The authoritative guide to producing, directing, shooting, editing, and distributing your video or film. Whether you aspire to be a great filmmaker yourself or are looking for movie gifts, this comprehensive guide to filmmaking is the first step in turning a hobby into a career. Widely acknowledged as the “bible” of video and film production, and used in courses around the world, The Filmmaker’s Handbook is now updated with the latest advances in HD and digital formats. For students and teachers, professionals and novices, this indispensable handbook covers all aspects of movie making. • Techniques for making dramatic features, documentaries, corporate, broadcast, and experimental videos and films • Shooting with DSLRs, video, film, and digital cinema cameras • In-depth coverage of lenses, lighting, sound recording, editing, and mixing • Understanding HDR, RAW, Log, 4K, UHD, and other formats • The business aspects of funding and producing your project • Getting your movie shown in theaters, on television, streaming services, and online

A fully revised, comprehensive guide offers an in-depth exploration of today's recent technological advances, such as digital age filmmaking, while reviewing a collection of new methods and techniques in relation to various film formats and offering suggestions on the business aspects of financing and producing films. Original.

Documentary films have enjoyed a huge resurgence over the last few years, and there's a new generation of filmmakers wanting to get involved. In addition, the digital revolution has made documentaries even more accessible to the general filmmaker. Documentary films can now be shot professionally using cheaper equipment, and smaller cameras enable the documentarian to be less intrusive and therefore more intimate in the subjects' lives. With an increasing number of documentaries making it to the big screen (and enjoying ongoing sales on DVD), the time is right for an information-packed handbook that will guide new filmmakers towards potential artistic and commercial success. The Documentary Film Makers Handbook features incisive and helpful interviews with dozens of industry professionals, on subjects as diverse as interview techniques, the NBC News Archive, music rights, setting up your own company, the Film Arts Foundation, pitching your proposal, the Sundance Documentary Fund, the Documentary Channel, the British Film Council, camera hire, filmmaking ethics, working with kids, editing your documentary, and DVD distribution. The book also includes in-depth case studies of some of the most successful and acclaimed documentary films of recent years, including Mad Hot Ballroom, Born Into Brothels, Touching the Void, Beneath the Veil,and Amandla! The Documentary Film Makers Handbook will be an essential resource for anyone who wants to know more about breaking into this exciting field.

A complete guide to all phases of documentary production, this is an essential handbook for student filmmakers and professional documentarians alike. Written in clear, concise language and geared for easy reference, the text provides a progression of real-world learning skills, including project organization and production design. Also itemized is the necessary production equipment, with technical information refined for universal comprehension of the equipment and its application. Featured are exclusive interviews with several award-winning film and television documentarians, who explain in detail how they have conceived, planned, produced and directed their documentaries. Among the interviewees are Deborah Oppenheimer (Into the Arms of Strangers), Arnold Shapiro (Scared Straight!), Connie Bottinelli (Forensic Files) and Paul Gallagher (Behind the Music). The filmography lists every documentary cited in the handbook, with relevant and related websites.

Outlines each step in creating documentaries, from conception to final film, and offers advice on capturing human behavior and recreating past events, with advice on how to get started in the field, a section on researching and developing a project, and current resources.

The Documentary Filmmaker’s Roadmap is a concise and practical guide to making a feature-length documentary film—from funding to production to distribution, exhibition and marketing. Using her award-winning film Musicwood—a New York Times Critics’ Pick—as a case study, director Maxine Trump guides the reader through the complex lifecycle of the documentary Film. Her interviews with lawyers, funders, distributors, TV executives and festival programmers provide a behind-the-scenes look that will assist readers on their own filmmaking journey. Written from the perspective of a successful documentary filmmaker, the book covers mistakes made and lessons learned, a discussion on the documentary genre, crowdfunding, pre-production through post, test screenings, the festival circuit distribution, legal pitfalls, fair use and more. Perfect for documentary filmmaking students and aspiring filmmakers alike, this book emphasizes the skills needed to succeed in a competitive production market. An appendix includes useful web links for further study, a list of films for recommended viewing and sample release forms. This concise guide is ideal for the classroom or as a quick reference out in the field, at a budget meeting or in the editing room.

A practical step-by-step course showing how you can begin making your first documentary movies, from researching and defining your theme, style, and the treatment that will drive your film, to organizing the production and, ultimately, getting it seen by a wider audience.