7 Fundamental Steps to Film a Short Documentary

Whats up everybody. This is Jesse. Here are a few steps you can take when filming your next documentary. I am still very new to filming, and I am always learning different processes. I wanted to keep this short and stick with basics to keep this video from being 40 + minutes long, and no one wants to hear me rambling. I would love to hear anyone's tips and tricks when they are shooting documentaries or the best learning experience you had while filming.

Camera:
Sony a6500
10 -18mm f4.0 Lens
Sigma 30mm F1.4 Lens

Camera Accessories:
Zhiyun-Tech Crane 3-Axis Handheld Gimbal Stabilizer

Audio:
Sony Recorder
Rode smartLav+ Lavalier Microphone
Rode Video Micro

Editing Software:
Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2017

[kerlinepierre]

1 - Find a worthwhile idea
2 - Research
3 - Story Structure
4 - Filming / A - Roll
4.1 - A - Roll Lighting
4. 2 - Filming / B - Roll
5. Audio
6. Making your source comfortable
7. Editing

[BrettyPOV]

I’ve been contemplating my path and what really inspires me. I’ve been trying to make it in the business world but that’s always left me with a hollow feeling. I want to create films and documentaries to tell a story for myself and others to enjoy. It always brings me joy. My journey began here.

[mubdiurrahman]

Brother you've really helped a lot of future content creator for short films including me. Thanks for your insights.

[lildashoentertainment]

Whenever you're out researching "Remember, you're here for inspiration and not to plagiarize other filmmakers"
- Jesse Cervantes
Dec 11 2017

[candypink]

As a student of Graphic Design, we have this group project of making a short documentary on one of any historical places of our city Lahore. It's our first time with filming like this, and i wanted the film to be perfect, so i searched up for ideas, and this came up on the top. I'm happy that i watched it, Thanks alot Jesse, it really helped! ❤

[TheThinkersBible]

Really great summary of the entire end to end process of successfully shooting a documentary. Finding interesting things about any person, B-roll planning and watching short documentaries is gold.Talking to people ahead of time before interviewing them is very wise. Thanks for sharing.

[outliersoverland]

Thanks for the video.
I’m starting a documentary about the past 7 years of our journey to drive around the world.
I hope your career has flourished over the past five years since making this video.

[Shaymangoh]

Oh lalaa, this is the best I've ever seen so far... Greatings from the Philippines keep em coming bruh..

[latinamericanstudyinformat]

Very useful for all specially for the beginners. Thnaks for the effort.

[goodwill]

I love this Jesse. I have been struggling with ideas on how to conduct a documentary and here is what I have found from you. I will soon embark on a 5 minutes documentary journey and I will share it with you once I am done. kindly drop in more comments here about tips on conducting a documentary. thanks.

[FarReachFR]

This was great. I learned more from you in 6 minutes than I have in hours of other searches. Thank you.

[chafrewilcha]

You have an EXCELLENT style of clearly teaching / describing what you want the audience to know / learn. I've subscribed & will be tuning in!

[PanjiBagas]

this is very helpful for me, because my lecture doesnt teach this point about documentary film. I really upset to my lecture didnt give me any point of this, why do i pay a lot of money in college to learn about documentaries but get nothing, but i can get these lessons for free on youtube. thanks for the whole that u have give about fundamental.

[SjoerdWess]

Short and super informative. Just how I like tuts to be! Thanks man!

[PilotPhotog]

Thanks for creating this and providing so much value - I am embarking on my first documentary and the first thing I did was watch this video!

[ImaniRomney]

this video was fire and made me more prepared for my documentary, thank you!

[sunshineandtraffic]

WOW. Straight to the point and extremely useful information. Thank you!

[Heisthelostman]

Thank you for sharing and creating this video for everyone to learn from. I created my first mini-doc last month and I'm always looking for ways to improve so thank you again for these tips.

[lehicarlosetiawan]

Thank you so much Jesse for sharing this awesome tips on how to make it possible. It's really helpful for me since I will be starting to make my own documentary channel 🎥

[lawlade]

Thanks so much for this EXTREMELY helpful. Exaxtly what I was searching for