Editing Salesman (1969 film) (section)

==Production==
The Maysles brothers wanted to be the first to make a nonfiction feature film (which turned out to be ''Salesman'') after learning that [[Truman Capote]] had made the claim that his newly released book ''[[In Cold Blood]]'' was a nonfiction novel. The film was made on a low budget; just under seven minutes into the film, one of the two cameras used can be seen in the shot, which was not unusual for a documentary film. The handheld microphone used to record the film's sound is visible in other shots, also not unusual in a documentary setting.

The Maysles brothers self-funded ''Salesman'', costing approximately $100,000.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Tyree|first1=J.M.|title=Salesman|date=2012|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=New York|page=68}}</ref> The brothers paid each salesman $100, along with their expenses.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rosenthal|first1=Alan|title=The New Documentary in Action: A Casebook in Filmmaking|date=1971|publisher=University of CA Press|location=Berkeley|page=82}}</ref> During production, the crew consisted of Albert Maysles shooting and lighting and David Maysles doing sound. Albert Maysles never prompted anyone for the film, except when he asked Brennan to describe his fellow salesmen. In determining whom and what they would film, the Maysles brothers consulted the salesmen's schedules. Throughout production, the Maysles brothers sent footage to Zwerin, who viewed it and provided feedback. When post-production began, David Maysles and Zwerin tried to structure a story about the four salesmen, but found they did not have the material. Instead, they realized that they were dealing with a story about Brennan.

The Maysles brothers had themselves been door-to-door salesmen in the past, selling everything from cosmetics to encyclopedias. While filming, they became part of the pitch, telling those who let the salesmen and the camera crew into their homes that they were now part of "a human interest story."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/124-salesman|title=Salesman|website=The Criterion Collection}}</ref>

Elements of popular culture that appear as backdrops to the main story include the song "[[If I Were a Rich Man (song)|If I Were a Rich Man]]" from ''[[Fiddler on the Roof]]''; a recorded orchestral performance of [[the Beatles]]' song "[[Yesterday (Beatles song)|Yesterday]]"; ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson]]''; the theme music of the television series ''[[Ben Casey]]''; and televised [[boxing]] matches.

As stated in the closing credits,
:The filming team of Albert and David Maysles went home to Boston to take another look at the kind of people they grew up with. The idea for the film was researched and developed by David Maysles[,] who found the salesmen. The photography was by Albert Maysles. The film was edited by David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin.

''Salesman'' was filmed in January 1967 (perhaps also late December 1966) and bears a copyright date of 1968.