That´s why i follow you, not "I´m here for the big talk and the fancy shots" - Peter McKinnon. 👏

Through you, Mark Bone, And Standard Story Company, I've learned a lot about Documentary but moreso on how to find and create stories over finding a topic. Whenever I go out to film, I always am asking where the story is versus getting a good shot for no reason.

The only problem with going into a doc with a hard "story" in mind is you will do everything you can to tell THAT story and not "document" what is actually happening. Oscar-winning documentaries have been made by directors who followed a compelling situation and found the story as they shot and sometimes AFTER they shot in the edit. I think that anyone who starts shooting knowing that they are LOOKING FOR A STORY is ahead of the game compared to people who, for instance, think that breeding dachshunds is super interesting so they wanna make a film about breeding dachshunds. I'm guessing there are plenty of people who shoot hundreds of hours of stuff only to find there's no compelling story there, so there's a risk shooting without a story in mind. Then again, the dachshund doc might just be a story of how different people who breed sausage dogs are compared to the audience's expectations? Maybe the solution is to shoot with a story in mind and an understanding that this story might change? Thoughts?

Good perspective on picking which docs to pursue. One of the big challenges of producing any kind of films is knowing what ideas not to pursue as well as which ones can be developed. Working at a news station I have to say that 99% percent of what comes out of our station every day that we think of as stories are just topic by this standard and most are relevant for about twenty four hours and then gone forever. Of that rare 1% that would fit this definition of stories I'd say 99% get remembered or win awards.

I am trying to do my first documentary....two things I have learned 1) if you are not paying attention to what is in front of the camera your footage will be garbage 2) you need some kind of script or guide otherwise your footage will be meaningless... also always be ready with the camera....I am filming protests and there are many times over a 5 hour shoot I am watching and not filming... also I never realised how exhausting filming is...I am in great shape...I am big 210 lbs and run a 6 minute mile...however after two days of filming 5 hours each day I am wiped... wish me luck

Everyone should be seeing this clip before producing a documentary. There is of course more to characters, challenges and resolutions. Think in terms of distribution channels and audiences, cinematography and sound design, marketing, life rights, music rights, budgets, trends, and .... The list goes on. But, a compelling story sells and should be the starting point of a documentary's production regardless of LUTs, raw, and other marketing gimmicks. That is why this KZfaq channel is useful. Be realistic and honest. If you have no story, you have no documentary.

WOW! This is some of the best advice on developing stories. In 12:15 you clearly, and quickly explained how to tell a story. I could have took a 6 months course, and not have gotten this kind of knowledge. After watching your video, I can clearly see where I was falling short on my stories. I was the type to gather a lot of " cool footage " and trying force it into a story. Thank you for sharing! I always look forward to your videos.

Luc, glad you brought up this hugely important topic!!! couldn't agree more - Story is what makes or brakes your film. I would recommend everyone starting out - to read Robert McKee's STORY, Syd Field's SCREENPLAY, Blake Snyder's SAVE THE CAT. It will help understanding how films should be made...

Great advice. I'm not a doc film maker but this still applies to KZfaq vids as well. My vids which have a clear goal or story always do better. Thanks for another great vid.

9:30 finally! A KZfaqr who’s also a real filmmaker. These “look at my gear” wannabe filmmakers calling themselves that don’t understanding the fundamentals. Owning high-end piece of gear and talking about it on KZfaq doesn’t make you any more a filmmaker than walking into a McDonald’s makes you a big Mac.

Thank Luc for such a PRACTICAL and INSIGHTFUL video. There are 2 things that benefit me the most. The first one is your definition of a story. It's different than a topic. A story is a journey with characters, obstacles, and endings. And through stories that people are connected to a film on an emotional level. Wow, it's so IMPACTFUL and yet this is the FIRST TIME I've heard about it. The second one is the questions I need to ask to figure out if my story is not a topic.

Really great analysis Luc! One obstacle (literally) in communicating this sage advice is your nice looking table. Either get a taller chair or lose it. In my opinion, it really doesn’t seem necessary.

