Documentary Storytelling

Sheila Curran Bernard is an award-winning filmmaker and writer whose credits include projects for broadcast and theatrical release as well as museum and classroom use. She has taught at Princeton University, Westbrook College, and the University at Albany, SUNY.

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).

Documentary Storytelling offers a unique, in-depth look at story and structure in documentaries. Offering practical advice for every state of production, this book is filled with real-world examples drawn from the author's career and the experiences of a range of filmmakers, both emerging and established. Special interview chapters explore storytelling as practiced by David Guggenheim, James Marsh, Deborah Scranton, Alex Gibney, Brett Culp, Tracy Heather Strain, and others. This 3e has been updated and expanded, with a look at newer and internationally distributed films. It also features new coverage of financing and budgeting in the world of digital distribution of documentary films and the troubles that young filmmakers face as a result. Other books focus on production techniques; this book shows filmmakers how to strengthen their films through storytelling, bringing difficult subjects to life in film.

CHAPTER 1 IntroductionPART I - Understanding StoryCHAPTER 2 Story BasicsCHAPTER 3 Finding the StoryCHAPTER 4 Story StructureCHAPTER 5 Time on ScreenCHAPTER 6 Creative ApproachCHAPTER 7 Close ViewingPART II - Working with StoryCHAPTER 8 ResearchCHAPTER 9 PlanningCHAPTER 10 SellingCHAPTER 11 ShootingCHAPTER 12 EditingCHAPTER 13 Narration and Voice-OverCHAPTER 14 Storytelling: A ChecklistPART III - Talking About StoryCHAPTER 15 Alex GibneyCHAPTER 16 Susan KimCHAPTER 17 James MarshCHAPTER 18 Cara MertesCHAPTER 19 Stanley NelsonCHAPTER 20 Deborah ScrantonCHAPTER 21 Kazuhiro SodaCHAPTER 22 Orlando von Einsiedel