Documentary Unit - Ideas and how to find them

Today we had a lecture with Zoe Sale who is a freelance director/ producer for documentary and current affairs. The session particuylarly focused on the process of comming up with an idea and getting it commitioned. Below are a few points about an idea develops to eventually becoming commissioned:

- You will have to develop multiple ideas not just one.

- when you have an idea it will evolve several times and more ideas are needed to gain volume.

- once you have a firm idea its needs detail and structure to develop it into a sellable idea for the   commisioner.

- Sometimes a mini film of the idea can be made with a small budget to show the commisioner what your trying to achieve.


We looked at an idea that Zoe had which went on to being commitioned called The School that turned Chinese. We watched the mini film that she would show to the commitioners and talked about what makes it sellable. The programme had good strong characters that were likeable and good storytelling was used to name a couple of reasons we discussed.

In order to come up with a good idea yourself you need to have curiosity about the subject you are wishing to pursue. If your not interested then the idea will not be as sustainable and will not flow as well. Keeping a log of sources and contacts is wise as you may need them in the future. Keep a list in a book to refer to.

Using other media is really important to get substance behind an idea. Reading papers and looking at letters lists, including ones that not everyone reads to gain more angles and insight to a situation or event. Also getting behind the headlines and looking at all the interviews will help this develop.

Brainstorming is an effective way when trying to expand and grow an initial idea. The group can all contribute together to build upon a seed and elaborate on how to make a good idea better. Starting with a subject in the middle, lines are then drawn out with smaller headings to break down the idea to its rawest form.

Locations are important in the development process. Thinking of where to film, whether that be a field or a building, can spark inspiration and can get the ball rolling faster.

Investivation is a wide spectrum that can be explored. Advanced searching on google can help to narrow specifically what your looking for as well as using a hashtag (#) filter on twitter on facebook.

Its important that a storytelling is used throughout a documentary piece. Think about what sort of story you are trying to tell and how it's going to interest people. Also think about what the hook is. What is going to make people watch this film?