Documentary

Witness and Self-Revelation
1. Auflage 2011
ISBN: 978-0-415-57419-8
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 192 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 301 g

Digital technologies have transformed documentary for both filmmakers and audiences.

Documentary: Witness and Self-Revelation takes an audience-centred approach to documentary, arguing that everyday experiences of what it feels like to film and to be filmed have developed a new sophistication and skepticism in today’s viewers. The book argues that documentary has developed a new third phase of its century long history: films now tend to document the encounters between filmers and the filmed. But what do we really know about those encounters?

The author’s extensive experience of documentary production practice also enables him to examine technological changes in detail. Innovations in technology can seem to offer greater realism but can at the same time frustrate attempts to achieve it. John Ellis therefore proposes the idea of ‘Slow Film’ as an antidote to the problems of increasing speed brought about by easy digital editing.

This book is ideal for students studying film, media studies and visual culture.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Ellis, John

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften Medienwissenschaften

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction Chapter 1. From Reconstruction to Observation: A History of Documentary 1895-1995 Chapter 2. New Attitudes to Documentary Chapter 3. The Changing Technologies of Documentary Filmmaking Chapter 4. Performance and Self-revelation Chapter 5. Documentary Filming as Personal Interaction Chapter 6. Editing, Narratice and Separation Chapter 7. The Changing Technologies of Documentary Editing Chapter 8. Slow Film Chapter 9. The Eventual Viewer Chapter 10. Ambivalent Feelings about Photography and Recording Chapter 11. Witness and Watching Chapter 12. Ethics, Interpretation and the New Viewer Conclusion

Über Autor(innen)

John Ellis is Professor of Media Arts at Royal Holloway, University of London and formerly a TV documentary producer. He is chair of the British Universities’ Film and Video Council (BUFVC) and past vice-chair of both the subject association MeCCSA and the producers' organisation PACT. He has served as a member of the last two RAE panels. He is author of several books including TV FAQ (2007), Seeing Things (2000) and Visible Fictions (1982), and he published extensively in Screen, Media Culture and Society and other major journals. His work has been highly influential on the development of media and television studies in the UK, USA and Europe.