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  1. Dartmouth Libraries
  2. Research Guides
  3. FILM 30 - Documentary Videomaking
  4. Home

FILM 30 - Documentary Videomaking

This is a course guide for FILM 30.
  • Home
    • Course description
    • In the Library's collections
    • Introductory reading(s)
    • Selected book title(s)
    • Other library resource(s)
    • A short, selected list of documentaries
    • Finding scholarly articles & journal title(s)
    • Internet resource(s)
    • Citing and Tracking Your Bibliographic References
    • Keeping up with Film Studies journal literature

Subject Librarian

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Lucinda M. Hall
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Contact:
Evans Map Room, Baker-Berry Library
Dartmouth College
25 N Main ST
Hanover, NH 03755
(603) 646-0962
Website Skype Contact: d1128r8@kiewit.dartmouth.edu
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Subjects: Film and Media Studies, Geography, Polar Studies

Course description

This documentary workshop will explore in depth the rich world of nonfiction film and video production. Working in groups, students will tackle a variety of technological, asthetic, and ethical issues intrinsic to the medium. Each group will produce one 10-minute non-fiction film. The class will utilize standard professional production models, which require intense collaborative teamwork and the distribution of tasks and responsibilities. It will culminate in a screening in Loew Auditorium in the Black Family Visual Arts Center.

[Source: ORC/Catalog, 03/25/2024]; Dist:ART

In the Library's collections

You can use one of these subject headings to start your research in the library's online catalog:

  • documentary films production and direction
  • documentary films
    Call number range PN 1995.9 .D6 through PN 1995.9 .D62 on Baker Level 4.
  • cinema verite

Introductory reading(s)

  • Cover artThe act of documenting: documentary film in the 21st century by Brian Winston; Gail Vanstone; Chi Wang
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .D6 W56 2017
    ISBN: 9781501309175
    Documentary has never attracted such audiences, never been produced with such ease from so many corners of the globe, never embraced such variety of expression. The very distinctions between the filmed, the filmer and the spectator are being dissolved. The Act of Documenting addresses what this means for documentary's 21st century position as a genus in the "class" cinema; for its foundations as, primarily, a scientistic, eurocentric and patriarchal discourse; for its future in a world where assumptions of photographic image integrity cannot be sustained.
  • Cover artDocumentary filmmakers handbook by Ned Eckhardt
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .D62 E35 2012
    ISBN: 9780786460434
    A complete guide to all phases of documentary production, this is an essential handbook for student filmmakers and professional documentarians alike. The text provides a progression of real-world learning skills, including project organization and production design. Also itemized is the necessary production equipment, with technical information refined for universal comprehension of the equipment and its application. ...
  • Cover artIntroduction to documentary by Bill Nichols
    • On Campus or VPN
    • E-Book
    Call Number: eBook
    ISBN: 9780253026903
    Publication Date: 3rd ed.
    The third edition of Bill Nichols's text provides an up-to-date introduction to the most important issues in documentary history and criticism. A new chapter, "I Want to Make a Documentary: Where Do I Start?" guides readers through the steps of planning and pre-production and includes an example of a project proposal for a film that went on to win awards at major festivals. Designed for students in any field that makes use of visual evidence and persuasive strategies, Introduction to Documentary identifies the genre's distinguishing qualities and teaches the viewer how to read documentary film. ...
  • Cover artA new history of documentary film by Betsy A. McLane
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .D6 E46 2012
    ISBN: 9781441124579
    Publication Date: 2nd ed.
    A New History of Documentary Film offers a much-needed resource, considering the very rapid changes taking place within documentary media. Betsy McLane keeps the same chronological examination, factual reliability, ease of use and accessible prose style from the first edition, while also weaving three new threads - Experimental Documentary, Visual Anthropology and Environmental/Nature Films - into the discussion. ...

Selected book title(s)

