01 Identify the approach
Identify the approach: investigation, portrait, archive, observation or visual essay. Documentary is not automatically a full record. Notice who speaks, who is absent and how reconstructions or archive images are identified.
02 Check claims
Separate checkable claims from impressions produced by editing. Record a date, number or quotation only if its source and context can be found. For current issues compare recent documents; film date does not date every image.
03 Editing and evidence
Use Koyaanisqatsi as an exercise: describe a sequence, then the idea emerging from its relation to the next. This separates observation from interpretation while preserving aesthetic impact. For investigative films consult the authors’ references.
Frequently asked questions
Is re-enactment archival footage?
No: it presents a construction after the event. Check what independent testimony or documents establish.