The Art of the Observer

A Personal View of Documentary

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by David MacDougall

Type

Studies

Subject

Genre > Documentary

Keywords

documentary, reality

Publishing date

2022

Publisher

Manchester University Press

Language

English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Hardcover • 288 pages
6 x 9 ½ inches (15.5 x 24 cm)

ISBN

978-1-5261-6534-3

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Book Presentation:
The art of the observer is a personal guide to documentary filmmaking, based on the author's years of pioneering work in the fields of ethnographic and documentary cinema. It stands in sharp contrast to books of academic film criticism and handbooks on visual research methods, being based extensively on concrete examples from the author's own filmmaking experience. The book places particular emphasis on observational filmmaking and the ways in which this approach is distinct from other forms of documentary. It offers both practical insights and reflections on what it means, in both emotional and intellectual terms, to attempt to represent the lives of others. The book makes clear that documentary cinema is not simply a matter of recording reality, but of artfully organising the filmmaker's observations in ways that reveal the complex patterns of social life.

About the Author:
David MacDougall is Honorary Professor in the Research School of Humanities and the Arts at the Australian National University, Canberra

See the publisher website: Manchester University Press