Documentary Bootcamp – one week intensive filmmaking course

Documentary Bootcamp is a one-week, immersive, hands-on learning experience covering the fundamentals of documentary filmmaking from pre- to post-production. Lively presentations, relevant discussions, practical exercises, and thorough reviews will culminate in your completion of a final project.

You will:

  • Produce a short documentary in a week;
  • Learn how to pick a great story and engage your audience through the lived realities of your characters and scenes;
  • Acquire the aesthetic and technical skills needed to record moving images and sounds that are editable and stimulate the eye and ear;
  • Practice the art and science of interviewing and how to avoid unusable answers;
  • Develop, script, and organize a project from start to finish.

Start Date: 1/4/21

End Date: 1/8/21

Meeting Days:

Monday thru Friday
(1/4, 1/5, 1/6, 1/7, 1/8)

Meeting Times: 9am-4:30pm

Optional editing lab on Thursday until 8:30pm

Instructor: Michael Sheridan

Price: $995

Location: MassArt, 621 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115

Prerequisites: No previous experience needed. See previous student work here.

Equipment and Material Requirements:
Participants will use the production equipment available to them whether it be a phone, DSLR or video camera. Tripods are highly recommended. Audio recording gear is not required, but a shotgun microphone, wireless lavalier kit and headphones that can connect to your video recording device will be useful if available.

We can provide video production and post production equipment.

Production packages with audio equipment and tripods for inclass and home use require a $1000 deposit. If you choose to use your own production equipment, it is highly recommended that your equipment meet Sheridan’s Suggested Camera Requirements for Documentary Filmmaking as outlined in Sheridan’s Low(er) Budget Production Equipment. 

For editing we can provide a laptop with Adobe Premiere Pro editing software that you can use for the duration of the course on and off site with a $500 deposit.  Or you can use your own computer and buy a subscription to Adobe Premiere Pro editing software. Make sure your laptop computer meets the minimum specifications required by Adobe Premiere Pro 2020. External hard drives are recommended for editing and backing up your footage. To learn more, see External Hard Drive Recommendations.