Nonfiction documentaries reveal the methods and focus their directors

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	• The Art of the Documentary: Ten Conversations with Leading Directors, Cinematographers, Editors, and ... Megan Cunningham New Riders Press, 2005 - 360 pages average customer review:based on 9 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Riveting reading

Consider this book a master class in documentary filmmaking.

Megan Cunningham's interviews are incredibly engaging - she manages to at once explore each documentarians' creative process, AND discuss how these various filmmakers achieved their success, AND to discuss specific films in-depth AND to elicit the filmmakers' fascinating views on theoretical issues such as what constitutes "cinema verite" or whether documentaries can be considered art.

Furthermore, Cunningham's book is wonderfully readable and well organized (and full of photos!). I especially enjoyed how Cunningham devoted equal space to such luminaries as Errol Morris and lesser known but equally powerful documentarians such as Lauren Lazin. The book manages to seamlessly cover more than 50 years of American filmmaking and it's wonderful to have the thoughts of multiple generations of directors, editors, and cinematographers compiled in one volume.

Whether you're a fan of documentaries, an aspiring documentary filmmaker, or unfamiliar with the entire field and would like to learn more, "The Art of the Documentary" is the book for you.

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Artfully Done

The Art of the Documentary
By Mary Cunningham
Review by Pi Ware

Mary Cunningham's "The Art of the Documentary" is an attractive full-color compilation of interviews with some of the world's foremost documentarians. It's an intimate and insightful glimpse into both the art and craft of docs and a must-read for filmmakers serious about creating non-fiction work. You'll learn how Errol Morris creates "first-person cinema" using The Interrotron; why Ken Burns locks music before script, how D A Pennebaker futhered art via technology, and how cinema-verité documentarians like Haskell Wexler are able to "inspire" scenarios within their films.

Notably missing are the king of the personal documentary, Ross McElwee, and the masterful doc team of Bruce Sinofsky and Joe Berlinger. But Cunningham fills the spaces with interviews of the behind-the-scenes players--editors, executives and cinematographers. And in doing so she gives you a broader picture of the doc world and deeper insights into what it will take for you to make a successful non-fiction film.

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I look at documentaries with new eyes

After reading several chapters, and struggling to assemble my own one-minute documentary for a class project, I'm paying closer attention to how a documentary is put together from an artistic, expressive point of view. We used this book in a short, informal class for older adults. We started by writing a one-minute description of an important moment in our lives. We recorded the narration, then added photos, videos, and recordings. I found that with each additional step I could pare back excess verbiage and let the images convey the ideas. There are plenty of technical books about how to operate a digital camcorder. Thank goodness, this isn't one of them.

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Nonfiction documentaries reveal the methods and focus their directors

Megan Cunningham's Art Of The Documentary offers ten conversations with some of the best documentary directors, editors and producers in the industry. Nonfiction documentaries reveal the methods and focus their directors, which is captured in chapters which begin with project concept and move through the entire production process. Plenty of color photos illustrate each director's works.

Mentors Supplied

Ever wanted Ken Burns or others in the pantheon of documentary greats as your personal film making mentor? This book gives you that and more. This versatile book is as perfect for someone just starting out in documentary films as it is for a veteran who wants in on a few secrets of the masters. Our film production company read from it aloud on location and everyone, from the producer to the cinematographer to the researchers, all gleaned practical tips from it. The interviews are substantive, insightful and most importantly, very useful. A real keeper for those interested in learning nuances and techniques from a wide range of documentary styles.

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reviews: page 1, 2

Have you noticed the renaissance of documentary filmmaking going on around you? Some are inspired by the work of legendary directors and cinematographers such as the Maysles brothers, D.A. Pennabaker & Chris Hegedus, Errol Morris, or Ken Burns. Others follow their own idols or simply set their own course. Inexpensive video camera equipment and video editing software have helped fuel this new wave of truth-tellers, bringing the tools of the craft within reach of amateurs and students, as well as independent journalists and filmmakers on a budget.

In The Art of the Documentary, the directors, editors, cinematographers, and producers behind today's most thought-provoking nonfiction films reveal the thought processes, methods, and collaborations that have guided their efforts- from project conception to developing, producing, shooting, editing, and releasing some of the finest documentary films of recent decades.

This richly illustrated volume, which will appeal to professional and aspiring filmmakers, as well as documentary enthusiasts, features conversations with director Ken Burns (The Civil War, Jazz, Baseball), director/cinematographer D A Pennebaker (Dont Look Back, The War Room), director/cinematographer Albert Maysles (Gimme Shelter, Grey Gardens), director Errol Morris (The Fog of War, The Thin Blue Line), director Chris Hegedus (Startup.com, Down from the Mountain), editor Larry Silk (Pumping Iron, Wild Man Blues), cinematographer Buddy Squires (The Civil War, Ram Dass, Fierce Grace), director/producer Lauren Lazin (Tupac: Resurrection, Journey of Dr. Dre), editor/director Paula Heredia (The Vagina Monologues, In Memoriam: New York City, 9/11/01), director/cinematographer Kirsten Johnson (Fahrenheit 9/11, Innocent Until Proven Guilty), and editor Geof Bartz (Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth, He's Having a Baby). And with contributions by: Sheila Nevins, President of HBO Documentaries and HBO Family, Carol Dysinger, film editor and professor, NYU Film School, and Haskell Wexler, cinematographer.

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