A refreshing new practical approach to documentary filmmaking, Get Close: Lean Team Documentary Filmmaking equips new and veteran filmmakers with the knowhow to make artistically rewarding documentaries for less money, less hassle, and less time. Author and veteran filmmaker Rustin Thompson shows that by stripping away, sidestepping, or reassessing the entrenched industry hurdles-long waits for funding, the unwieldy crews, the unnecessary gear, the gauntlet of film festivals, pitch forums, and distribution networks-filmmakers can move quickly from idea to execution to finished film. Throughout the book, Thompson demystifies and de-clutters the way docs are produced today, illustrating the use of a few simple and accessible tools and techniques while still engaging with the aesthetic possibilities of the medium, its creative opportunities and its satisfying rewards of giving back to the world. Using the essential lessons in Get Close, filmmakers will learn to eliminate physical and financial barriers between themselves and their subject matter, ultimately leading them to tell more artful, illuminating stories and find the joy in documentary filmmaking.

AcknowledgementsIntroductionLean Team Filmmaking Will Liberate YouChapter One: My Lean Team EpiphanyThe Revolution Was TelevisedChapter Two: Get CloseEliminate Barriers and Plan Your ProjectChapter Three: The Lean Team ToolkitEssential gear and supporting equipmentChapter Four: The ShootField Production in the Lean Team StyleChapter Five: The EditCutting as a Lean Team FilmmakerChapter Six: Film Festivals and DistributionKeep Your Lean Team Soul and Find an Audience