Introduction to Documentary, Second Edition

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Indiana University Press, Dec 7, 2010 - Performing Arts - 368 pages

This new edition of Bill Nichols’s bestselling text provides an up-to-date introduction to the most important issues in documentary history and criticism. Designed for students in any field that makes use of visual evidence and persuasive strategies, Introduction to Documentary identifies the distinguishing qualities of documentary and teaches the viewer how to read documentary film. Each chapter takes up a discrete question, from "How did documentary filmmaking get started?" to "Why are ethical issues central to documentary filmmaking?" Carefully revised to take account of new work and trends, this volume includes information on more than 100 documentaries released since the first edition, an expanded treatment of the six documentary modes, new still images, and a greatly expanded list of distributors.

 

Contents

1 How Can We Define Documentary Film?
1
2 Why Are Ethical Issues Central to Documentary Filmmaking?
42
3 What Gives Documentary Films a Voice of Their Own?
67
4 What Makes Documentaries Engaging and Persuasive?
94
5 How Did Documentary Filmmaking Get Started?
120
6 How Can We Differentiate among Documentaries?
142
7 How Can We Describe the Observational Participatory Reflexive and Performative Modes of Documentary Film?
172
8 How Have Documentaries Addressed Social and Political Issues?
212
9 How Can We Write Effectively about Documentary?
253
Notes on Source Material
273
Filmography
289
List of Distributors Internet Distribution Venues Internet Search Engines and International Distributors
301
Index
323
Copyright

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About the author (2010)

Bill Nichols is Professor of Cinema at San Francisco State University and author of Representing Reality: Issues and Concepts in Documentary (IUP, 1992) and Blurred Boundaries: Questions of Meaning in Contemporary Culture (IUP, 1995).

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