In a documentary film the topic should always be shown in an interesting manner rather than simply telling the facts
. The topic should be interesting enough both for the viewer and for the filmmaker. The subject matter of your documentary should be appealing to the viewer and the audience should understand the topic.
The topics for a documentary are many right from social, political to environmental issues. Social and environmental documentaries are quite common. For example one can take up the social issue of plight of old people like how the elderly lead their lives in old age homes without their dear ones. To make a lasting impact on the viewers mind one can show real people and locations in the documentary. Likewise if the topic of your documentary is poverty then day to day lives of poor people, their struggle to meet both ends should be shown by filming areas where poverty is widespread. As the documentaries are shown in a way that they are much closer to life therefore the impact of the message conveyed through these films is also quite high.
Topics for shooting documentaries
1.Choose a topic that stirs up your innermost emotions and arouse your passion about making a film. It can be either a film about social injustice or any political or environmental issue which you want to bring into light.
2.Your topic can be based on any historical event.
3.The topic can also be very simple; a short film can be made on something or someone very close to you. Any family ancestor who has been a freedom fighter or anything extraordinary or contentious happening around you of significance.
4.The topic can emerge from a local newspaper or from the websites. Any story or character which would become an interesting subject matter for shooting a film.
5.Your topic can also be a charitable organization whose work needs exposure.
6.Places of travel can also be filmed into a documentary.
7.You may also get ideas by watching other documentary films.
You should be personally interested in the topic you choose; picking up a topic in which merely your audience would be interested will not help you. As making of a documentary takes time, sometimes months or even years therefore you need to be really zealous about the subject to remain hooked on to it . Another factor to be taken into account while choosing your topic is the availability of resources, choose a subject which is within your means. You should have enough funds for the research of the topic you decide to make the film on.