Documentary Production

Documentary film production is an effective way to showcase your brand with fresh content that captivates and inspires your audience.

Why use documentary production?

Documentary filmmaking allows you to tell real stories that humanise your brand to help consumers connect with what you’re offering or the values and ethos underpinning your business.

Making a good documentary that’s both professional and engaging is no easy feat. Behind every great documentary is technical expertise, video planning and production know-how – as well as a whole lot of effort. That’s why it’s always best to leave it to the professionals. 

If your goal is to create documentary videos that capture your audience’s attention while driving your brand towards success, Axonn can help. Our experienced and professional video production team possess the expertise and technical know-how to create documentary footage that reflects and defines your brand identity.

Using a documentary as a marketing tool

Every organisation has a unique story to tell. Documentary films are one of the most popular types of video marketing because they tell a real story that an audience can relate to in some way. 

Typically, documentaries are nonfiction films that record an aspect of reality and are often created and shared to instruct, educate, or maintain a record of history. 

Still rooted in actuality, a corporate documentary is slightly more specific as it focuses on telling the story of a business or an organisation to connect with existing and potential clients in an authentic and engaging way. This can take various forms – it might be a product video, a story about the community with which the company engages or a look behind the scenes of the business.

How will documentaries help you in your marketing campaigns?

Incorporating documentary filmmaking into your digital marketing toolkit can benefit your business in a number of ways. 

Often, potential customers and stakeholders simply don’t have the time to wade through lengthy texts or presentations, which is why visual storytelling is a great way to keep your audience engaged. 

Axonn offers video production services to help with every stage of the documentary production process, from strategic planning and scripting, to filming and the post-production process.  Our expert filmmakers are equipped with all the tools and skills required to produce compelling and memorable documentaries to market and grow your brand.

Tell your brand’s story

There are countless ways you can tell your brand’s story across digital and non-digital channels, and a branded documentary is undoubtedly one of the most effective. A short explainer video detailing your brand history, values and ethos or lets your audience see how you operate behind the scenes with employee interviews and experiences.

Highlight your values

Documentary filmmaking is an effective way to illustrate what makes your brand unique and what inspires you to do what you do. Whether you want to showcase your business’s ethical outlook or highlight your stance on corporate social responsibility, creating a documentary is an effective way to demonstrate those core values that your brand is built on.

Address customer pain points

If one of your top marketing goals is to boost your brand authority and strengthen audience relationships by demonstrating an understanding of your target market, you might want to produce some videos exploring your customers’ key goals or challenges. This could also provide an opportunity to hint at how your product or service can help them reach their objectives.

Showcase your success

Film marketing – documentary in particular – is a great way to showcase your business’s success, whether with clients, stakeholders or employees. A video case study detailing what you’re proud of is a great way to publicise this information and enhance your brand’s image while building your trust and credibility.


What makes documentary storytelling a compelling marketing strategy?

One thing’s for certain, video is the reigning “king of content”. From influencer marketing taking over social media to product videos – video marketing is integral to business success. 

But why is documentary storytelling increasingly important to any brand strategy? 

Viewers report that the top traits of an engaging video are a clear storyline and authenticity. Customers are more informed than ever before and they care more about the brands they’re buying into. Sharing informative and inspiring documentary video content that isn’t underpinned by a strong advertising agenda is a great way to build trust among your audience and improve your brand reputation in a competitive marketplace. 

Incorporating documentary videos into your marketing strategy is a great way to liven up your branded content and nudge your audience forward in the decision-making process naturally and authentically. 

What are the goals of documentaries in the marketing world?

The purpose of a corporate documentary is to advertise your business and what you do without actually advertising it. 

Marketing documentaries tell the story of your business, your core values and the people that are driving it forward. They also humanise it by showing your audience the reality that lies behind it. For example, a documentary that tells the story of an employee or stakeholder’s experience with your company might be shared to enhance your brand’s reputation and convey your ethos in a succinct and engaging way. 