  • Cover art100 documentary films by Barry Keith Grant; Jim Hillier; British Film Institute Staff
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .D6 G73 2009
    ISBN: 9781844572649
    Documentary films constitute a major part of film history. Cinema's origins lie, arguably, more in non-fiction than fiction, and documentary represents the other - often submerged and barely visible - 'half' of cinema history. Historically, documentary cinema has always been an important point of reference for fiction cinema, and the two have often overlapped. Over the last two decades, documentary cinema has enjoyed a revival in critical and commercial success. 100 Documentary Films is the first book to offer concise and authoritative individual critical commentaries on some of the key documentary films - from the Lumière brothers and the beginnings of cinema through to recent films such as Bowling for Columbine and When the Levees Broke - and is global in perspective. ...
  • Cover artThe art of the documentary: fifteen conversations with leading directors, cinematographers, editors, and producers by Megan Cunningham
    • On Campus or VPN
    • E-Book
    Call Number: eBook
    ISBN: 9780321981929
    Publication Date: 2nd ed.
    Documentary filmmaking is a powerful and vital element to our society, and those who are responsible for bringing real stories and issues to a creative medium often have an uncanny ability to make a deep connection to us with their art. Legendary directors and cinematographers such as the Maysles brothers, D.A. Pennabaker & Chris Hegedus, Errol Morris, or Ken Burns have vividly made their marks in recent decades and continue to inspire those who enter the field. Inexpensive video camera equipment and video editing software have helped fuel a 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. ...
  • Cover artThe camera and the press: American visual and print culture in the age of the daguerreotype by Marcy J. Dinius
    • On Campus or VPN
    • E-Book
    Call Number: eBook
    ISBN: 9780812244045
    Before most Americans ever saw an actual daguerreotype, they encountered this visual form through written descriptions, published and rapidly reprinted in newspapers throughout the land. In The Camera and the Press, Marcy J. Dinius examines how the first written and published responses to the daguerreotype set the terms for how we now understand the representational accuracy and objectivity associated with the photograph, as well as the democratization of portraiture that photography enabled.
  • Cover artDocumentary: a history of the non-fiction film by Erik Barnouw
    • Book
    Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .D6 B37 1992
    ISBN: 9780195078985
    Publication Date: 2nd rev. ed.
    The new edition of this classic work on documentary films and film-making surveys the history of the genre from 1895 to the present day. With the myriad social upheavals over the past decade, documentaries have enjoyed an international renaissance; here Barnouw considers the medium in the light of an entirely new political and social climate. He examines as well the latest film-making technology, and the effects that video cassettes and cable television are having on the production of documentaries. ...
  • Cover artDocumenting the documentary: close readings of documentary film and video by Barry Keith Grant; Jeannette Sloniowski, eds.; Bill Nichols
    • On Campus or VPN
    • E-Book
    Call Number: eBook
    ISBN: 9780814339718
    Publication Date: New and expanded ed.
    Originally released in 1998, Documenting the Documentary responded to a scholarly landscape in which documentary film was largely understudied and undervalued aesthetically, and analyzed instead through issues of ethics, politics, and film technology. Editors Barry Keith Grant and Jeannette Sloniowski addressed this gap by presenting a useful survey of the artistic and persuasive aspects of documentary film from a range of critical viewpoints. This new edition of Documenting the Documentary adds five new essays on more recent films in addition to the text of the first edition. Thirty-one film and media scholars, many of them among the most important voices in the area of documentary film, cover the significant developments in the history of documentary filmmaking from Nanook of the North (1922), the first commercially released documentary feature, to contemporary independent film and video productions like Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man (2005) and the controversial Borat (2006). ...

Other library resource(s)

  • The art of documentary filmmaking by Lindsey Merrison; et. al.
    • Video
    • On Campus or VPN
    Call Number: Streaming video
    At the end of 2005, Anglo-Burmese filmmaker Lindsey Merrison brought together eight tutors well-versed in documentary from Europe and Australia with twelve young Burmese men and women for a three-week workshop entitled The Art of Documentary Filmmaking. The venue was a quiet hotel in Myanmar's capital, Yangon.
  • Resource logoCinematography and cinematographers from Oxford Bibliographies Online by Patrick Keating
    • On Campus or VPN
    Call Number: Electronic resource
    ISBN: 9780199791286
    The craft of cinematography brings together a wide range of tasks, including camerawork, lighting, and laboratory processing. Much of the literature on cinematography focuses on specific technologies developed over a hundred years of film production. In how-to books, practicing cinematographers explain difficult technical points to aspiring filmmakers and other amateur readers. Technical questions also dominate the scholarly literature on cinematography, covering such subjects as the history of deep-focus cinematography or the opportunities for composition in CinemaScope. ...
  • Resource logoDocumentary film from Oxford Bibliographies Online by Zoë Druick
    • On Campus or VPN
    Call Number: Electronic resource
    ISBN: 9780199791286
    Since the 1990s, there has been a veritable explosion of documentary films and digital media productions accompanied by a correspondingly large number of books and articles dedicated to contextualizing and interpreting them. The documentary film form itself is not new, of course. It dates from the 1920s, cinema’s fourth decade, and has long been a realist form associated with state education and political communication. ...
  • Resource logoDocuseek2 complete collection by Docuseek2
    • Video
    • On Campus or VPN
    • Database
    Call Number: Streaming video
    This database provides educational streaming access to content from Bullfrog Films, Icarus Films (including The Fanlight Collection and dGenerate Films), Kartemquin Films, MediaStorm, the National Film Board of Canada, Scorpion TV, Sincerely Films, Terra Nova Films and Villon Films. Topics covered include business and economics, health care, humanities, performing arts, and social sciences.
    This collection includes the Sustainability Collection.

