Sports Documentary - ELCO High School Library - ELCO HS Library at Eastern Lebanon High School

Sports Documentaries - New York Times Article

How to Write a Script for a Documentary:
Before You Begin Shooting

RESEARCH! Once you’ve settled on your documentary idea, time to start digging. Leave no rock left unturned.

Create a List. Based on your research, start creating a list of potential characters/interviews, basic storylines, areas of potential conflict and emotion. Ask yourself, “what’s at the heart of this story and how do I “show” that visually?”

Get Style. Decide the look, feel and style of your documentary. Search web videos or watch TV for ideas. Netflix is a great resource for documentaries.

Write a “shooting script” (pre-script/outline) – Often with documentaries, the script can’t really be written until after the footage has been shot and you start piecing the story together based on what you “discovered” with your camera. However, writing an outline at the beginning can be an invaluable guide to point you in the right direction, especially to be able to look back as a reference when the chaos of shooting can get you off track. There WILL come that moment in the process when you say, “What was I thinking!?”

Get Creative. Think about some unique and creative ways you can spice up your movie and give it that "Wow" factor. “How to write a script” creatively involves adding special elements such as stop motion, time-lapse, animation/cartoons, recreations, etc. For example, in the 2008 documentary Young At Heart, the filmmakers used MTV style music videos to segue between scenes of their elderly singers. Perfect!