Documentary Filmmaking

Documentary filmmaking is about telling real stories through real people, places and events. It combines research, observation, interviewing and visual storytelling to create films that inform, engage and connect with an audience.

This course introduces students to the process of making a documentary, from finding and developing an idea through to filming, interviewing and shaping real material into a coherent story.

What students will explore

Practical learning

Students develop a short documentary idea and explore how to tell a real story using interviews, observation, location filming and visual storytelling.

They learn that documentary filmmaking is not simply pointing a camera at real life. It is about finding the story within what happens in front of the camera.

Who is it for?

Ideal for students interested in film, journalism, current affairs, documentary, travel, factual television and real-world storytelling. It can work particularly well as a practical project for students studying Drama, Film and Theatre Studies, while also introducing them to areas of the wider screen industry.

Course outcome

Students gain practical experience of developing and filming a documentary story, while learning how research, interviewing, observation and editing combine to create compelling factual storytelling.