Introduction to Documentary - Softcover

Nichols, Bill

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0253222605 ISBN 13: 9780253222602

Publisher: Indiana University Press (IPS), 2010

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Review

Bill Nichols' work is always original, provocative, and deeply rooted in his understanding of what we're trying to do.... Introduction to Documentary is loaded with original clear thinking and precise attention to the actual mechanics of documentary making and documentary functioning in the real world.... Bravo.--Jon Else, University of California at Berkeley and producer and director of The Day After Trinity and Sing Faster

"Bill Nichols' work is always original, provocative, and deeply rooted in his understanding of what we're trying to do.... Introduction to Documentary is loaded with original clear thinking and precise attention to the actual mechanics of documentary making and documentary functioning in the real world.... Bravo." Jon Else, University of California at Berkeley and producer and director of The Day After Trinity and Sing Faster"

"This engaging, thoughtful, accessible, and comprehensive work will stimulate many to teach documentary film." Choice"

"This engaging, thoughtful, accessible, and comprehensive work will stimulate many to teach documentary film." --Choice

"Bill Nichols' work is always original, provocative, and deeply rooted in his understanding of what we're trying to do.... Introduction to Documentary is loaded with original clear thinking and precise attention to the actual mechanics of documentary making and documentary functioning in the real world.... Bravo." --Jon Else, University of California at Berkeley and producer and director of The Day After Trinity and Sing Faster

-This engaging, thoughtful, accessible, and comprehensive work will stimulate many to teach documentary film.- --Choice

-Bill Nichols' work is always original, provocative, and deeply rooted in his understanding of what we're trying to do.... Introduction to Documentary is loaded with original clear thinking and precise attention to the actual mechanics of documentary making and documentary functioning in the real world.... Bravo.- --Jon Else, University of California at Berkeley and producer and director of The Day After Trinity and Sing Faster

There is a large literature on the scholarship and pedagogy of documentary film, much of it published in the last decade and much of it indebted to Nichols's previous work in the field, notably Representing Reality: Issues and Concepts in Documentary (CH, Jul'92). Nichols (Univ. of Rochester) organizes the present wonderful book by eight basic questions--for example, How Do Documentaries Differ from Other Types of Film? and What Types of Documentary Are There?--each answered with clarity, with plenty of examples and visual illustrations drawn from a century of documentary film, and with a degree of sophistication belied by the straightforward, functional prose. Students will appreciate Nichols's fondness for categories (for example, his seven modes of documentary) and will enjoy his instructions for writing about documentary film, embedded in invented student essays on Robert Flaherty's Nanook of the North (1922). Although scholars in film studies will find much of the content and analysis familiar, this engaging, thoughtful, accessible, and comprehensive work will stimulate many. An essential volume for libraries and an instant classroom classic, this book is recommended for readers at all levels.May 2002--W. Graebner "SUNY College at Fredonia "

About the Author

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).

Edition details

• Publisher: Indiana University Press (IPS)
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0253222605
• ISBN 13: 9780253222602
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 364