Inside My Documentary Filmmaking Process
“A Prudent Question is One-half of Wisdom”
– Francis Bacon
In every story I've worked on, one thing stays the same: questions.
Not just the ones I ask on camera, but the quiet ones that live on the fringe—curious and persistent. They appear in the earliest research, persist through the interviews, and reverberate during the edit.
Asking questions isn't just a tool for gathering information; it's a way of building trust and holding space.
I'm knee-deep in questions as I prepare for my next documentary.
Two years ago, I learned about a courageous woman and nature enthusiast on Salt Spring Island as a potential character. I let the thought sit.
At the beginning of this year, the thought shifted from my brain's storage room to the forefront.
My 40-plus years on this earth have taught me that I don't need to jump on my thoughts. If something keeps returning to me, it's either the result of a compulsive thought habit or an idea worth exploring.
I hoped it was the latter.
No longer content to ponder which it might be, I reached out to her to see if we could examine the possibility of a film. What was the worst-case scenario? She'd say, No, thanks.
Throughout our conversations, she shared how and why she does what she does. One of our conversations happened over a bowl of spelt-flour blueberry crisp. I asked her the same questions, not once or twice, but several times.
The deeper we explored the questions, the more epiphanies and realizations emerged, stripping away the layers of my perceptions to reveal her truth.
But the story evaded me even after a handful of conversations and a visit to the Island.
I was caught up in tiny details, missing the forest for the trees. Or I was looking at the obvious and not uncovering the deeper nuances. I even had a couple of anxious dreams about it.
What if there were no story?
That's when I decided to relax. Tension has a way of clouding things.
I needed to ask some questions I hadn't initially thought of. Questions were the answer I was seeking.
My character’s patient answers finally unveiled the story, or maybe I finally became receptive to seeing it!
My mom worked as a journalist for CBC in the 1980s, so she has constantly reminded me to ask the basics when researching a story: Who, What, Where, When, Why and How?
I use this process as a starting point.
Then I keep re-visiting the what, how and why.
Why, why, why.
Why does she think the way she does? In other words, what has informed her thinking? What experiences have defined her and are defining her today? How could that change in the future? What is happening that is challenging her values? Why is it so essential to live the way she does? How will she get what she needs?
Have you ever noticed that some documentaries leave you hanging? That's common because while a filmmaker goes into the documentary with a vision, we join our character on a journey with our eyes somewhat closed but our hearts open.
This style of storytelling can be profound. Revealing the story's true meaning through surprising moments and details neither of us anticipated.
“I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned.”
―Richard Feynman
In appreciation for your being here,
Shana Lee
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