, legally and safely?
Khub saras but Dhudhi no taste mate ,I do not put any other veggies...Thanks for sharing.Yash.
Woneerfull
6:01
Hipster filmmaking.....my god
Ok how would you go about creating a documentary about a dead person. How the hec am I supposed to introduce a historical character?
I don't know why but the sound of interviewees coming straight from an inch from microphone made me very uncomfortable. This felt like a personal diary, which it is not.
While your work has great potential, you ruin the video with your talking head, and you are not even facing the camera! Yapping at the camera is not a good video!
The intro
- impactful and sense of curiosity, a hint or hook story specific
- in a short time span 45 sec to 1 min
-dont plan something just stay authentic
Middle - conflict or main message, don't drag out too much
- give your audience credit, not spoon feeding
- history plus conflict
-main message
The end
-resolve conflict
-reintroduce conflict
-or both
This was fantastic! Thank you for the input on your process. I am currently working on a film. This was very helpful. I know I will be watching it again.
Hey man....So how did you capture the audio? Did you interviewed him with an audio recorder?. Or you filmed him and just took the audio from that? Excellent work by the way. I'm trying to get out of the talking head style of docs. This style is more pleasing.
All of the narration/voice was recorded later sat down as an interview with an external recorder and a shotgun mic. There was also a bunch of sound design done.
@@KyleMcDougall what about the parts where he’s walking around
@@Catsndogsz yes I’m also interested
Was the interview more like a conversation? Or formal QandA?
This video just inspired me to do something out of my comfort zone. Before passing the 3-minute mark I had already contacted three of my closest friends and started planning our first project.
I appreciate filmmakers like you. Thank you.
This had to be fate.
Cheers. Happy to hear that.
Good luck on your project!
Hey, man! What’s up? How’s the project going so far?
I've watched this over 20xs now. This is an easy 20 min watch. You do an amazing job 👏.
Thank you so much
Hello Kyle - Thank you a lot for this great video! It doesn't happen that often that I watch a 20 minutes video on YT from beginning to end. Like your style and the quality of your work is outstanding.
Thank you! Really glad you enjoyed this one.
I was so excited to see this title ... just the film I was hoping you'd make, Kyle!
Thanks, Sarah. Hope you enjoy this one.
This was fantastic! Thank you for the input on your process. I am currently working on a film. This was very helpful. I know I will be watching it again.
Are you working from a shot list or storyboard or just capturing what interests you and as much as possible on location and then puzzle it all with a voice over? Or what’s the workflow on these run and gun filmmaker jobs? :)
Mostly what interests me and what I feel like will fit the story. But I often return a couple of times, and come back with some planned shots once I understand the story a little bit better.
@@KyleMcDougall thanks for the insight 🤙
Love this series. It may not receive the most views compared to some of your other videos but for people like myself still learning film making it’s immensely beneficial. Really appreciate you sharing you film making knowledge for free!
Cheers, Tom. Glad you connected with this one!
Wow the doc clips look amazing? Did you use the bmpcc4k and sigma 18-35 to achieve those looks?
Ursa Mini Pro with Contax Zeiss. All the stuff underground was P4K with Contax 25mm.
Really nice. Learning from your work, in Goa, India.
Thank you for this video. Very very useful. But one question: it seems you did a video about a person who makes medieval armour. Where can I see that? thank you!
That was just a shoot I did while making a camera review, not a complete video.
Hello Kyle !
Thank you so much for the video.
I cannot find your documentary about your friend who's a photographer on your channel and I was wondering what was the song used in the beginning (6:15)
Thank you in advance if you can help me :)
Hey there, that song was "Clair De Lune"
Here's the full film on Sigma's channel: th-cam.com/video/oTZk3pK0Y5c/w-d-xo.html
Kyle, I adore this soft moody cinematic look you have all over your documentaries. How do I replicate this in post production? (i don't have the same camera and lens as you, so I thought maybe there's something I can do in post)
Hey Karina, I would say that it's many things. Light, lenses, camera, colour. Which camera are you using?
