Nonfiction Sound And Story For Film And Video

This book guides nonfiction storytellers in the art of creatively and strategically using sound to engage their audience and bring stories to life. Sound is half of film and video storytelling, and yet its importance is often overlooked until a post-production emergency arises. Written by two experienced creators—one a seasoned nonfiction producer/director with a background in music, and one a sound designer who owns a well-regarded mix studio—this book teaches nonfiction producers, filmmakers, and branded content creators how to reimagine their storytelling by improving sound workflow from field to post. In addition to real-world examples from the authors’ own experiences, interviews with and examples from industry professionals across many genres of nonfiction production are included throughout. Written in a conversational style, the book pinpoints practical topics and considerations like 360 video and viewer accessibility. As such, it is a vital point of reference for all nonfiction filmmakers, directors, and producers, or anyone wanting to learn how to improve their storytelling. An accompanying Companion Website offers listening exercises, production sound layout diagrams, templates, and other resources.

Documentary Storytelling is unique in offering an in-depth look at story and structure as applied not to Hollywood fiction, but to films and videos based on factual material and the drama of real life. With the growing popularity of documentaries in today's global media marketplace, demand for powerful and memorable storytelling has never been greater. This practical guide offers advice for every stage of production, from research and proposal writing to shooting and editing, and applies it to diverse subjects and film styles, from vérité and personal narrative to archival histories and more. Filled with real-world examples drawn from the author's career and the experiences of some of today's top documentarians, Documentary Storytelling includes special interview chapters with Ric Burns, Jon Else, Nick Fraser, Susan Froemke, Sam Pollard, Onyekachi Wambu and other film professionals. This second edition has been brought up to date with a more international focus, a look at lower-budget independent filmmaking, and consideration of newer films including Super Size Me, Murderball, So Much So Fast, and When the Levees Broke.

"With all the buzz over blockbuster docs, Focal Press serves up a perfectly timed winner in a much-neglected area, True to the nature of the beast, the book is more about filmmaking as a whole, and how and wher storytelling weaves into the overall process."---Canadian Screenwriter (Writers Guild of Canada) "Bernard is keenly aware of the power persuasive images, and her insistence on complexity and integrity is a consistent theme throughout the book."---The Independent (Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers)"[B]rilliant and effective." Documentary Storytelling has reached filmgoers worldwide with its unique focus on the most important and cost-effective tool of nonfiction filmmaking: storytelling. This practical guide reveals how today's top filmmakers bring the tools of drama to the world of nonfiction filmmaking, without sacrificing the rigor and truthfulness that give documentaries their power. Whathr Your project is verite or archival history, low budget or high, this book offers practical advice for every member of the production team at every stage of production, from research through shooting and editing. This third edition has been updated and improved, with new content throughout and new interviews with Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side), James Marsh (Man on Wire), Deborah Scranton (The War Tapes), and others, in addition to previous interviews with filmmakers including Steven Ascher and Jeanne Jordan (So Much So Fast), Ric Burns (New York), Nick Fraser (BBC Storyville), and Sam Pollard (When the Leves the Levees Broke)

Producer’s Playbook: Real People on Camera is a no-nonsense guide for producers looking to get the best performances from "real people" to tell powerful stories on video. Director/producer Amy DeLouise brings years of experience to this resource for creating the best on-screen impact with non-actors for interviews, re-enactments, documentary and direct-to-camera messages. With useful case studies and tips on everything from managing locations and budgeting to strategies for managing crews and the expectations of executive producers and clients, this is an invaluable resource for professionals working in reality TV, documentary, corporate video, and more. Ample case studies with perspectives from industry professionals interviewed by the author, as well as her own plentiful stories from the field Tips are featured in sidebars throughout the text, so that readers can see how the information applies to real situations Full-color photographs allow readers to visualize real world production situations The appendix includes useful templates and checklists for working producers

Introduction to Media Production, Third Edition, provides students with a practical framework for all aspects of media production by addressing the technological and aesthetic changes that have shaped the industry. Offering both hands-on instruction and theoretical information, it provides a sound basis for the techniques, operations, and philosophies of media production in the new digital environment. The new edition has been updated throughout with detailed information on how digital processes have changed everything from shooting to editing to finishing. It includes content on the Internet, writing for the Internet, Graphics and Animation.

Learn the creative and technical essentials of documentary filmmaking with Documentary Voice & Vision. This comprehensive work combines clear, up-to-date technical information, production techniques and gear descriptions with an understanding of how technical choices can create meaning and serve a director’s creative vision. Drawing on the authors’ years of experience as documentary filmmakers, and on interviews with a range of working professionals in the field, the book offers concrete and thoughtful guidance through all stages of production, from finding and researching ideas to production, editing and distribution. Documentary Voice & Vision will help students and aspiring filmmakers think though research and story structure, ethics, legal issues and aesthetics, as well as techniques from camera handling to lighting, sound recording and editing. The book explores a full range of production styles, from expository to impressionistic to observational, and provides an overview of contemporary distribution options. Documentary Voice & Vision is a companion text to Mick Hurbis-Cherrier’s Voice & Vision: A Creative Approach to Narrative Film and DV Production, and employs a similar style and approach to that classic text. This text is written from the perspective of documentary filmmakers, and includes myriad examples from the world of non-fiction filmmaking. A robust companion website featuring additional resources and interactive figures accompanies the book.

Offering both hands-on instruction and theoretical information, readers learn about various forms of media, how to choose and make the best use of them, and the techniques used to create a media project. With an emphasis on the creative, aesthetic, and technical aspects of creating media, this new edition sheds light on why the reasonings behind production choices are as important as knowing how to push the right buttons and turn the correct knobs.

Documentary Storytelling has reached filmmakers and filmgoers worldwide with its unique focus on the key ingredient for success in the growing global documentary marketplace: storytelling. This practical guide reveals how today’s top filmmakers bring the tools of narrative cinema to the world of nonfiction film and video without sacrificing the rigor and truthfulness that give documentaries their power. The book offers practical advice for producers, directors, editors, cinematographers, writers and others seeking to make ethical and effective films that merge the strengths of visual and aural media with the power of narrative storytelling. In this new, updated edition, Emmy Award-winning author Sheila Curran Bernard offers: New strategies for analyzing documentary work New conversations with filmmakers including Stanley Nelson (The Black Panthers), Kazuhiro Soda (Mental), Orlando von Einsiedel (Virunga), and Cara Mertes (JustFilms) Discussions previously held with Susan Kim (Imaginary Witness), Deborah Scranton (The War Tapes), Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side), and James Marsh (Man on Wire).