Documentary Scripts

When it comes to documentaries in particular, there are a few more things to be kept in mind before starting to write a script. Documentary scripts do share many common elements with scripts for fiction films, shorts and features alike. However, they also have their own specific considerations:

Documentary deals with fact, not fiction. Most importantly, documentaries delve into a non-fictional world with real events, real issues, real conflict, real people and real emotions. Everything seen and heard on screen is grounded in accuracy and has no element of fiction.

Documentary is flexible. Unlike fictional films, documentaries have no fixed visual and conceptual guidelines per say. It’s impossible to concretize events or decide one way or the other about how the film will turn out eventually. There are fewer ‘rules’ to be followed, which reflects the fact that there are few rules in the real world as well. This makes it more challenging but infinitely more exciting.

Documentary inspires movement and action. At the very heart of documentary, there is an issue and a message at hand. The passing on of this message to the audience is usually the reason that the film was made in the first place. Documentaries have long been used as an instrument to inspire change in their audience, be it social change or inner change.

Documentary involves less control. Unlike fiction films, documentaries must be shot in the real world and show real events happening. Often, the filmmaker is unable to control the event he is shooting as well as the circumstances surrounding the event. It’s difficult to think about lighting when in the middle of a sniper shootout! There is less control over the subject in documentary; however this unmodified, improvised element is often the very charm of non-fiction films.

Documentary subject is paramount. Documentaries are inherently bound to their subject matter. Since their purpose is so issue-specific and their circumstances are non-fictional, the subject is the most important aspect of documentary films and is given precedence over other aspects, for example: entertainment value. In fact, until recently filmmakers scoffed at the idea of a documentary being entertaining. This attitude has, of course, changed now but subject still remains the dominant element.

Credibility is key in Documentary. The emergence of the documentary as a recognised cinematic genre in the 1920’s inherited the trust of the audience in the veracity of the image as an authentic representation of the real. Today, we are much more skeptical, even with documentaries. Audience trust, once lost is gone forever so a documentary, in this day and age, must always provide credible information and sources to put a suspicious audience at ease.

Form is more important than formula. There are no recipes in documentary films. Every subject and issue is specific and is showcased on film in its own appropriate manner. Form and the layout in which a subject is showcased in a film are important as they add value to the film, but there is no one tried and tested way to do this.

In addition to these conceptual considerations, the screenwriter must ask a number of practical questions as well: ·
Why is this film being made? ·
What does the producer/client/financier want to achieve through the film? ·
Who is the targeted audience and what should their reaction to the film be? ·
How much does the audience already know about the subject? ·
What will be the film’s technical conditions of use (Black & White/Multi-colour? Animation? Etc) ·
What is the budget of the film?

These factors contribute significantly to the nature of the script for the simple reason that, at the end of the day, film like any other art is a product. Artistry must go hand in hand with practicality, production technicalities and, of course, economics. You may ask yourself,

“What difference does a film’s budget make to a script?” The answer is, enormous. It would be easy to write a powerful scene about an ancient battle in a foreign country but the reality of it is that the film crew would have to fly there, hire hundreds of men, use elaborate costumes and props and perhaps even hire trained horses for authenticity.

There would even be the additional costs of transport, food etc. This could be an expense the budget does not allow. The scriptwriter will probably have to write a ‘cheaper’ version of the same scene, which might be to shoot abstract visuals of a few men’s feet running, weapons clashing, bloody faces etc and supplement them with the voice of an historian talking about the battle in question and what happened in it. Less elaborate? Certainly. Less powerful? Not necessarily.

RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH: YOU CAN’T SAY IT ENOUGH!

Every film, especially a documentary, has a ‘value’. This could be social, political, historical, philosophical, artistic or of some other kind. The amount of research a scriptwriter puts in is directly related to the ‘value’ of the film.

