HALEON INSIGHTS

For this project, we sat down with a participant from a dental charity programme who had received free dentures. He was kind, soft-spoken, and reserved — someone completely unaccustomed to bright lights, cameras, microphones, stylists, and a room full of people focused entirely on him.

Before the shoot even began, we knew this wouldn’t be straightforward. And that was okay. This is exactly what documentary work is about: real people, real stories, and real moments — not performers trained to be on camera.

Instead of jumping straight into production mode, we took a step back. Before interview day, we spent time together without talking about the shoot at all. We talked about life. We shared food, exchanged stories, laughed, and got to know each other on a personal level.

The intention wasn’t to remove his nervousness or “fix” how he felt. It was simply to build trust.

That trust is the foundation of any honest documentary.

On set, he was still understandably anxious. The lights, the crew, the unfamiliar environment — none of that disappears instantly. So we met him where he was. We spoke to him the same way we had before: calmly, naturally, without pressure or expectation.

Slowly, something shifted.

The space began to feel familiar. The room felt quieter. He found his rhythm, relaxed into the conversation, and started to open up in his own time.

It took several takes, but by the end of the interview, he wasn’t just comfortable — he was enjoying the process.

One of the most important lessons in documentary filmmaking is learning how to truly listen. Being a good listener means letting go of assumptions and allowing new information to shape the story, rather than forcing a narrative onto it.

Documentary storytelling is like assembling a puzzle. Each piece only makes sense when you allow the full picture to reveal itself naturally.

That patience — giving people time, space, and respect — is where authenticity lives. And it’s where documentary stories truly come together.