How Understanding Documentary Film Can Give Your Storytelling an Advantage
Why the most powerful stories are grounded in real people, real moments, and real change, and how your organization can tell them too
Minding the Gap (2018) | Directed by Bing Liu
When people think of documentary filmmaking, they often picture serious, award-winning films about social issues or historical events. But here's what they're missing: documentary storytelling principles are the secret weapon behind the most compelling brand stories, nonprofit campaigns, and mission-driven content you see today.
Whether you're a filmmaker looking to elevate your craft or a brand leader wondering why some stories stick while others fall flat, understanding documentary storytelling can transform how you connect with your audience.
What Makes Documentary Storytelling Different
Documentary filmmaking isn’t just about capturing real events, it’s about finding the universal human truth within specific, authentic moments. The best documentaries don’t just inform; they transform how we see the world.
This approach differs fundamentally from traditional branded content in three key ways:
1. Character-Driven vs. Message-Driven
Traditional brand storytelling often starts with the message: “We want to show we’re innovative” or “We need to highlight our values.” Documentary thinking flips this. It starts with compelling characters whose real experiences naturally reveal those deeper truths.
Let’s take the example of this Dickies piece made by Gnarly Bay and directed by Danny Gevirtz. You’ve probably heard of Dickies, the workwear brand with its iconic yellow, red, and blue horseshoe logo. In this instance, they could have created a typical workwear commercial showing various tradespeople in their gear. Instead, Gnarly Bay and Danny Gevirtz approached this from a documentary standpoint. They follow Ian’s authentic story of transformation and craftsmanship through intimate cinematography that feels like we’re right there with him. There are handheld cameras capturing genuine moments as he works, natural lighting that shows the texture of his daily life, and unguarded conversations that make up his day. The brand’s “Work Hard, Play Hard” message emerges naturally through Ian’s character as we see his dedication to his craft and his joy in building something meaningful. In this piece, the workwear doesn’t lead the story, it lives inside it. It becomes part of Ian’s world, not the other way around.
2. Authentic Conflict Creates Connection
Hollywood teaches us that conflict drives story, but documentary shows us that honest, lived conflict, the real struggle people face, creates genuine emotional connection. Mission-driven organizations often shy away from showing challenges, but documentary thinking embraces them.
Why it works: People don’t connect with perfection; they connect with struggle, growth, and transformation. When organizations show the messy, complex reality of the problems they’re solving, audiences trust them more, not less.
We can see Ian’s passion for skiing through all the archival footage and hearing him speak about it. And there’s no doubt that he’d still be skiing with the same amount of intensity if his body hadn’t given out. Losing this enormous part of his identity and then discovering a new passion in carpentry feels incredibly relatable. It’s the deeply human experience of learning who you are when you can no longer be who you were.
3. Specificity Leads to Universality
This is perhaps the most counterintuitive principle: the more specific and particular your story, the more universal its impact. Documentary filmmakers know that showing one person’s deeply specific experience often resonates more powerfully than broad statistics or general statements.
Dickies set out to capture a real person with a unique journey. Yet viewers connect because the themes of career setbacks, finding new purpose, the satisfaction of building something with your hands, are all universal human experiences. And ultimately, Dickies is saying…THIS is the spirit of our brand. Not just functionality, but the passion and dedication that drives someone to master their craft, someone for whom work isn’t just a job but an expression of who they are.
The Documentary Mindset: Questions That Change Everything
Here are the questions that documentary filmmakers ask that can revolutionize your storytelling approach:
“What’s the story only we can tell?”
Every organization has access to the same statistics, industry trends, and talking points. Documentary thinking asks: what real-life experience do we have unique access to? What story can we tell that no one else can?
And listen, when we are talking about stories that only you can tell, it doesn’t have to be a completely unprecedented narrative. Humans share many of the same experiences, but everyone lives through them differently. The key is finding the specific version of a story that resonates with your mission and values, then telling it with all the messy details that make it real.
”What change is happening right now?”
