Documentary, Corporate or Narrative: Which Style Fits Your Project?

Style often gets chosen before the goal does. "We want it cinematic" or "can it be documentary-style?" comes up before anyone has talked about what the video needs to achieve.

Style matters, but it should follow from the goal. Here's how I think about the three main approaches and what each one asks of you.

Documentary

Documentary is built on real people, real moments and very little staging. It's captured rather than constructed, which means it needs time: access, patience and trust with the people on camera have to be earned before the footage means anything.

It works when authenticity is the whole point, like a testimonial, a behind-the-scenes story or a real reaction. Behind the Listing, our film for Lowe & Co, went into a top agent's home and into conversations the typical agent promo never touches. That only works in a documentary approach.

It fails when it's rushed. Forced authenticity reads as exactly that, and audiences spot it quickly.

Corporate and commercial

This is controlled, scripted or semi-scripted work built around a clear message and a specific action you want the viewer to take. It suits product launches, explainers, internal communications and brand films that need to say something precise.

It's also the most schedule-friendly of the three, because most of the unknowns get solved in pre-production rather than discovered on the day. The PGG Wrightson film is a good example: clear, grounded, and built around a message, but still shot with care for light and location.

Narrative

Narrative is story first, built around character and arc rather than a message. It's where there's the most creative freedom, and where budgets can move fastest if the scope isn't locked early. Casting, locations, continuity and a proper edit period all add time and cost that a straightforward corporate piece doesn't carry.

Short films like Ritual and Nightlight sit here. They're meant to be felt more than understood.

The right question isn't which style you prefer. It's what your audience needs to believe by the end.

A quick way to decide

• If the goal is trust in a real person or story, lean documentary.
• If the goal is a specific message or action, lean corporate.
• If the goal is emotional connection over time, lean narrative.

Most good work blends them

In practice, the strongest commercial work borrows from more than one style. A corporate piece can have documentary honesty in its interviews. A brand film can have a narrative spine. The Hnry Sole Trader campaign is a commercial with a character at its centre, which is why it feels like a story and not an ad.

The range can be wide even for one person. Some weeks I'm shooting clear, instructional content where being understood matters most. Other weeks it's a short film where mood is everything. Both are valid. They just need different plans.

Why naming it early matters

Naming the main style upfront keeps the brief, the budget and the schedule consistent with each other. A documentary brief with a corporate timeline, or a narrative ambition with a corporate budget, is where projects end up feeling unfinished.

If you're unsure, try this: write down the one thing someone should believe after watching your video. That sentence usually points straight to the right style, and it's a great thing to bring to a first conversation with your videographer.