Directing the Documentary

A invaluable resource for any first time directors.It truly covers every aspect of documentary filmmaking.You will learn how to craft a narrative, articulate your vision to others, maximize your potential, and cover ALL of your bases when it comes to legal aspects of documentary filmmaking.If you read this, cover to cover, you are about as ready as you can be to start filming a potentially legitimate documentary.The only thing that I wish there was more of is information on maximizing DSLRs in particular in the field.But Rabiger's no-nonsense attitude and plain-as-day advice more than makes up for that.

Bridging the gap between a tutorial expression of principles and a genuine how-to checklist is never easy, and it cannot be done literally. When a book comes as close to achieving this elusive goal as this one does, it's worth using, relying upon, and learning from.Among its imperfections are too many grammatical errors, too much of the author's personal politics, and a lamentable repetition of the age-old mistaken belief that Wagner wrote "Also sprach Zarathustra". It was Strauss.

Good book for someone with no experience in film making, I had to do some research. But, I shot a feature documentary that released in 2013 and was distributed on VoD world wide. As a matter of fact, you can find it on Amazon.

This book is perfect as a teaching vehicle. The detail is wonderful, but it never gets bogged down. The focus on practical tasks is excellent, but there's there's also plenty of insight and analysis. Not only that, but using the code printed at the back of the book, you can get into a web site full of templates and checklists. I'm going to be teaching a documentary subject to university students later this year - this book has done all the work for me!

I just started this book, but already I love it! It is the only textbook that I have ever been able to sit with and read straight through. The writing is great and the subject matter, inspiring. I also enjoy the "tasks" assigned in each chapter which help the beginner learn critical skills for documentary making.

I can't say enough about this book. This is a great collection of wisdom from the field. It covers every angle of making documentary films and really conveys the essence of the medium. I have always wanted to make a documentary and this book will lead the way.

This was a mandatory book for a mandatory class that i hated in the end anyway. Yet my emotional grievances aside, it was unnecessarily repetitive, wordy, and just plain annoying to read. I had taken a similar class during my undergrad time and the former book said the same exact things but was more concise. Rabiger is not all bad. Yet for me this was not a good fit book and defiantly not worth the $$ i spent.

Ordered through Amazon Prime and the book arrived in excellent condition, fast. This book sometimes reads like a self help book but is really great with advice on documentary film making in particular but I see it as applicable in fiction film to an extent too. Also full of helpful tips for shooting, planning, pitching, and the like.

When I picked up a video camera some years ago I wanted to read all I could that would give me direction for film making. I got a few 'how to..' books on making documentaries and read them avidly but without feeling particularly inspired until I read 'Introduction to Documentary' by Bill Nichols. After reading this book I soon realised that I had taken the wrong approach. Forget books that try to teach you how to shoot film, how to light, how to edit a script or what camera angle to take. Better still, Nichols' Introduction showed me the different approaches to documentary film making that have evolved over the past century, or so. It went on to give titles of particular films that illustrated these different styles. So, I then watched as many of these as I could find and learnt for myself what it was that made each individual film a 'classic' of its genre. If anyone reads this and is interested to make documentary films then I would highly recommend this book. No 'teach yourself' book will ever teach you how to find your style. One learns by practical work and emulation of those one admires.

Very good book. If you are looking to do documentaries you need to have that in your library. Very well written

Looks exactly like described, good seller

Apart from the excellent technical guidance and well laid out structure....this book has soul!! Thoroughly recommended as essential reading for all levels of experience.

If you want to make documentaries with substance this is the book for you.I like the how the author encourages the reader to look outside of themselves for inspiration both for content of the film and motivation for making a film. This book as well as encouraging the reader to develop a voice and awareness of the world around them, while also going into the business aspects and craft of documentary filmmaking. The book is also full of practical exercises to get you started in applying what you learn. This is one of the best books I've read about documentary filmmaking, and I've read many.