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Documentarian

Activity 1: What is a documentary?

(10-40 minutes)

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Have you ever seen a documentary? If so, describe it. How is it different from other types of videos? Get out a notebook or grab a friend to help expand on how you would define a documentary.

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Below you'll find two documentaries: What Do I Desire and The Last Deal. 

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Activity 2: What Types of Careers Interest You? 

(15 minutes)

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The goal of this module is to create a documentary. The rest of the module will focus on a documentary about a career that interests you. However, if you have something else you want to create a documentary about (an issue you learned about, an event in your community, a story you think needs to be shared) please follow your interest! You can submit any documentary for this project. 

 

Okay, back to the career documentary: Do you have a career in mind that you would like to pursue, or at least learn more about? Write down a few ideas. Narrow down your list according to what you feel most passionate about and what you’d like to research.

 

If you’re really not sure what to pursue for your career documentary, consider these questions:

  • What are you good at?

  • What are you passionate about?

  • What is a job that you think sounds cool but you don’t know much about?

  • What cause would you be excited to contribute to? 

Activity 3: Research and Storyboard

(30 minutes)

 

Research the job you have chosen. What do you want to learn about the job? What is the basic information about the job? What is most important to you? As you learn things, write down additional questions you have.

 

What questions would you ask someone who has the job you are researching? Do you know someone who has this job? If not, what are your options for contacting someone in this field? Is there a university in your area? Could you contact someone who is not local and set up a Skype interview?


As you research, start thinking about the story you want to tell in your career documentary. Create a storyboard demonstrating visuals, shot types, and text ideas. Look back at Sketch Out a Story for more ideas and resources.

Activity 6: Edit

(time will vary) 

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Upload all the footage from your camera or mobile device into a video editor.

 

When all your video footage is loaded into the video editor, watch all the footage and identify clips that you want to use. Trim the footage and stitch the clips together, using transitions between them, if you like. If you hear some background noise, you can mute the sound in your video like this:

  • In Movie Maker, you can select “Video Volume” and move the slider to mute. From there, you can add a song to play during your silent film.

  • In iMovie, look for the Action pop-up icon (it looks like a gear) and select “Audio Adjustments.” Use the slider to adjust the volume.

 

You could also add a slide with written words to intro the video.

 

Play around with your video editor. Experiment with different features. If you want, look up tutorials online for how to do specific things like adding music to your silent video.

 

Activity 7: Ask for Feedback, Iterate, and Submit!

(20 minutes)

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Hold a screening of your film for other club members. Ask for their thoughts and opinions. Does their feedback spark any ideas for your next silent film project?

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Want to earn a few digital badges in video production? Send us an MP4 file of your video, or send a link to your video. 

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To share your video online, you could upload it to Vimeo with the following information:

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Email the digital media you created to BGCAmediamaking@gmail.com or send it through instagram to @BGCAmediamaking 

Still Interested? Take a look at these resources: 

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Article: 5 Ways to Find Career Ideas

Video: How To: make a short documentary

What You'll Need: 

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or

Create a Career Documentary

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Activity 4: Write 

(time will vary) 

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Write your script. Keep it short. Answer all the basic questions but also include some of the interesting tidbits of information that you learned. For example, did you know recruiters have the happiest jobs according to an analysis by CareerBliss?


Are you going to include an interview in your documentary? Write down what questions you’d like to ask. Before you film your interviews, think about a time when you had a very personal conversation with someone, and you felt comfortable sharing your story. Maybe you remember talking with a friend or family member about an experience, and you felt like they were really listening to you. When you interview people for your podcast, how could you help them feel comfortable? How could you help them trust you as an interviewer? Think through ways you can set the tone and invite people to trust you with their stories. Everyone has a story to share, but they may only share it if they feel comfortable and respected. 

 

Activity 5: Film

(time will vary) 

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Film your documentary. Try to use a variety of shots. You can also cut to a clip showing the job in action and include narration voice over. How can you show, as well as tell, what the job is like? Remember to give it a try shooting lots of footage. While you edit, you will sort through all the footage and choose the scenes that best tell the story.

 

The Last Deal:

Project Sunset Walk 

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"The Last Deal" is a short film that was written by a group of teens from the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme. The Documentary focuses on the experience that the group had while producing the Short Film.

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The short film includes violence and is therefore not recommended for younger members. 

What Do I Desire

 

 What Do I Desire is an award-winning short documentary film made by Naseh Jrab. Naseh ties together short video clips to explain his perspective on choosing a fulfilling future for yourself. 

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