Filmbeginner

Documentary Filmmaking on a Phone

A ten-minute film, shot and cut on the thing in your pocket

Taught by Idris Bello 4.0 (1)3 learners
£59.00Enrol nowWatch a free lesson
  • 7 lessons · 1h 16m
  • Lifetime access
  • Certificate on completion, with a verifiable serial

What you'll be able to do

  • Find a story worth ten minutes
  • Record sound that doesn't ruin it
  • Shoot coverage you can actually cut
  • Structure an edit that holds attention
  • Finish and publish, rather than tinkering forever

What's in it

3 sections · 7 lessons · 1h 16m

Before you film anything2 lessons
Shooting3 lessons
  • Sound first: the £30 that matters most10m
  • Coverage: what you need to be able to cut15m
  • Interviewing so people forget the camera12m
Cutting and finishing2 lessons
  • Structure: the shape of ten minutes11m
  • Finishing and letting go7m

About this course

The camera is not the problem. This course takes you from an idea to a finished ten-minute documentary using a phone, a cheap microphone and free editing software.

You can work through it in any order — it isn't a ladder, it's five things that all have to be true.

What learners say

The quizzes annoyed me and then caught two things I'd got wrong, so fair enough.

Marco Rossi