Introduction to Documentary, Second Edition

This New Edition Of Bill Nichols{u2019}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. -- Publisher's Description. Introduction -- How Can We Define Documentary Film? -- Why Are Ethical Issues Central To Documentary Filmmaking? -- What Gives Documentary Films A Voice Of Their Own? -- What Makes Documentaries Engaging And Persuasive? -- How Did Documentary Filmmaking Get Started? -- How Can We Differentiate Among Documentaries? Categories, Models, And The Expository And Poetic Modes Of Documentary Film -- How Can We Describe The Observational, Participatory, Reflexive, And Performative Modes Of Documentary Film? -- How Have Documentaries Addressed Social And Political Issues? -- How Can We Write Effectively About Documentary? Bill Nichols. Includes Bibliographical References, Filmography And Index.

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.

Cover 1 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction 12 1 How Can We Define Documentary Film? 22 2 Why Are Ethical Issues Central to Documentary Filmmaking? 63 3 What Gives Documentary Films a Voice of Their Own? 88 4 What Makes Documentaries Engaging and Persuasive? 115 5 How Did Documentary Filmmaking Get Started? 141 6 How Can We Differentiate among Documentaries? 163 7 How Can We Describe the Observational, Participatory, Reflexive, and Performative Modes of Documentary Film? 193 8 How Have Documentaries Addressed Social and Political Issues? 233 9 How Can We Write Effectively about Documentary? 274 Notes on Source Material 294 Filmography 310 List of Distributors, Internet Distribution Venues, Internet Search Engines, and International Distributors 322 Index 344