Nice tutorial. I like how you make a distinction between stories and topics

Thank you for breaking it down so beautifully Luc! It was not clear to me before why I really loved "Jiro Dreams of Sushi." Simply put, it had a strong story from the perspective of a food critique, apprentice, son, and the protagonist himself which made it mystifying and demystifying the protagonist's legendary body of work. This video really hit the spot for me, thanks Luc! ✊😅 Watching out for the next ones!

Thanks for this sensible input. I'm about to head out to cover an event with photos and video clips, and your video has got me thinking about different angles to approach the whole thing, to give it story shape. Great timing, thanks.

Woow really thank you , can you make a series on this please? Stories vs Topic

Helpful. Thanks.

Thanks, Luc. This topic definitely hits on why it’s really hard to find content for good documentaries because it is quite difficult to find good stories where the people are willing to open up their life in front of the camera. When it happens it’s magic. It’s not the norm. It’s the exception. There are lots of documentaries that are topical and they work, but it’s probably because they are packed with a bunch of little stories. The docs that are the most boring and unwatchable are the ones that are just about a topic and nothing else.

New sub here! Such great info about the difference of stories or not. I’ve always been into film and video just never had the time to actually put something together. For someone who is starting out how would you suggest FINDING stories that are worth telling? I know they can be simple but that seems to be the hardest part if you’re not established imo

Thanks for sharing your tought on storytelling in documentary. Not that I want to oppose something, because everything you said works very well, I just think that this method is one of an other. I will give the example of Frederick Wiseman, a documentary filmaker that has been doing about one movie a year since 1966. His method consist in coming to an institution with a the most minimal crew, and filming everything he can for 3 or 4 hours a day during 1 to 2 month. Then he write the story in post. He start to watch everything, and he ranked his sequence, erasing 40 to 50% of the shot. Then he start to editing the other percent. For each sequence, he tries to understand it, has he want to give his pov on the shot. His movie are of course amazing, he has won several very famous price in various of famous festival. My point is, there is not an ending, not a character that built the movie. There is not a story. But there is actually, this is the story of a place. Also, there is a whole french tradition on documentary, that attach to be a sneak peak into something. This also borrow from the experimental scene. Sorry if there is any orthograph mistake, english is not my mother tongue.

When I had no gear I had lots of stories. Now I have all the gear and I've lost my ability to come up with stories. I got so focused on how to get different shots I didn't develop that part. It's hard to get back.

Thanks for another excellent clip, the insight and inspiration is very useful and sticks with me sometime Shen I’m lacking motivation. Glad you brought up King of Kong, has panned out that Billy Mitchell faked his world record run by using game emulation. Hoping we get a sequel covering that side of things, I’m sure it’s an even better story than the og.

Very important video. Thanks for this info

Thanks for a great video Luc! I really enjoy following your stuff🙂

Thank you Luc. I appreciate this video!

This explains how I fucked up. Damn.

Thank You!!!

Brilliant thanks.

informative video non linearity can help with structure. Thanks Luc.

Great video! Thank you!

Great video, totally agree. Would be interesting to hear your take one day on being hired as a shooter, director or both for a film that does not really have a story or you aren’t sure is going to work. This has happened to me a few times now. An independent producer or producer/director ‘thinks’ they have a story but as you say it is just a topic, or maybe one or more interesting characters, and so they kind of rush into getting some sort of private funding (or their own money) and want to start shooting. Since I’m freelance and need to earn a living, I have largely ended up taking these jobs and trying to help. It is a bit similar to the Peter McKinnon situation you bring up though, I’ve been paid to shoot stuff like that before and end up just thinking ‘where is this going?’ and though I might search and search for where it is going, there just isn’t much there. The whole experience can be very dispiriting and leave you feeling empty, despite being paid.

An event film is a different genre of film making and alot of people go into filming an event and thinking its a documentary. When its really just a concert film. So knowing weather or not your project is a full doc or not also helps before you pitch it to anyone. That way you pitch it to the right person.

love your vids

100 percent agree!

The best advice.

Beautiful.

Luc, this is one of the biggest questions I’ve had when researching and learning about documentaries: does this still work on a small scale? Does a 5-10 minute doc still have to follow this “character who wants something” format, or can you make it more about bringing the audience into the world of the character?

Concerning your one on one sessions, if I have two films I'd like to discuss with you that are 15-20 minutes each, does that watch time count towards the hour or are you able to watch them before the call and be able to still have a full hour?