In the rush to get started, many people often skim over the research process. Especially in films that involve subjects of a personal nature; for example: a person’s journey within his own family to explore social dynamics. A scriptwriter could be instructed to write a script on a live event that was shot some time ago, like a riot, or for a film on the thoughts and feelings of a celebrity already captured in detail on camera. He might ask himself, “How can I possibly add anything more to the subject information?” Even in films that seem straightforward and detailed information has already been given to the scriptwriter, there is always room for more research. There are simply no shortcuts that will provide the quality of a well-researched film.

Suppose a scriptwriter has the footage of a live riot, shot by the filmmaker, along with a detailed log of the events that took place before, during and afterwards, the filmmaker’s personal thoughts about his experience and on-camera interviews with people on both sides about their views. He may think he has enough information to write a fairly comprehensive script and he would be right. However, what if he did a little study on the political, historical and social reasons why that riot may have taken place for some extra context, or if he spoke to a few more people who were involved on that day and who may have seen something he didn’t know about. Perhaps he could visit the riot site, or meet an expert on riots and get his perspective on what happened and even collect the newspaper coverage of that riot and think about the role of media in that event. He could even go so far as to place himself in the middle of a riot (highly unadvisable) to get a first-hand perspective on the experience. In the end, he may or may not use any of the so-called ‘extra’ information he gathered, but his in-depth knowledge on the subject would be extremely valuable in creating an insightful and engaging script.

Curiosity

The best research is done when there is a genuine desire on the part of the scriptwriter to learn more about the subject of his documentary. This is easier said than done, especially when you get that dreaded call about writing a script on the inner components of a diesel generator, but inspiration and curiosity go a long way in helping a scriptwriter. After all, if you’re not excited about it, how on earth are you going to make hundreds, thousands or even millions of people excited? Therefore, the first step in the research process would be to develop a healthy interest and curiosity about the subject of the film. The scriptwriter must ask himself some important questions:

What have I not yet been told about this subject?
Is everything I have been told the truth? How much do I need to verify?
What would I personally like to know about this subject?
If I were a member of the audience, what would I want to learn about this subject?
What can I find that is little known on this subject?
If the shooting has not yet started, what information can I gather that would aid the filming process?
Quantity Vs Quality

One of the more important questions that scriptwriters have is, “How much research is enough?” The quality of research is far more important than the quantity. After all, if you were a writing a script for a film on the First World War, you could spend a lifetime studying the subject and never meet that script deadline. One of the more important skills of the scriptwriter is to segregate relevant information from the irrelevant. This can be done by having detailed and on-going communication with the filmmaker at all times. The focus of the film and the subject matter it is dealing with must be kept in mind at all times. Any information gathered or lead followed must first be put through a ‘relevancy test’. The scriptwriter must ask himself:

Is this information or source of information directly related to the subject of my film?
Is it necessary for the audience to know this information?
Will this information add to the overall quality of the film?
Even if it is relevant and will add value, is it more relevant than all the other information I have gathered so far?
Will I be able to incorporate this information into the script even if it is relevant to the subject?
The ‘Strategy’

Almost every scriptwriter starts off with a research strategy. After all, it’s extremely inconvenient to be in the middle of writing a script when a new piece of information crops up. It’s important to think about and list down every approach and every source you will use to gather information needed for research. The all-important question that usually crops up is, “Where do I look?”

Each scriptwriter has his own sources and approaches for gathering information and many use the same tried and tested ways throughout their careers. A few places to start are:

Print Research :

There are millions of places to look in print: Newspapers, books, magazines, journals, digests, reports, archives, diaries…the list is endless. The scriptwriter must decide which one will be suitable for subject-related information gathering and then physically get hold of the required publication. The usual places to go for finding print material are libraries, bookstores, institutions and organizations with archives and, of course, the internet. Other places could be antique book stores, publishing houses and academic institutions. People also keep print material in their houses and that out-of-print, obscure thesis you were looking for could be lying in your neighbour’s house so it never hurts to ask around.

