The Logistics of Making a Wildlife Documentary
It’s tempting to just go out and make a wildlife documentary, and in some cases it’s entirely possible to do just this with very little preparation. However, for most documentaries, you’ll need to do some planning ahead of time.
How long do you want your wildlife documentary to be?
If you’re making a film as a college or university project, you’ll likely be given a set duration your film must run. If not, it might be a bit harder to work out how long your film ought to be. It’s important to have an idea of this before you go out and film though, so that you can get enough footage to make the film you’re envisioning.
Have a think about where you want to show the film – are you intending on entering it into film festivals, or do you want to try and get it distributed? Perhaps you’re building your own YouTube channel. All of these options give you different answers when thinking about the runtime of your film.
Film festivals often have time limits on the duration of films that can be entered – for short films, this is typically 15 minutes, medium length films might get a category to themselves of up to 30 or 45 minutes and longer films tend to be an hour plus. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, each festival sets their own guidelines and eligibility criteria, so it’s a good idea to check out the limits for a few of the festivals you’re intending on entering.
If you’re aiming to get your wildlife documentary distributed, it’s definitely worth doing some research on slots. Every broadcaster has slots, these are the times programmes run from and they tend to have set themes – early weekday evenings from around 5:30pm to 8:00pm is usually light entertainment, for example. Working out what slot your project fits into will help you work out what duration it should be. You can work out the slots for yourself by checking TV guides, or just paying close attention to the times that certain genres of programmes are broadcast on different channels. It’s also worth thinking about advert breaks – a 30 minute slot usually means a programme runtime of around 22-24 minutes, while a 60 minute slot usually means a runtime of 52-56 minutes.
Building your own YouTube channel gives you more freedom in that the film can be as long as it needs to be. However, there is still an ideal length of time that audiences will watch – and the YouTube algorithm seems to pick this up too. This is around 10-20 minutes generally, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make longer films if you want to. It’s worth making films with a few different runtimes so you can capture a wider audience – maybe one or two ten minute films for those people watching on their lunch break, plus some 30 minute ones and maybe the odd hour long one. Having different runtimes like this gives you the opportunity to fit a project to the most appropriate runtime; if you go down a researching rabbit hole and discover the subject for your 10 minute film is actually too complex to be told properly in that time, move it over to one of your longer runtimes. Likewise, you could perhaps split a subject up into shorter films and make it episodic. Whatever works best for you and the subject.
Where is your subject and how affordable is it to get there?
Have you come across a story which is amazing and you absolutely have to tell it, but the subject is half a world away? Or are you making a wildlife documentary which is closer to home?
Thinking about the logistics of your film will help you work out the finer details of actually being able to make it. If you’re intending on filming a very shy creature, for example, you’ll need to earmark a several weeks to search for and try to film it – and even then, you might only get 10 seconds of footage. Perhaps you’re thinking of making a film about creatures in shallow waters, in which case, you’ll need to have a few days set aside in case the weather is too bad for you to dive. Don’t think that you must get all the footage you need in one trip, either. If it works out better for whatever reason to make multiple trips, then do that – perhaps you only have a set amount of holiday time you can take from work, or the subject of your film only comes to a certain area at specific times. These things can be worked around if you plan around them.
The logistics of your wildlife documentary are perhaps the most important thing you need to plan ahead of time, other than the story. You need to make sure you can access the site you want to film at, that you have enough food and water, ideally located accommodation – or if you’re camping, a reasonable area to set up a tent, cooking area and loo area. Do you need any permissions to film from landowners, and if so, do you know how to get in contact with them? It is always worth speaking to landowners; if they’re amenable to your idea, they could help you (they will know their land best, after all), and if they’d rather you didn’t film on their land then you can look for somewhere else. Don’t just turn up unannounced; it likely won’t go down that well if they discover you filming on their land if there’s no right to roam policy for the country (England, for example, mostly requires landowner permission for you to be there, while Scotland is far less strict). Double check what you can and can’t do, even if you are in a country with a right to roam policy.
If your subject is halfway around the world, can you afford the travel costs, or can you save up for them? Seriously considering your costs might seem like it should put you off making the film, but if you’re passionate about it, it’s best to have an idea of what you need to pay to make it happen. No-one is going to pay you to make your own films and you can’t expect other people to work for free on your passion projects, so having a good understanding of how much it will cost you is pretty essential. Making a wildlife film isn’t cheap; but with the right logistical planning, you absolutely can do it on a shoestring budget.
Do you need any additional kit, or can you make it with what you have?
It’s a common trap for filmmakers to fall into, thinking that they must have the latest, greatest kit to make their films. In some cases you may find you absolutely do need some specialist kit – if you’re filming underwater, you’ll need an underwater camera housing, for example – but it’s often perfectly possible to make a good wildlife documentary with what you have.
Most DSLRs and mirrorless cameras have decent video functions these days and they’re reasonably inexpensive – especially if you can get a good one second hand. If you already have one, then great – use it and put the money you would have spent on that shiny new bit of kit towards something else you need. There will always be a “better” camera than the one you have, but ultimately the best one you can use is the one you’ve got.
You’re much more likely to need access to specific lenses, especially for wildlife. Depending on your subject, you may need super telephoto lenses, like the Canon 600mm f/4, or an extreme macro lens like the Laowa 24mm Macro Probe. You don’t actually need to own all of your kit in order to make a wildlife documentary though – most large productions hire in all of their kit and there’s no reason you can’t hire what you need too. Hiring is cheaper in the short run, but depending on the hire company and terms you’ve signed, you might only have the kit for a set length of time. Generally speaking you can usually extend the hire if you need to, but this isn’t always the case – and even if it is, you will need to pay for the extra hire costs. You’ll also need to get some insurance specifically for the kit you’re hiring, so don’t forget to account for this when planning a hire.
If you know someone who has the kit you need, see if you can borrow it from them. They might also know someone else who could lend you another piece of equipment. If you can get access to the kit you need for free, then this means the money you would have spent hiring it can go towards something else that you can’t get for free, like your food or travel expenses, so there’s no harm in asking people you know. The worst they can say is no.
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Do you need any additional crew members?
While filmmaking is generally a collaborative activity, it is possible to make a wildlife documentary by yourself. That being said, it can be hard to do everything yourself and it’s rare for one person to be good at every little job that needs doing on a film.
If you know there’s an area of filmmaking that you just aren’t that good at, it might be worth finding someone who is good in that area. An example could be a good editor – you might have shot the most beautiful footage in the world, but if you’re not that good at editing the film won’t be that great either. If it’s a skill you want to work on, perhaps ask for some advice and feedback from someone else – that way you can keep costs down and develop that skill further.
While you might not be able to afford the full rates of a professional crew member, you should at least expect to pay the expenses of anyone who works on your film. This is generally fuel or travel costs, accommodation if needed and food/drinks while on location (including evening meals and breakfast at the accommodation). You might be lucky enough to strike a deal which means you pay for their equipment but not their day rate, in which case still expect to pay their expenses – it is the least you can do, as they’re doing you a favour. If you have a bit more money available, offering National Minimum Wage or the independently assessed Living Wage is a good option, particularly if you need several crew members and you want to pay everyone for their time. If you’ve got more than this set aside for crew, then it’s probably worth negotiating with the individual crew members, but do be mindful of paying someone far less than another crew member. If you’re unsure, check out the Bectu or APA guidelines – you might not be able to afford the rates listed in these guides, but they’ll give you an idea of what the professional rates are for different roles and this will help you to gauge what’s fair for different jobs within your budget.