Good ideas tend to make bad documentaries. Simple ideas with a great angle and treatment have a better chance of leading to a good story, in my opinion ;).

The first question I ask a producer is “what’s the story ?” . If they don’t know I get a bit cranky! Good advice Luc , cheers!

I think this is all sound advice. Don’t create a story though, look for the ones that are already there. Even in the example of Planet Earth they sometimes create a story, but often those stories are still relevant and true scenarios for the species. I think if you do have to pull a story up that doesn’t present itself easily it matters if it’s still cutting to a reality and the honest truth in any situation can be profound if you’re able to see it. So people who think they’re missing a story? Maybe they just need to meditate on the story they’re not seeing yet.

the ods of finding some one that will to a exraorinary thing , and be next to him , like solo , is qite rare to find , and wery difficult to do , iven go with a band for a toor mayby the most tenion you will get is the bus getting a flat tire , i have some friends that when for a tour in filipines , that coud have be a fun doc , but at the moment i dent have the money to go ,

I guess it depends on what you mean by "Works". If you mean that it gets sold to a network or wins cinema awards, the story is everything. I make short educational videos for a KZfaq audience and it is clear that the ones that "work" best are those that give people some kind of skill that they can use in everyday work. They really dont care how it affects me.

People are not pitching stories because… most people don’t read anymore. They don’t have the concept of story structure embedded into the way they view films or the world. The default becomes, “wouldn’t it be cool if…”

This is a “101” issue, but obviously needs to be clearly pointed out. Sure, some films follow one person (or a few) who are trying to get something. But there are lots of “topics” that greatly impact many people’s lives. The useful next video is how do you go from a meaningful topic to identifying potential subjects whose stories can be told in the doc? For the lion/antelope struggle for like you go to the watering hole in the dry season and if you’re luck the pride is starving on the son is usurping. But clearly lots of docs start with the issue, and then find the subjects whose experiences both illustrate the topic/issue but are the emotional hook for the audience.

I just bought "Oranges", thx :)

hello sir i like to pitch you my documentary about a goat. pls sir can you help me wire transfer funds to make the documentary.

Are you applying these to YT videos as well? I've been trying to make my videos more compelling lately, but I struggle to come up with a story for something like a product review.

l wonder if at this point the PM doc should be about how he is trying to make that doc

Reminds me of a guy who said I can keep 80% of the KZfaq revenue from a channel he is yet to create if I film him with all my gear for a month long for free about him doing a "water fast". He might enjoy starving, BUT I DONT😂 Talking about the steaks, it seems like the thing thing that divides a great story from a concept is whether somebody lives or dies 😅

Good good I love King of Kong a fist full of quarters. It's why I wanted to make documentaries.

I think that this is unfortunately a very conventional way of looking at docs and it is perhaps missing the essential point that we interpret the world through narrative and that narrative shape is by definition something that involves change over time. A time lapse of a flower growing and dying is a narrative or story. Koyaanisqatsi is possibly the greatest documentary ever made but documents a point in time and philosophical view. Its given a narrative shape because it makes a point in the shape of crescendo and poignant and poetic imagery. It is a recognisable narrative shape without resorting to a cliched protagonist. Unfortunately i couldnt disagree more with this very conventional approach to docs that is described here and imo this approach is a lowest common denominator approach which has been the refuge of commissioners who are not naturally or inherrantly interested in a particular topic or aspect of life but who insist on dumbing down the subject by using a human story as a way in for an audience, hanging the issue to be investigated on a heros journey cliche. So many interesting films just never get made because people are too lazy or are just fed this frame to hang a film on. This approach often flattens the nuance and detail of the topic simply because we as an audience get distracted by the human story and emotion and this then often misses the intellectual or philosophical interest. The same is true of film scripts that slavishly adopt this approach. Narrative as a temporal cause and effect with some level of becoming and change over time is usually more than enough but the concept of observational documentary in its purest form doesnt need this brute story obsession structure. It is so often just a lazy crutch. Narrative is inherent is the way we see almost everything in the world and imo can be far more abstract and interesting.

I find it funny when he and the likes say that it's not about the gear while they are toting around equipment worth tens of thousands of dollars wherever they go.

Yoo I hate Imagine Dragons😆