The Shut Up and Shoot Documentary Guide: A Down & Dirty DV Production, 2nd Edition

Description

Hustle up a winning documentary crew and choose the right equipment for the job. Learn to shoot more polished, professional-looking footage and interviews on any budget, any camera, any time…
—
Anthony Artis, Filmmaker, Adjunct Professor of film and television, NYU.

Market: Beginners and amateurs with a digital video camera and the desire to tell a story.

Key Features:

* Pull off your vision in creative and cost-effective ways
* Bonus website with video and audio tutorials, interviews, bonus pages with forms and checklists, and more
* 500+ full color illustrations: this book shows you, not tells you, how it’s done

To anyone who wants to make a doc but doesn’t have a lot of time, money, or experience, Anthony Artis says: “It’s time to get down and dirty!”—a filmmaking mentality that teaches you how to be creative with your resources and do more with less. Written by a guerrilla filmmaker for guerrilla filmmakers, this all new edition of a bestselling classic doesn’t just tell you, it shows you how to make your projects better, faster, and cheaper and has been updated to include:

• Fresh coverage of DSLR cameras, new lighting gear, visual storytelling, postproduction techniques, and distribution in an online era.
• 500+ full color illustration, timesaving tips, and practical input from filmmakers that you can immediately apply to your own projects
• New sections on fundraising, choosing lenses, shooting internationally, the 4K format, shooting on iPhones, previsualization, wireless microphones, dolly and slider shots, staging remote interviews, transcripts, and more
• This bonus website (www.focalpress.com/cw/artis) features video and audio tutorials, storyboards, releases, equipment guides, and checklists.

Hustle up a winning documentary crew and choose the right equipment for the job. Learn to shoot more polished, professional-looking footage and interviews on any budget, any camera, any time. Plan through all the obstacles, avoid common filmmaking pitfalls and tighten your lighting, audio, and visual storytelling skills before you hit the streets. The hotly anticipated second edition of The Shut Up and Shoot Documentary Guide will help you do all this and more!

“I would highly recommend this as a handbook to be carried by all students and referred to at every step of the way. Everything the aspiring film maker needs to know about shooting anything at all is contained in these pages.” -Wendy Laybourn FBKS, Network Nine News – UK

“If you’re interested in making a documentary, you should absolutely check out The Shut Up and Shoot Documentary Guide. It’s an outstanding plain-language primer written by a man with passion, experience, and the ability to make the more technical aspects of production approachable.”

– David Indish, Bricks of the Dead

“I vouch for this book… extremely helpful for the newborn documentary filmmaker.”

-Albert Maysles, Grey Gardens, Salesman, Gimme Shelter

“Anthony Artis’ book is the best, most informative and entertaining book about making documentaries that I have come across.”

-Lloyd Kaufman, President of Troma Entertainment and creator of The Toxic Avenger

“As my teacher, Anthony Artis taught me how to cut production down to the bare essentials to get it done… Without this foundation I would never have been able to keep up at the White House.”

-Arun Chaudhary, First Official White House Videographer and author of First Cameraman

“Anthony Artis’ The Shut Up and Shoot Documentary Guide is a good primer for the entry-level documentary filmmaker, presented in a breezy, down-to-earth vernacular style.”?
–Thomas White, Editor of Documentary Magazine, a publication of the International Documentary Association

“A superb addition to the ‘how to’ subsection of your library, Artis’ tome is concise, while containing useful, accessible information on every aspect of documentary filmmaking, all with a doggedly hands-on attitude. Five stars.” – Empire Magazine

“The book is a very easy, straightforward read with plenty of graphics to demonstrate proper and improper techniques. It is also extremely user friendly in its layout… It will be helpful to you for many, many years to come.” – Microfilmmaker Magazine

“Anthony Artis has consolidated years of practical, professional experience into the quintessential blueprint for documentary filmmakers. I have used the techniques in this book on my documentary and narrative film projects, knowing that budget should never stop a filmmaker from seeing his or her vision through. I highly recommend this book if you want to turn your limitations into assets. Now shut up and shoot!” -Pete Chatmon, Writer/Producer/Director?PREMIUM and 761st

“Plain and simple, nuts and bolts on making documentary films. It’s told in a conversational manner with no wasted or minced words and, most importantly, no BS! Few books of this type would mention how important it is to take care of your crew and how that can dramatically improve the outcome of your film. Definitely told from an insider’s point of view with useful and practical info that won’t go over your head.” -Cliff Charles, DP, When the Levees Broke, ThePeoplesDP.com

“The practical approach promised in the title is delivered fully by the text. Artis exposes the pitfalls that can swallow a beginning filmmaker and offers straightforward advice to avoid them.” -Jonathan Luskin, Flying Moose Pictures, San Francisco.?

“The book is comprehensive and detailed. Indeed the most comprehensive practical (I do hate the word ‘guerrilla’, a filmmaker is surely at the end of the day just a filmmaker!) guide to documentary filmmaking I have ever come across! … It has three principle outstanding qualities that you seldom find individually let alone together in the same book. The first is how comprehensive it is; the second is how intensely practical it is; and the third is how clear it is… But remember that this book will not tell you how to make a great film or indeed a good film. Or indeed even pretend to. But it will give you clear and practical guidance on how to make your film. And without such guidance it is hard to even get started. This book will help you do so much more than that!
-Nik Powell, Director of the National Film and Television School in London

“While focused first and foremost on documentaries, this is an utterly indispensable resource for anyone who wants to get their films made, on any budget… Smart, fun, and on your side, Shut Up and Shoot is packed with good stuff you’ll otherwise have to learn the hard way.”
-Bill Camarda, from the December 2007 Barnes and Noble Newsletter?

“The Shut Up and Shoot books are awesome…If you are considering making a documentary at some point, please check out this book before you shoot, as it will spare you many mistakes and setbacks.” – Anthony Q. Artis, HorrorTalk

Contents:

Crazy Mad Thanx, Preface, Introduction, Preproduction, Location, Location, Location, Image Control and Camera Work, Lighting, Sound Recording, Composition and Coverage, Interview Prep, Conducting Interviews, Post-Production, Anthony’s Recommended Reads, Glossary, Index, About the Author, Book and DVD Credits