What is documentary-style video and why do businesses use it?

Documentary-style video means capturing real people and real events. Without a script, or actors but following what's happening, chatting to the people involved, and then capturing the story that comes out of that. There’s always a story and that’s the most important part.

It's behind some of our best work. And it's what more and more businesses seem to be after.

To be fair, "documentary-style" is one of those phrases that gets thrown around a fair bit without anyone really saying what it means. Clients come to us knowing they want something that feels real (not staged), but not quite having the words for it. So here's our attempt at explaining it properly.

What actually happens on the ground

A documentary shoot usually starts with a chat rather than a shot list. We'll talk through what you want to say and who you're trying to reach — but we probably won't write the film in advance. 

On the day, it usually means filming in real places rather than studios. Filming people where they actually work, with whatever light happens to be there. Interviews that feel more like a chat than a presentation. There’s also a bit of just watching and learning then waiting for something to happen on its own, rather than asking someone to do it again for the camera.

A few examples from our own stuff. 

The Artist and the Sea followed Eilidh, a Scottish artist, around the Uist landscape that inspires her work — no script, just her and the place she paints. 

Our Herefordshire Cattle film let the farmers tell the story of the breed themselves, in their own words. 

And Project Angel, made with Bairds Malt as they hit 200 years, caught an expansion of this whisky malt producer while it was actually happening rather than trying to piece it back together afterwards.

Three completely different subjects but all with the same approach.

Why businesses go for it

It’s completely different from a corporate video.  If you want to get your audience to feel like they know you and trust you, you have to let them see inside your world. When someone's genuinely talking rather than reciting, you can feel it. Needless to say, this is becoming increasingly important in today’s world.

It also ages better. A film built around real people and real work still rings true years later. One built around this year's messaging may not (in quite the same way).

And it's flexible. A documentary shoot throws up a lot of material — interview moments, atmosphere, unplanned moments — so one day of filming can give you far more than a single finished piece.

Getting people comfortable on camera

This is the thing people worry about most, and it’s completely normal. Most of the folk we film aren't media-trained (far from it!). They're farmers, engineers, artists, staff who've never been near a camera and would quite happily keep it that way.

It's also the part I find most interesting, because it's what makes or breaks a documentary film. If someone's tense, you can see it and no amount of nice lighting fixes that.

It really starts before the camera even comes out at all. When I turn up, introduce myself properly, and just start having a chat. Ask people how long they've worked there, where they're from, what their job actually involves day to day. Nothing to do with the film. It's partly because I'm genuinely interested, and partly because by the time we start filming, we've already had a conversation so it's not a stranger pointing a camera at them, it's someone they've been talking to for twenty minutes.

Then I'll usually start rolling quietly and we'll keep chatting. Most people forget it's there faster than they would expect. And the first few minutes rarely make the edit anyway, so there's no pressure to get it right straight away.

The other thing worth saying is that the kit matters far less than people expect. A documentary set-up is usually smaller and less intrusive than a traditional corporate shoot, we try to keep it as natural as possible. That does help people settle into it, it’s not so intimidating.

How documentary-style video differs from a scripted film

A promotional film usually starts with a message and works backwards. Here's what we want to say, now let's find the shots that say it. Nothing wrong with that and for some jobs it's exactly right. If you need to explain a product clearly, a scripted film will do it better every time.

Documentary works the other way round. You start with the people and the place, and the message comes out of what you find. It asks for a bit more trust from the client, because you can't see the finished film before it exists. But they usually get a lot more out of it. And, you can absolutely use a documentary-style video for promotional purposes, we do it all the time.

When it's the right fit

It suits you if you've got something genuinely worth showing — real work, real people, a place that means something. It's great for organisations with a bit of history behind them, for charities where the human story is the whole point, and for businesses whose expertise is far easier (or more interesting) to show than to describe.

It's less suited to a straightforward product explainer, or anything where the wording needs to be signed off word for word in advance.

If you're not sure which one you are, we’re happy to have a chat to pin that down early on.

We hope that's useful!

P.S. You can get in touch at hello@soleproductions.co.uk or use our contact page — always happy to talk it through.

A few questions I get asked a lot

What's the difference between documentary-style video and a corporate video?

Mostly the starting point. A corporate video usually begins with an agreed script and films to match it. Documentary-style starts with the people and the setting and finds the story in what's there. Both have their place — it depends whether you need a specific message delivered precisely, or something that feels more real.

Do we need to script anything?

No, and I'd honestly rather you didn't. We'll have a good chat beforehand about what we're trying to capture and who we should speak to, but the interviews themselves work best unscripted. People sound like themselves when they're not reading.

What if our team are nervous about being filmed?

That's completely normal, and something we deal with on nearly every shoot. Most people we film have never done it before. A documentary set-up is deliberately low-key and we'll take the time to let everyone settle before anything important gets recorded.

How long does a documentary-style film take to make?

Depends on the scope, but usually one to two days filming and a few weeks in the edit. Documentary shoots throw up more footage than scripted ones, so the edit is where a lot of the storytelling actually happens.