A short, selected list of documentaries

Documentary films on DVD and videotape are located in the Jones Media Center on the second level of Berry Library or available through streaming. Here are a few examples of social justice documentaries. See a longer list of documentaries from our collections.

  • Capturing reality: the art of documentary by Pepita Ferrari
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #14687
    An exploration of the complex creative process that goes into making documentary films. Features interviews with 38 directors and 163 clips of scenes from classic films plus a bonus disc with over four hours of additional filmmaker interviews.
  • Jean Rouch
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #9954
    Interview of Jean Rouch by Robert Gardner. As a filmmaker, Rouch left a legacy of more than 120 films. His half century of ethnographic filmmaking in Africa distinguished him as a master of the documentary form.
  • Robert Fulton by Robert Gardner, concept & supervision
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #9957
    Robert Fulton was an extraordinary non-fiction filmmaker and gifted aerial cinematographer who left a legacy of remarkable films shot all over the world. He was an exceptional pilot, a devout Buddhist and a brilliant independent thinker and talker. He taught for a time in Harvard's Visual and Environmental Studies Department and worked closely with Robert Gardner on large and small projects over several decades. He won many awards, including an Emmy for work in television.
  • Cover ArtDavid Holzman's diary by Jim McBride
    • DVD
    Call Number: Jones Media DVD #18634
    In this 1967 faux-documentary, a man tries to put all of his life experiences on celluloid. His insistence upon poking his camera where it isn't wanted results only in irritation, alienation, and a few bloody noses. As Holzman's life (and his film) becomes harder to follow, the audience is liable to be as confused as David, especially if they make the mistake of taking this whole thing seriously. Filmed like cinema verite, it's a well-disguised fiction about the deceptions of cinematic illusionism and the lies people tell themselves in order to live.

Finding scholarly articles & journal title(s)

Articles and other writings about documentaries can be found in many publications. Our collection includes a couple of titles which look exclusively at Documentary films.  You can use Film & Television Literature Index, Art Full Text or ARTbibliographies Modern to find articles or use the new search box at the top of the page.

  • Issue cover artStudies in documentary film
    • On Campus or VPN
    Call Number: Electronic journal
    This journal provides information about the history, theory, criticism and practice of documentary film.
  • Issue cover artJournal of film and video
    • On Campus or VPN
    Call Number: Electronic journal
    The Journal of Film and Video, an internationally respected forum, focuses on scholarship in the fields of film and video production, history, theory, criticism, and aesthetics.
  • Resource logoFilm & television literature index by EBSCO Publishing
    • On Campus or VPN
    • Database
    Call Number: Electronic resource
    Use this index to find articles about all aspects of documentaries.
  • Resource logoWeb of science citation databases by Clarivate
    • On Campus or VPN
    • Database
    Call Number: Electronic resource
    The online version of 3 separate ISI indexes: Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index and, Social Sciences Citation Index.

Internet resource(s)

  • Beyond Inclusion
    • Link
    Beyond Inclusion is a BIPOC-led collective of non-fiction makers, executives, and field builders. We organize for a more racially just and equitable media landscape and hold an unapologetically large vision for ecosystem-wide change. In the new normal, every staff room, C-Suite and boardroom will reflect the diverse makeup of the audiences they serve. ...
  • Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary
    • Video
    • Link
    The accompanying web site for the film listed above.
  • Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
    • Link
    The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is an annual international event dedicated to the theatrical exhibition of non-fiction cinema. The Festival takes place in Durham, North Carolina.
  • HotDocs
    • Link
    Documentaries from Canada.
  • International Documentary Association (IDA)
    • Link
    The mission of the International Documentary Association is to promote nonfiction film and video around the world by supporting and recognizing the efforts of documentary film and video makers; ...
    more...less...
    ... increasing public appreciation and demand for the documentary and providing a forum for documentary makers, their supporters and suppliers

Citing and Tracking Your Bibliographic References

Use this guide to help you learn how to correctly cite and keep track of the references you find for your research.

  • Citation Resources
    • Link
    Resources to help you cite and manage references.

Keeping up with Film Studies journal literature

Want an easy way to keep up with the journal literature for all facets of Film Studies? And you use a mobile device? You can install the BrowZine app and create a custom Bookshelf of your favorite journal titles. Then you will get the Table of Contents (ToCs) of your favorite journals automatically delivered to you when they become available. Once you have the ToC's, you can download and read the articles you want from the journals for which we have subscriptions.

You can get the app from the App Store or Google Play.

Don't own or use a mobile device? You can still use BrowZine! It's also available in a web version. You can get to it here. The web version works the same way as the app version. Find the journals you like, create a custom Bookshelf, get ToCs and read the articles you want.

  • Last Updated: Nov 21, 2024 1:13 PM
  • URL: https://researchguides.dartmouth.edu/film30courseguide
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