Bamboo stalks and duct tape did not work. Neither did cable spool and chicken wire. Finally, the two teenagers trying to recreate the famous boulder scene in “Raiders of the Lost Ark” hit on the solution: a giant fiberglass ball.

Eric Zala and Chris Strompolos learned this lesson through trial and error, when they spent eight summers of their childhood, beginning in 1982, filming a shot-for-shot remake of Steven Spielberg’s 1981 adventure tale.

Now a documentary, “Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made,” based on a book with the same title (and following a 2004 Vanity Fair feature), shows how two adolescents became independent filmmakers acquiring the skills, techniques and problem-solving abilities that rivaled those found on studio sets.