1. Documentary script writing
1.1. Pre-shoot or Shooting script.
1.1.1. Conceptual map that consolidates research and outlines the film’s story, providing a visual guideline for the shoot. It uses the same format and elements as a post-shoot script and can be as comprehensive or generic depending on the information available to the scriptwriter at that stage.
1.2. The post-shoot script
1.2.1. Is the re-written version of shooting script, it combines conceptual elements with audiovisual information, it is the put all together in a cinematic story.
2. Documentary styles
2.1. Classical cinema
2.2. Cinema Vérité / Direct cinema
2.3. Documentary Drama
3. Quantity vs Quality
3.1. segregate relevant information from the irrelevant
4. Essential script elements
4.1. Visual elements
4.2. Sound elements
4.3. Story elements
5. Most critical aspect of filmmaking procedure would be:
5.1. Create an emotion beginning with a good script.
6. Screenwriter must think about
6.1. Why is this film being made?
6.2. What does the producer/client/financier want to achieve through the film?
6.3. Who is the targeted audience and what should their reaction to the film be?
6.4. How much does the audience already know about the subject?
6.5. What will be the film’s technical conditions of use (Black & White/Multi-colour? Animation? Etc)
6.6. What is the budget of the film?
7. Research
7.1. 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.
7.1.1. Curiosity
7.1.1.1. What have I not yet been told about this subject?
7.1.1.2. Is everything I have been told the truth? How much do I need to verify?
7.1.1.3. What would I personally like to know about this subject?
7.1.1.4. If I were a member of the audience, what would I want to learn about this subject?
7.1.1.5. What can I find that is little known on this subject?
7.1.1.6. If the shooting has not yet started, what information can I gather that would aid the filming process?