Depok-Documentary is a film genre that documents various facts or phenomena that occur in life. Usually, documentaries do not create events, but record them as they are. Some Indonesian documentaries include Ice Cold: Murder, Coffee and Jessica Wongso (2023), Pulau Plastik: Perjalanan dan Catatan untuk Masa Depan (2021), Kemarin (2020), Sexy Killers (2019), and others.
The Multimedia Broadcasting study program, Vocational Education Program, Universitas Indonesia (UI), which has one of its focuses in the field of film, also provides teaching related to documentary films. Dony P. Herwanto, Tempo TV Producer, was present to give a lecture as a guest lecturer on documentary filmmaking on February 13, 2025. According to him, documentaries are not only about recording reality, but also about how someone understands and represents that reality.
(Photo: Presentation of speaker certificates by the Head of the Multimedia Broadcasting Study Program, Penny Meliaty Hutabarat, S.Sos., M.S.M.)
Dony said that the production process of a documentary film starts from pre-production, production, post-production, to distribution. In the pre-production stage, there are several important things that need to be considered, such as the premise or idea, research, team and equipment, and storyline. The premise or idea summarizes the main theme and main conflict in one or two sentences. Important elements that need to be in a premise are the main character, conflict, and the goal or outcome to be achieved from the story. “This premise will be strengthened through literature research and field research. After that, the development of the story from the initial idea to a strong and interesting narrative structure. This process not only focuses on collecting information, but also how to arrange story elements to form a clear, emotional, and meaningful narrative for the audience,” explained Dony.
Next, in the production stage, Dony explained the process of shooting, audio, music scoring, and data management. Then, in the post-production stage, interview transcripts, script writing, offline editing, and online editing will be carried out. Dony also provided an example of a script containing all information related to audio, visuals, key visuals, and graphics that will be displayed in the documentary.
(Photo: Group photo after the guest lecture ended)
In addition, Dony also gave an example of a documentary film with a 3-act drama format. In act 1 there is an introduction to routines and characters, then act 2 tells how the character solves the problem, until act 3 describes the solution to the problem. Dony said, “A 3-act drama with 8 sequences will make it easier for filmmakers to convey the message in the documentary film appropriately. The audience will also feel an interesting sensation from the storyline of the documentary film with the play of emotions that rise and fall presented.”
Head of Multimedia Broadcasting Study Program, Penny Meliaty Hutabarat, S.Sos., M.S.M., said that learning about documentary films needs to be understood by students who will later become Indonesian filmmakers. “Documentary filmmaking has the same level of complexity as other film genres. I hope that students can implement the knowledge given by Mr. Dony into a documentary film that they will create in the future,” concluded Penny.
