1. Planning

There are a number of questions you should ask yourself when making your own documentary:

• What am I trying to achieve?
• What materials (videos/sounds/equipment) have I got at my disposal?
• How long have I got to do it?

The answers to these questions will determine how you go about making your documentary. If you have access to lots of clips of video you might want to put them together to prove a point about your subject. For example, if you were doing a documentary about World War I, you might be trying to prove that the traditional interpretation of 'lions led by donkeys' is incorrect. You could therefore use clips from Blackadder Goes Forth to present the traditional interpretation, and then clips from other video showing the other side of the story!

Be ambitious but realistic about what you want to achieve. With good planning, you can make a stunning mini-documentary. Use humour if it is appropriate, but don't end up looking like group of idiots! Storyboarding is a technique the professionals use to get great results. If it works for them, it will work for you. Think about each scene in your documentary - what are you going to include? What is the viewer going to see? Hear? Witness?

Here's an example - again from the International School of Toulouse:

Remember the 5 P's to ensure success:

Perfect Planning Prevents Poor Performance!