The best documentaries capture transformation in motion. Instead of static “about us” content, look for stories of change, growth, or evolution happening within your organization or community right now
”Who is our unlikely hero?”
Documentary heroes aren’t always the CEO or the obvious spokesperson. Sometimes it’s the night janitor who’s been with the organization for 30 years, or the volunteer who started helping after experiencing your services firsthand. These unexpected voice often resonate most powerfully.
”What would happen if we just followed someone for a day?”
This simple question opens up storytelling gold. Following someone through their actual work, challenges, and interactions reveals honest moments you could never script.
Practical Applications for Any Mission-Driven Organization
Replace Static Content with Living Stories
Follow participants through their journey
Turn testimonials into mini-docs
Show your team tackling real challenges
Show Your Approach in Action
Film real interactions, decisions, and moments
Let behind-the-scenes footage speak to values
Capture Ripple Effects
Highlight long-term impacts
Show how change spreads beyond individuals
The Technical Side: Bringing Documentary Principles to Life
Cinéma Vérité Techniques for Brands
Cinéma vérité, or "truthful cinema," uses handheld cameras, natural lighting, and minimal intervention to capture life as it happens. For brand storytelling, this translates to:
Natural environments over staged sets
Conversational interviews over scripted talking points
Following action rather than directing it
Embracing imperfect, authentic moments
Building Trust Through Transparency
Documentary filmmakers earn trust by showing their process. Brand storytellers can do the same:
Show your organization grappling with real challenges
Include moments of uncertainty or difficulty
Let people speak in their own words, even if it's not perfectly polished
Acknowledge when you don't have all the answers
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
The "Everything is Amazing" Trap
When every story shows only success and happiness, audiences become skeptical. Documentary thinking includes struggle, setback, and the messy reality of creating change.
Over-Directing Real People
The moment you start coaching real people to "say it this way" or "do that again but bigger," you lose the truthfulness and emotional integrity that makes documentary storytelling powerful.
Forgetting the Emotional Journey
Facts inform, but emotions motivate. Documentary storytelling always includes an emotional arc, someone starts in one place and ends somewhere different, having grown or changed.
Making It Actionable: Your Next Steps
For Organizations:
Audit your current stories: Are they message-driven or character-driven?
Identify your authentic conflicts: What real challenges do you face, and how do you overcome them?
Find your access: What authentic human experiences do you have unique insight into?
Start small: Choose one specific person or situation and follow their story for 30 days
For Filmmakers:
Study documentary masters: Watch films by the Maysles brothers, Barbara Kopple, and Laura Poitras. Read about them and the stories they tell.
Practice observational filming: Spend time capturing real moments without directing them
Develop your questioning technique: Learn to ask questions that reveal character and motivation (We’ll do a future blog that dives into the skill of interviewing!)
Build trust with subjects: Your relationship with real people is the foundation of authentic storytelling
The Truffle Hunters (2020) | Directed by Michael Dweck & Gregory Kershaw
The Ripple Effect of Authentic Storytelling
When you apply documentary principles to your storytelling, something remarkable happens. Your content doesn't just communicate, it creates connection. Your audience doesn't just learn about your work, they feel invested in your mission.
This approach builds the kind of trust and emotional engagement that turns viewers into supporters, donors into advocates, and employees into ambassadors.
That doesn’t mean every story needs to follow a documentary format. Creativity thrives in many forms. But when your goal is connection, when you want to tell stories that are grounded, human, and lasting, documentary principles offer a uniquely powerful approach.
In a world saturated with polished, perfect brand content, stories rooted in truth cut through the noise.
The most powerful stories aren't about organizations or products. They're about people. And the best way to tell people's stories is through the lens of documentary filmmaking, where truth isn't just a goal, it's the entire point.
Ready to bring documentary principles to your storytelling? At The Rule of Thirds, we specialize in helping mission-driven organizations find the Ian Compton stories within their own work. Those emotionally resonant human experiences that reveal your true impact. Let's explore how your unique access to real stories can become your greatest strategic advantage.