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Documentary Filmmaking Secrets
Rating: 4.5 out of 5(129 ratings)
626 students

Documentary Filmmaking Secrets

From a 17xEmmy® Award Winner, learn the secrets to make a documentary film. From conception, to completion, and beyond
Created byShawn Vela
Last updated 3/2021
English
English [Auto],

What you'll learn

  • Examples and insight into the filmmaking process through my own experience making Emmy® Award Winning documentaries
  • How to find story themes and the message of your film.
  • Secrets to help you capture more authentic interviews, un-staged b-roll scenes, and edit faster
  • Gain insight into what thought processes professional TV documentary makers use to shoot, gather content and edit award winning video stories.
  • A glimpse into the creative process of putting together a documentary film. From Conception to completion and beyond!

Course content

4 sections • 16 lectures • 1h 23m total length

  • Documentary Filmmaking Secrets _ Overview1:16

    Explore documentary filmmaking secrets, from research and scripting to emotional interviews and relationship strategies to book work, learn to connect emotionally with characters and boost production value beyond image quality.

  • Welcome1:49

    Explore the secrets of documentary filmmaking learned from a career, including the differences between commissioned projects and passion projects, funding dynamics, and building a crew to deepen storytelling.

  • Secret Of Pre-Production4:56

    Learn the secret of preproduction through a five-question framework—audience, goals, messaging themes, additional assets, and distribution ideas—creating a complete video storytelling blueprint for documentaries.

  • Secret Of Main Characters5:17

    The secret of main characters is conducting a pre interview with potential subjects to plan and build rapport before filming, ensuring they feel comfortable with you and your story.

  • Secret Of Research4:52

    Go beyond the preinterview by researching news, podcasts, YouTube videos, blogs, and social media to uncover diverse perspectives and assets that enrich the documentary narrative.

  • Secret Of Scripts8:01

    Plan with an outline rather than a word-for-word script to preserve authenticity in documentary filmmaking. Use a flexible three act structure—setup, confrontation, and resolution—guided by preinterview research and themes.

  • Secret of Building A Crew4:45

    Build a crew by prioritizing positive attitude, understanding of the project, and talent in specific roles, embracing collaboration to elevate your documentary beyond solo filmmaking.

Requirements

  • This course is for anyone who believes stories are too important not to be told!
  • Anyone who has a basic understanding of the technical parts of filmmaking
  • Filmmakers with an interest in documentary filmmaking - short or long form

Description

Your story is important! It must be told!

Everyone has a story inside of them that needs to be told! As documentary filmmakers we have the privilege of bringing real, authentic, and inspiring stories to life. It can be incredibly rewarding!

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My name is Shawn Vela and I am a 17-time Emmy® Award Winning Film Producer, Director, DP, and Editor. I founded a video production company Vela Visuals, which specializes in authentic storytelling that moves viewers to action.

Over the course of my career I've been blessed to work on projects for companies like Amazon, Kayak, SAP, Legoland California (and Florida) Resort, New Balance, Hillsong, University of Central Florida, and more.

I have also worked with broadcasters like BT Sport, FOX, as well as countless independent production companies and marketing agencies. I've directed, filmed and edited more than 50 documentaries for web or traditional broadcast (receiving 30 regional Emmy® nominations and 17 wins).

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This course is for documentary filmmakers, like me who push themselves to grow because the stories we tell are important!

In this course I explore some of the secrets I wish I knew about documentary filmmaking when I was first getting started.

Secrets like: how to find story themes, how to build a story arch, how to plan a production, how to conduct emotional interviews, how to build a crew, how to book more work, and more!

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My hope for you, is that some of the experiences I have had will stretch you and give you new storytelling tools that will enhance your productions and WOW your clients!

Who this course is for:

  • Filmmakers who want to make better, more compelling and engaging videos, with an emphasis on storytelling.
  • Makers of documentary films. Short and long form. Corporate filmmakers will benefit from this as well.
  • This course is probably not for you if you want to learn about cameras, lenses or editing software.
  • If you are looking for a creative process and roadmap to telling better stories through video

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