Hey Kyle, I have the same question as Karina!
I use a Sony A7III with 24-70mm
Try pro mist filters !
As a mini docu producer for hradnews on TV, this is helpful. Now, I know how to use the principles to make a great story. Thank you for this great content
Also something important that you did in this video portraits is the sound design. The voice of each character are interesting, it tells something about each one and the sounds you put to create an atmosphere, to communicate a feeling or to transport people to that place. Amazing work Kyle! I'm very excited to see next part and all your future work. Un abrazo desde México!
Thanks so much! And yes, sound is just as important as the visuals.
Thank you for this vid.
Really enjoyed this man! Beautiful shots, storytelling and breakdown of your process. Thanks for creating & sharing this.
Really awesome video so far. Talk about "hooks". I'm only 5:24 in and I just subbed. Also realized this is part two so stopping to watch park one first. And then I'm going to binge your Vimeo! Thank you for sharing this knowledge and experience with us!
Where can we watch the full doco, the bunker guy?
It's on this channel. Back a couple vids.
@@KyleMcDougall Really? I must be going insane then, as i can't find it. 🤔
@@KyleMcDougall Found it 😅
What if there are many subjects? Like school graduation for example, I have a project to documentary a graduation school, Can you help please 🙏
Focus on a theme that can tie everyone together. A message, or a lesson.
Just coming back to this video to say that the sound design, interview sound quality and the mix from nat sound, a-roll and SFX is..... ~chef's kiss~
Beautiful, powerful, inspyiring and useful! Thank you! I wonder if you would like to talk about the way you approach the lighting of your sets in the context of the documentary film. I think that, besides the story, besides the way you choose your characters and your contexts and besides the sound design of your films, the way you use the light is crucial. I would also love to see some videos on how you color grade your films and about the way you work with the subjects/characters to get them to talk the way they talk and to say the insightful things that they are saying. How long you spend with these people to observe them. How much staging is in your documentaries. Also, how you decide when to shoot slomo? What FPS you use? There are lots of questions, I know. But they are all signs of appreciation for your work both as a youtuber and cinematographer!
I appreciate the kind words! I will keep all of that in mind for a future video. I will say though, that when it comes to lighting, I prefer to use natural light as much as possible. I find staging things too much can have an impact on your subject and how they talk/act.
I'm curious about the Elvis impersonator film. Where can we see that? That small clip at the beginning looked amazing.
Never got finished, unfortunately. Covid hit, then I moved to a new country.
so nice 🙏😍
Loved this! Thanks for sharing.
Thrilled I found this, I've been struggling with the story/characters for a doc I am working on, this cleared out some of the uncertainty. I doubt have the whole story but I you provided a lot of clarity in my effort to begin shooting finally. Thank you.
You're welcome. Cheers.
Very good video. Would love to see a video about breaking down the planning as well. How to get the people to want to be in a documentary, shotlist, voice-over etc. How much is just capturing the moment versus a planned shot?
These were wonderful. Thank you. (Since you asked) I'd love to hear about your approach to lighting. Everything feels motivated, and nothing is over-lit, or showy....beautiful looking images, that really add to these stories.
Thanks, Jose. I'll keep that in mind for a future video!
How did you discover Bruce and get him to agree to tell his story on film?
Great! Thank you very much for sharing this.
At the beginning, when the guy is talking about a nuclear war, etc... how do you capture that audio? Was that written? Did he just say that? Was it during a sit down, on camera interview? Was it just VO?
That was from an interview. He said that naturally. I did ask specific questions though to try and get content about that topic.
@@KyleMcDougall Thanks, that is super helpful. I always wonder if it's ever worth helping someone reword something so that it has more impact.
I would avoid trying to get them to reword things. People always sound super unnatural when you tell them what you want them to say. Instead, just ask them the same question in a number of different ways until you get the right delivery.