Filmmaking For Fieldwork - F4F - Audio-visual research handbook

Manchester University Press | available from all good booksellers

This book is designed to accompany filmmakers on location in the pocket of a camera bag. It is illustrated with more than 120 colour images and diagrams and written in an accessible and informative style. Its aim is to encourage exploration through practice and inspire the development of camera, sound and editing skills that can be applied to various modes of documentary and ethnographic storytelling.

Ethnographic documentary is long overdue for a contemporary guide to the field that takes into account the changes since the 1997 publication of 'Cross-Cultural Filmmaking' by Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Ilisa Barbash. This thoughtful and beautifully produced book provides a comprehensive overview that is both philosophical and practical, addressing questions that range from ethics and collaboration to shooting in field settings to digital technology, to foundational questions about the value of such work. The author is a talented and accomplished anthropologist and filmmaker, who even provides the ten commandments (for observational film!) to inspire ethnographic filmmakers - whether aspiring or accomplished - to reach the promised land of field-based documentary work, from pre-production to distribution.

Faye Ginsburg, David B. Kriser Professor of Anthropology, Director, Graduate Program in Culture & Media at NYU

Through Lawrence's articulate and comprehensive presentation, Filmmaking for Fieldwork becomes a sophisticated handbook that underscores the purpose, power, and techniques of ethnographic film--a timely and important contribution to visual anthropology and documentary film.

Paul Stoller, author of Adventures in Blogging: Public Anthropology and Popular Media.

Designed for researchers seeking new ways to explore their field and media professionals aiming to extend their practice, this filmmaking handbook shows you how to plug into issues at the intersection of documentary cinema and ethnography. Exploring the unique potential for filmmaking to describe lifeworlds and the role of video editing in generating new ideas about human experience, it offers practical and theoretical advice for those making their first films.

Based on over twenty years of teaching and industry experience, Filmmaking for fieldwork aims to inspire the development of core skills in camera use, sound recording and editing that can be applied to sensory, observational, participatory, reflexive and immersive modes of storytelling. Written for a multi-disciplinary audience, this book covers all stages necessary to produce a documentary film, from conception through to preparation, production, editing and distribution.

Table of Contents

About this book

Section 1: Why make a documentary film?

Technique

Describing human experience with filmmaking

Editing as an analytic tool

Practice: Processes, events and testimonies

Approach

Collaboration

Observation

Reflexivity

Expression

Ethics

Establishing good practice

Informed consent and other documents

Permissions and notices

Section 2: Preparation

Writing a film proposal

Selecting equipment

Camera types and terminology

Sound recording technology

Peripheral kit

Editing gear

Establishing control

Image format settings

Data storage

Operating a camera using manual functions

Connecting sound to the camera

Signal-to-noise ratio

Audio format and quality

Inputs, channels and tracks

Lighting

Natural

Artificial

Section 3: Recording

Fieldwork relationships

Approaching research participants

Image

Moving and positioning the camera

Composition and the ‘One Shot’ exercise

Shot types

Sound

Synchronous sound

Room tone and atmospheric sound

Unwanted sound

Microphone placement

Recording level and monitoring volume

Operating in key situations

Processes and events

Interviews, testimonies and conversations

Yourself and others

Planes, trains and automobiles

Guided tours and walking

Tables and desktops

Performances