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Moreover, video content is highly engaging and more likely to be shared on social media, which can help to grow your brand and improve awareness around particular topics. Not only that, but social media algorithms are shifting to weed out spammy content and prioritise branded content that conveys authentic value to consumers – so documentaries can help to increase rankings and traffic for your site.

Elements of a documentary film

There are several key elements that every good documentary film possesses. 

  • Subject/s: Documentary video production aims to tell a story. The subject refers to who, what, or where is the focus of your documentary. For instance, the subject of a historical documentary could be a particular event, or an expository documentary might focus on exposing the truth about a particular issue. 
  • Purpose: The message the business and documentary filmmaker want to convey about the subject. For instance, a case study documentary can tell a client’s story to educate and inspire potential customers about what your business can do. 
  • Form: This refers to the formative process of film production, including conception and the sights and sounds chosen for use. Documentaries are representations of reality where content is derived and arranged from what already exists, so they’ll often use interview or archival footage to convey information. 
  • Production methods and techniques: The way footage is shot and sound/voice recorded, as well as how it’s edited during the post-production process to form the final film. 
  • Audience experience: Finally, the audience experience refers to how viewers interact with your documentary film, what they take from it and any actions they carry out after seeing it. Any good documentary inspires its audience in some way or another!

What elements make a documentary film different from a news package or commercial film?

Documentaries are grounded in actuality. Their purpose is to tell a real story as opposed to other types of content that market your business with imaginative narratives for advertising purposes.

Documentaries are representations of reality where content is derived and arranged from what already exists, so they’ll often use interview or archival footage to convey information.

Stages of documentary production

Regardless of its topic or purpose, every documentary video production will go through a few common phases to get it from idea to reality. A good partner can help guide you through each of these steps, answering key questions about what you want your documentary to look like and what you hope to achieve with the effort.

The three main stages of any production are:

  • Pre-production: The pre-production process involves various tasks such as finalising the documentary script, hiring the right crew, defining the budget and production fund and determining and sourcing the equipment you’ll need. 
  • Production: The pre-production process is where your film is actualised. It’s where everyone comes together on set – director, assistant director, sound and lighting crew, etc – to tell your story. It’s important that the people you employ for the production process understand the purpose driving your documentary.

Post-production: Once filming is wrapped up, the post-production process begins. This includes cutting and editing raw footage, adding music or voice-overs, and much more.

How can you differentiate your documentary production?

There’s so much video content out there, so the question is how can you differentiate your documentary storytelling to stand out from the crowd and get noticed by your target audience? 

If you want to ensure your documentary feature stands out from the crowd, consider working with a media production company like Axonn. We create professional films to tell your brand’s story, humanise your business and bring a deeper level of connection and understanding to your audience.

With all the personnel, skills and equipment required for documentary storytelling – Axonn is ready to tell your story.

What considerations should you make before starting a documentary production?

Before delving into documentary making, it’s important to ensure you’ve made all the necessary considerations to achieve your goals. 

Be sure to think about what you want to communicate through your documentary. What is its purpose and how will it impact your audience? Choose a media production company that’s professional and understands your business from the inside out.

Camera set up in snow-covered mountains

Cost of filming a documentary

Whether you want to create a low-budget documentary or a feature-length piece, there are plenty of costs involved in filmmaking. 

The true cost of filming a documentary is difficult to define, as it will all depend on your budget, purpose and the size of your business. From hiring a creative director to shelling out for Adobe Premiere Pro and other post-production costs, documentary making doesn’t come cheap.

Working with Axonn means you won’t have to worry about all the hidden costs involved in documentary production. We’re a fully-fledged media communications company offering documentary video production services along with various other video marketing services such as livestreaming video, corporate videos, product videos, brand videos and more. Our team of skilled script writers, filmmakers, editors and strategists will take care of everything – all along the production process – to share your brand’s identity and tell your story authentically.