Documentaries
Non-fiction Needed
Everyone loves brands that have a vision, but how to tell your audience that you share the same goals and worries in an era when kitten videos consume all the time? DSTRCT Media comes to the rescue! We make Documentaries that are informative but unobtrusive, spectacular and viral.
Lights, Camera, Action
But wait! — you would say — isn’t a documentary just footage of everyday office life and a couple of interviews with people in some kind of uniform? — Technically speaking, it might be, but why would we offer things that virtually anyone could do on their phone in a few hours? Our team takes care of blending in as many video genres as we need to make your video compelling even for people who hate documentaries, while staying authentic. At the same time, we handle the entire process of video creation, including:
Interview
To design an enthralling narrative, we must first establish the goals. You might want to show customers the philosophy guiding your production process, help new employees to get in sync with the vibe of the company, create a beautiful and immersive environment for an industry meetup, promote the personal brand of the founders and executives of your business on social media. We will kindly ask you to tell us what your target audience is, where you want to screen the Documentary, and some things that you know about your product and team if we are to mention these in the film.
Research
Since we are filming reality, research is the crucial stage for the Documentary to make sense. Your case certainly has many facets to it, and we study what authoritative experts and scientific papers write about it, what influencers across the world say, we might ask a few people in your community to tell us about their experience related to the topic. We rank the information into the reliable, less reliable and buzz, accordingly. We end up with a quite heavy file with raw data from which no fancy plot can wander.
Storytelling
When we start scriptwriting, we take the data but also play around every detail that you would like us to include, be it merchants and pirates of bygone times, insights into the real creative process in your company with brainstorming sessions, flashbacks to the company’s history, or even infographics explaining the subject on the technical or economic level. After that, we choose the right structure of the plot and break it down shot by shot, marking the beginning of the storyboard stage.
Storyboards and Shot Lists
Do you think we’re going to come around, bring some snacks, push the camera button and let things happen? That’s not how it works unless you’re really into the whole home video thing. We need a storyboard and a shot list for the process to be less chaotic. These two graphic organizers help us to visualize everything we write. Shot lists are made for videographers and include the desired outlook of a shot and the requirements for lighting, lens, camera angle and movement. Storyboards are a similar thing to communicate with the editors and you: with these, you can see how the film and its narrative will play out. Once you see the storyboard and fully enjoy the plan, it’s time for action!
Filming
Don‘t worry about losing your productivity during the filming process, as we are always ready to arrange the shoot at any time of the day and on any day of the week to be as unintrusive as we can. Depending on the visuals that we’d like to see in the final Documentary, we might send one or several videographers with their Sony A7’s, customized Sigma rigs, a bodycam and additional GoPro’s to any place that fits the scenario. Expect them to run around like electrons to film at different angles at the same time, but nobody else will have to hurry.
Editing
To ensure that your documentary is engaging and drop-dead gorgeous we have in-house editors who could land a job in Hollywood if it wasn’t so mainstream. First, we cut raw footage into clips, carefully assembling them into a dynamic film. Then we apply suitable audio and video effects, leaving no frame unaccounted for. We meticulously pick the right audio tracks and work with narration, paying special attention to lip syncs and captions. We color grade each shot manually, so that it not only fits the overall vibe of the movie, but the vibe of every scene.
A MOMENT OF HISTORY
By the way, the film often said to be the first one screened in the world was called Workers Leaving the Lumiere Factory in Lyon, and, you’ve guessed it, it was a corporate documentary, since the film was shot at the plant ceded to the Lumiere Brothers by their father Charles-Antoine three years prior to the release of the film. A corporate documentary can define the future of filmmaking and can surely solve many of your business’ goals.
Frequently Asked Questions
OMG, an idea worth many likes, absolutely! Selena Gomez has done it; Taylor Swift has done it, and all they do is just sing. So why shouldn’t you have a doc about yourself? We can make that happen and, who knows, maybe your manager will get you a deal with Netflix by that time.
Believe it or not, early documentary films lasted only a minute, sometimes even less. While modern-day documentaries are generally much longer than that, there are no rules that prevent you from filming a short documentary like that. If you are unsure about how long your own project should be, DSTRCT Media team is ready to provide recommendations based on your ideas and our knowledge of the industry trends. And if you are thrilled to produce dynamic short movies, make sure to check our Reels Editing service.
It depends on the idea of your movie. In short, interviews are not necessary, but when we conduct them, we are mindful of your desires. Some people are all for chatting about all sorts of things both on camera and off, for some two questions are already torture. If you feel you are not a social butterfly – no problems, we can tell a story about your cause or just the things you like.
One way or another, we will make it work for you, even if it means sculpting a photorealistic 3D model of you just to take an interview with it. Sounds interesting? Then make sure to check our Animations and Motion Design service as well!
To put it simply, a feature film often takes liberties with the truth, whereas a documentary is based on facts and real stories. The common misconception is that documentaries are boring by nature. We are here to show those distasteful quibblers they are wrong.
