Table of Contents
Best Documentary Filmmaking Courses 2021
Best Documentary Filmmaking Tutorials 2021
Documentary Filmmaking Step by Step
Get movie secrets, research (and get) funding, surviving production, cast and everything in between me, Spirit Award nominee Adam Bhala Lough, three times alum at the Sundance Film Festival and one of Filmmaker Magazine’s Top 25 Independent Filmmakers to watch.
I’m an internationally renowned 14 year old vet with four documentaries currently on Netflix and three that were the # 1 documentary on the iTunes charts. I have had tremendous success in my career, but I have also failed many times. You will learn where I failed along the way to not make the same mistakes.
I am also a mentor at Sundance Native Labs and Latino Screenwriting Labs and was a mentor at SXSW Film Festival 2015 mentoring sessions, so I know how to teach in a concise and clear manner.
Why should you take this Documentary Filmmaking course and not another?
You’ll get secrets that only a seasoned professional can reveal – from the beauty of not paying insane customs fees and claiming “fair use”, to how to walk into an unrelated film festival. Everything is in this 5 hour Documentary Filmmaking course.
Other Documentary Filmmaking courses give general knowledge of making a movie with people with very little real world experience. This Documentary Filmmaking course is taught directly from my experience directing eight feature-length documentaries, all of which have been distributed worldwide and have been translated into many languages.
You will learn:
You will learn how to make a full feature documentary or short film from start to finish; conception of the idea until the delivery and exhibition of the final film
Examples and insight into the filmmaking process through the unique lens of my own experience making award-winning documentaries
Secrets and “producer hacks” that I learned along the way and that no one else will tell you
Where I failed, so you won’t make the same mistakes
Ongoing rates for almost all crew positions on a documentary or short feature film (low / medium / high budget rates)
As a bonus, you will also get many free templates to download and use: contracts, agreements, budgets, calendars, forms
TV Documentary Professional Productions. Start to finish.
Follow award-winning broadcast professional Andrew St Pierre White as he takes you step-by-step as he conceptualizes, shoots and edits two of his highly acclaimed television documentaries. The first is based on a one-hour special documentary broadcast by the Discovery Channel, and the second is based on a half-hour serialized episode of an African adventure travel story in 26 episodes. Once released, critics used the words “stunning”, “superb”, exceptional “in their reviews of these films. The Documentary Filmmaking course consists of a series of videos with details of what is taught in the form of written summaries.
The documentary is aired and as the story unfolds the director / producer goes over all the thoughts, processes, equipment and creative process used. This is a real life event, valuable to those who shoot and edit video stories.
As each scene is covered, shooting techniques, editing ideas, and storytelling methods are revealed. This is a real documentary, so what’s being taught isn’t just theory – it’s become a fact, and you can see the results for yourself.
The documentary was produced by an independent producer, but still sold to major networks. How this was done is discussed.
Lectures last 247 minutes (± 4.1 hours). With some, you might have to watch them more than once because there is a lot to learn.
If you want to make serious documentary films or tell inspirational videos for TV or social media, this Documentary Filmmaking course has a lot to offer.
Much of what is taught here is not and cannot be taught in a classroom. It goes beyond theory, as the Documentary Filmmaking course is based on real and very successful productions.
You will learn:
Understand the creative ideas and what it takes to make award-winning video documentaries.
Learn by example. If you want to learn step-by-step how I conceptualized, shot and edited two highly acclaimed TV documentaries, then this is for you.
Gain insight into the thought processes that professional TV documentary makers use to film, collate content, and edit award-winning video stories.
Enjoy being taught by a television professional who has dozens of programs broadcast under his name, broadcast on networks around the world.
Decide who you prefer to be your instructor? Someone who is successful in the world of television shows?
You can only be taught to the level your instructor has reached, never beyond. You decide what you want to end up doing and look for teachers who have achieved your own goals.
Documentary Filmmaking with Soul
It’s time for documentaries to gain momentum. Typically they are taught with outdated methods that come from the 90s, with boring talking heads and bad images. This Documentary Filmmaking course, on the contrary, teaches you how to create modern, cinematic, story-driven character materials that engage viewers both visually and emotionally.
This Documentary Filmmaking course will cover the entire document creation lifecycle, explaining how to plan, how to film, and how to edit. Part travel story and lesson part, all of these lessons are designed to be applicable and to the point. Showing behind-the-scenes footage, they take you along Dandan’s journey of doing his handsome little doc in Tokyo on a boxer.
All lessons are designed to be applicable, to the point, and to use minimal equipment.
