Top Five Documentary Openings

How do you capture the attention of your audience from the very beginning? How do you explain to the viewers what they are about to watch while enticing them to carry on watching?

We wish there was some solution we could provide for you – a formula you need only to plug into your own documentaries ... Unfortunately, it’s not so simple. What we have got however is a few favourite openings from industry bigwigs & DVT tutors in the hope it will inspire your next production.

The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off (2004, Channel 4)

Robert Thirkell (Jamie's School Dinners, The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off) runs DVT's Storytelling Masterclass said this was his fave, here's why:

“An arresting and original opening, that breaks the rules but dramatically succeeds in drawing you in. The only opening I know in which you discover the narrator is dead, rather than just sounding it.”

To see the full documentary, click here.

Citizenfour (2014, HBO)

Is David Gilbert's (The Gadget Show, Dispatches, Plasma from Heaven) pick - he trains on some of DVTs camera courses:

"The images [in Citizenfour] are made sinister by the audio. In the opening seconds, a government source tells her caller (who turns out to be Ed Snowden) what he can expect from now on. It’s chilling, raw and a very real testimony. It’s the whole story crystallised in under a minute. And that’s just the start."

He also recommends Blackfish (2013) and Afghan Star (2009). "All three films are brilliant feats of storytelling, both dramatic, truthful and with amazing levels of access one would think impossible to achieve!  All three films tell the story in powerful footage as much as testimony and actuality."

Sicko (Lionsgate, 2007)

Steve Sklair (The Man who Loves Gary Lineker, True Stories: Red Oil) also runs camera courses through DVT and notes Sicko as his top pick: 

"We see a guy sewing up a wound in his own leg in a garage – we learn that he does have health insurance, though. The rest of the documentary is about the problems for people in the States who have health insurance primarily, and the problems of the system through their perspective."

The use of humour and satire while relaying shocking facts makes the information all the more powerful and ridiculous.

You can watch the full documentary here. Steve also suggests Bowling for Columbine (2002) and Darwin’s Nightmare (2004).

Six Feet Under (2001)

Jo Woolf (Bakeoff, The Choir, The Apprentice) is DVT's Edit Directing Tutor - and chose to go against the documentary grain for her favourite...:

"Lots of American dramas have great openings – I think we could learn a lot from American dramas about the way we could push the boundaries a bit more in factual storytelling.

I used to love a series called Six Feet Under, about a family who ran a funeral parlour. The pre-title scene was always a snapshot scene of the person whose funeral was taking place in the episode that week, even if their story wasn't really the main focus of the show. It often contained parallel themes that ran through the episode, but didn't give anything away about what was to happen."

The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress (1944)

Patrick Uden (The Body in Question, The Apprentic, The Restaurant) runs two DVT masterclasses: Understanding Formats & Commentary. Read on for why The Memphis Belle is his favourite...

"The hard, factual commentary was written by the lyricist Jerome Chodorov with music score by the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gail Kubik. Because the film was shot mute on clockwork cameras, the drama is totally dependent on the skilled voice-over, feature-type editing and bespoke music.

At root, The Memphis Belle is what we would now call an ‘access documentary’ in that Wyler, the director, persuaded the United States Army Airforce to allow cameras on board a squadron of B17 bombers during a scheduled raid over Germany. The result is a film of terrifying reality as the bombers and their teenage crews come under heavy Nazi attack…but the opening is in direct and intentional contrast to this action, starting in a quiet English village - a picture of the very culture these young men are trying to defend.

To my mind it is the model for all subsequent documentary openings …"