Unless your film is about something extremely specific, chances are you’ll have a stack of a hundred relevant publications lying in your house waiting to be read. Chances also are you’ll probably not have enough time to read all of them. The art of scouring through large amounts of print material quickly can only be picked up over time, however a novice scriptwriter should try and train his eye to skim over words and stop to read bits of text which occur to him as something he could put in his script or which sounds interesting and should be kept aside. It also helps to keep a look out for ‘keywords’ or words that strike a chord because of their meaning. These words can be used later on in the script, if you are going to write narration. In addition, you may be exploring the idea of including visuals of print material in your film as well, in which case you must select and isolate this material carefully for filming later.

Field Research :

Since film is a visual medium, it is integral that a scriptwriter get an accurate picture of the visual information in the film. He could go to the various locations in which the film will be shot, or to locations where events took place earlier or will take place in the future. The scriptwriter could attend related events or even put himself into places where the people in the film will be or would have been. He could even go to museums, art galleries or any kind of public viewing space where he could gather information. The ‘field’ exists only in relation to the subject of the film and therefore the options are endless and should be visited upon the scriptwriter’s discretion.

Once the writer reaches a location, it is important to look out for things which might be relevant to the script. You could track events as they happened or look for clues that could reveal facts much like a detective. How to gather field material when on location is subjective to the film, but the scriptwriter must keep a look out for all things visual that can be incorporated as images within the script. The culture of the area should be learnt, the people met, the details noted. Once you gather this knowledge, you must keep it aside for future reference. It also helps when on a shooting location, to note things like where the sunlight comes from at what time and what the sounds are heard around the area. These little details will help you design the script in a more artistic and insightful way.

Interview Research :

Nine times out of ten, a scriptwriter will be called upon to write a script about something he knows nothing about. Factual knowledge can usually be easily attained from print and field research; however the scriptwriter must also gather perspective. Not one but many. The best way to gain perspective is to speak to people directly and indirectly connected with the subject. Films are a medium for people, by people and therefore a human perspective is imperative for any film. Interview research, which is basically meeting people and asking them questions, is a must for every film.

The scriptwriter must first decide whom to speak to and what to ask them. Normally, the first person or people to seek out are the experts on the subject at hand. They can provide the scriptwriter with not only knowledge but the benefit of their experience. If there are specific events in the film, then the scriptwriter can speak to people who were involved with the events, directly and indirectly. The selection of people should be varied to get different, even opposing, types of information from each. The questions to ask them should cover a range of ideas and should typically include factual and emotional elements as well as opinions and insights. These conversations should be recorded carefully and relevant points should be kept aside. It always helps to listen to any ideas they may have about how you can ‘treat’ the film conceptually, irrespective of whether you incorporate their opinions into the script or not. Who knows? Somebody may give you a gem of an idea.

Inner Worlds & Metaphors :

Every scriptwriter has a different personality, a different perspective.
Consequently, every scriptwriter has something unique to contribute to a film. This is often one reason why filmmakers come to a specific writer to write their scripts again and again. Imagination is the biggest talent and tool of the scriptwriter. Although not for everybody, a very effective approach at the research stage can be to look within oneself and gather the benefits of past experiences and try and create an emotional stance on the matter at hand. On a spiritual level, meditating upon the inner world within oneself can be a powerful way of harnessing knowledge locked within the sub-conscious mind and perhaps, if one believes so, the power of the collective unconscious or the cosmos.

Metaphors or parallels exist all around us in our lives. Sometimes, we see something that reminds us of something else or inspires us in a particular way. It could be completely unrelated to the object or concept it invokes a memory of, but still portray it in a meaningful way. You could see a highway ridden with rush hour traffic and be reminded of thousands of ants filing in an out of an anthill carrying food. Or the same sight, with horns blaring and drivers swearing, could make you think about the conquest of a robotic age over humaneness. The possibilities and metaphors around us are endless, just waiting to be picked out by an inventive and imaginative writer.