By the end of this Documentary Filmmaking course, you will have all the knowledge and a comprehensive roadmap needed to make your first documentary short.
You will learn:
Plan, film and edit a strong cinematic documentary with deep narrative roots.
Conduct powerful, story-driven interviews.
Cultivate your ability to see, listen and feel your way through your stories, so that every decision is intentional.
Compose and turn on cinematic images.
Use audio recording equipment to get high quality sound.
Use Adobe Premiere pro to edit and refine their footage.
Develop an eye for geographic spotting.
Develop the “Shooting for the Edit” mentality.
Approach doc cinema as a profession.
Best Documentary Filmmaking Books 2021
The Documentary Filmmaking Master Class: Tell Your Story from Concept to Distribution
- Chasse, Betsy (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 216 Pages - 11/19/2019 (Publication Date) - Allworth Press (Publisher)
Documentary filmmaking requires more than just a passion for the subject, whether it be one’s personal story or that of someone else, a historical event or a startling discovery, a political movement or a heinous crime. Making a documentary and getting it in front of an audience requires determination, careful planning, money, and a strong production team. With over thirty years of experience in filmmaking, author Betsy Chasse mentors readers every step of the way with a down-to-earth approach and invaluable advice. Chapters cover topics such as:
Choosing a Subject
Developing a Business Plan
Securing Financial Backing
Assembling a Production Team
Nailing Interviews and Shooting B-Roll
Getting through Post-Production
Distributing and Marketing the Film
Both novices and experienced filmmakers will benefit from this all-inclusive guide. With the right knowledge, persistence, and The Documentary Filmmaking Master Class in their camera bags, readers will not only turn their visions into reality, they’ll be able to share the results with others and navigate the process with confidence.
Documentary Filmmaking: A Contemporary Field Guide
- Hewitt, John (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 256 Pages - 10/30/2013 (Publication Date) - Oxford University Press (Publisher)
Documentary Filmmaking: A Contemporary Field Guide, Second Edition, is a skills-oriented, step-by-step guide to creating documentary films, from the initial idea phase to distribution. Thoroughly updated to highlight the effects of technological advances and social media, this compact handbook
offers something for all types of students: documentary recommendations (for the film buff); illustrations, examples, and commentary from working documentary makers, producers, editors, and distributors (for the more grounded, visual learner); the latest trends in Internet video (for the more
“techie” documentarian); and practical financial tips, fundraising ideas, and legal considerations (for the more idealistic-and not always realistic-visionary).
Making Documentary Films and Videos: A Practical Guide to Planning, Filming, and Editing Documentaries
- Hampe, Barry (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 464 Pages - 12/10/2007 (Publication Date) - Holt Paperbacks (Publisher)
The classic guide to making documentaries, now revised and expanded for today’s filmmaker
The second edition of Making Documentary Films and Videos fully updates the popular guidebook that has given readers around the world the knowledge and confidence to produce their first documentary film. It traces two main approaches―recording behavior and re-creating past events―and shows you how to be successful at each. Covering all the steps from concept to completion, with chapters on visual evidence; documentary ethics; writing for documentaries; budgeting; assembling a crew; film and sound recording; casting and directing actors and nonactors; and editing for the audience, this book can help you successfully bring to life the documentary you want to make.
The second edition includes
• a discussion of truth, “reality,” and honesty in the current
filmmaking environment
• new advice on how to get started in documentary filmmaking
• an expanded section on researching and writing the proposal,
treatment, and script
• an exhaustive list of resources
- Chasse, Betsy (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 216 Pages - 11/19/2019 (Publication Date) - Allworth Press (Publisher)
- Hampe, Barry (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 464 Pages - 12/10/2007 (Publication Date) - Holt Paperbacks (Publisher)
- Used Book in Good Condition
- Quinn, James (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- Fitzgerald, Jon (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 270 Pages - 10/15/2017 (Publication Date) - Michael Wiese Productions (Publisher)
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Imam, Abu (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- Moshman, Sarah (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 254 Pages - 10/05/2020 (Publication Date) - Nevertheless Films LLC (Publisher)
- Rabiger, Michael (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 594 Pages - 05/14/2020 (Publication Date) - Routledge (Publisher)
- Schwarze, Kelly (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 169 Pages - 07/10/2020 (Publication Date) - Indie Film Factory, LLC (Publisher)
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Forrest, Edward (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- Schwarze, Kelly (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 171 Pages - 09/11/2023 (Publication Date) - Indie Film Factory, LLC (Publisher)