Digging Deep

Every scriptwriter wants to write a brilliant script and it’s a well known fact that some profound investigation needs to be done for this to be accomplished. So what exactly is digging deep and going beyond the facts? What exactly is the scriptwriter looking for and how can it be defined? There are a few ways of looking at these concerns. Suppose a scriptwriter is researching a film on the migratory killer whales or Orcas off the New Zealand coast. Here is an example of the kinds of research material he might look for:

The ‘Top’ of the issue

The top of the issue includes the facts; killer whales and their appearance, migratory patterns and when they go, where are they spotted, their behavior, their sounds, activities, intelligence. The scriptwriter could delve into scientific research being done on the whales by interviewing two marine researchers, lets call them Ted and Sue, a couple who live and work on the New Zealand coast. The writer could find out the history of the Orcas and the role that humans played in it. Ted and Sue could even take the scriptwriter on a whale observing expedition, where he would experience the whales first hand and also get an idea of what could be shot for the film.

The ‘Heart’ of the issue

The scriptwriter could find out more insightful details about the whales as living creatures and fellow mammals. Do they love, do they hate? Why do they beach themselves all together – is it really collective suicide because they mourn their dead like us humans? What kinds of relationships do they have among each other? Yes, a mother whale is attached to her calf, but are the aunts, the uncles? What do they say to each other when they click and whine? Have Ted and Sue ever come into close contact with any whale? Did they feel a connection? How did the whale react to human contact and was it significant in terms of its emotional value? What did the scriptwriter feel when he looked at a whale for the first time and did he get a sense of the ‘spirit’ of the creature?

The ‘Root’ of the issue

The scriptwriter would find out that the whales have a tragic history because of the excessive whaling that took place in past decades. This tragic and brutal past was because of people, who hunted them almost to extinction. Could their subsequent conservation by people later on be a result of guilt? The scriptwriter could ask what larger role this film could have and the answer might well be to aid in conserving the Orcas for the future by dispelling myths and increasing awareness. This could the message of the film; that everybody needs to get on board to save the killer whale and help them flourish in the oceans.
The ‘Branches’ of the issue

The scriptwriter could try and find related issues that would add value to the film.
Does the migration of the whales have any effect on the surrounding ecosystems? How about thinking about the spirit of travel or of the ocean itself? Perhaps talk to a person or a group of people who have saved a beached killer whale in the past. Or go in the opposite direction and talk to a person who has killed a killer whale or eaten one. The possibilities of branching out to explore the issue in greater detail are endless. The scriptwriter should then choose which of the details add value to the film.

Finding Challenges

An issue, when explored in a film, is incomplete when there is nothing introduced that challenges it. The scriptwriter must study the challenges facing the killer whale and their survival as a species. What is being done by people that is hurting their health and causing their numbers to decline, if at all? Are there any challenges put forth by nature that they have to overcome, for instance, like changing temperatures in the waters of the Antarctic? How about large sharks and the threat they pose? Then, the scriptwriter must ask, ‘Is it possible for the killer whales to triumph over these challenges?” and “If they can, then how?” and possibly even, “What can people (i.e. the audience) do to help?”

Sifting the rice from the chaff: The Post-it Method

Once you’ve done all there was to do, gathered every bit of relevant information, followed every interesting lead and asked every insightful question, chances are you’ll have more material than you need. At this stage, it’s time to start thinking about which bits of information are going to figure in the film. It’s time to start ruthlessly eliminating material that just doesn’t tell the story. A film lasts for only so long and there are only so many things to be said.

Organizing research into a comprehensive story basically involves cutting and pasting and seeing which bits of material can follow and ‘flow’ into each other. A good technique is to write down each piece of information in a few words on a post-it or cue card or simply any small piece of paper. For example: one post-it could state “Whales regularly beach themselves in large numbers” and another one could say “Sue looked into the whale’s eyes and cried” etc. Then, stick the post-its in random order on a blank board or wall in columns and rows. After that, the scriptwriter must start a painful process of plucking, discarding and re-sticking until he forms an information chain, which tells the story the writer wants to tell. The only requirement of the story at this stage is that the information must ‘flow’ and all the futile bits of material are discarded. It’s now time to start thinking about writing that script.

It’s not enough however, just to have random action on screen. The images, the action, the events have to be meaningful. A documentary, like any film, has limited time in which to convey a multitude of things and to tell a story. Therefore, all the components within the film must be specific and meaningful so as not to waste precious screen time. Each shot has an underlying ‘meaning’ depending on the nature and arrangement of objects and actions within it. This visual way of communication or language has evolved through the years and has three basic elements:

Icon is showing an object or emotion through its likeness – it is what it is and what the audience sees. The signifier represents the signified through similarity to it. For example, a face on screen showing fear is a face showing fear. There are no other meanings, no ‘reading between the lines’. This is the most straightforward approach to a shot.

Index measures a quality not because it is identical to it (like an icon), but because it has a direct and inherent relationship to it. For example, to show heat, or the idea of heat, as a visual, the shot could show a thermometer or heat waves over an empty road or perhaps even a man sweating profusely. This works very well because the scriptwriter can translate an intangible object, like heat, into a tangible and visual reality.

Symbol or Metaphor is an arbitrary sign in which the signifier has neither a direct nor an indexical relationship with the signified, but rather represents it through convention. For example, a rose could be shown to signify love or romance, falling calendar pages could denote time. This technique of using symbols to express ideas and objects has become very popular for its artistic appeal but can and should be used with caution and with a view to the audience’s ability to ‘read between the lines’.

Sequences usually fall into one of two categories:

A Continuity Sequence is a unit of continuing action which ends in a break in time. This type of sequence is a collection of shots that show an event or events that happened in the same block of time. The end of the sequence occurs when that event is complete and the film moves on to another point in time. The shots within this kind of sequence must be functional, must be logical and must give the illusion of continuity. For example, a continuity sequence could be of a man walking from his
house to his office. The sequence starts from when he is outside his front door and the first shot could be of him locking it. After that there could be shots of him walking along the street in his neighbourhood, passing people on the street, going past a children’s park, walking on a pedestrian path with other office goers and, finally, walking into the entrance of his office building. The shots in this sequence would all appear to be in chronological order and continuous.

A Compilation Sequence is a unit of information or thought and is sometimes called a ‘newsreel sequence’. There may be many breaks in time during this kind of sequence because the scope is broad. The shots within it could be of events that occurred independently, at different points in time, at different locations and contain different people doing different things. The common aspect that ties all these shots together is conceptual, which is the subject of the sequence. It usually ends when the film’s discussion of the subject ends. For example, the sequence could be about worldwide protests against war and could contain different shots of people from all parts of the globe, some holding banners, some marching hand-in-hand, some giving speeches etc. the sequence would end, when the subject of these protests ended in the film.

A scriptwriter has many choices to make when deciding about the content, treatment and nature of sequences. They can have their own distinct
‘personalities’. A sequence can have a completely autonomous audio-visual and conceptual quality to it. A sequence can be a mere chronological aspect within the film, like a link in a chain, without anything distinct about it. A sequence can be descriptive, where it doesn’t take a stand but just establishes details. Or it can be a strong part of the narrative within the story and contain events that drive the story forward. A sequence can occur in linear time, which is the real time in which events occur, or in non-linear time, when it can cut back and forth between different moments in time.

Documentary sequences, for the most part, are observational. This means that they observe events as they happen. If the film didn’t record the event, it would still take place. For example, a village farmer herding his cattle to graze in the fields is an event that would occur everyday, whether or not there was a sequence that contained it. However, sequences can also be organized. These days, many filmmakers choose to construct or initiate events that can be then included in a sequence. For example, if the film dealt with the issue of the fur trade and how animal rights activists are combating this evil, the filmmaker could organize a rally with a group of activists and use that sequence in the film. The rally would be a real event and the filmmaker’s involvement in organizing it doesn’t affect its authenticity.

Blogger-Akash Shinde😍 (Assistant Director)

Student Of Journalism and Mass communication.