Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary

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Audience Member This is an interesting documentary of the art of documentary film-making. It features interviews with many of the world's top documentary directors giving their thoughts and advice on documentary film-making. There's a lot of talking heads, so the movie can feel a bit dry at times, but it's so informative that any one who likes documentaries will enjoy nit. Give it a try! Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member Did i see this already? Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Turning the lens and the question of storyline back onto those artists that call themselves Documentary Filmmakers. With only a few brief doc excerpts, several aspects of motivation are revealed: how these individuals see themselves, their films, and the personal reward of finding a story worth retelling. Fortunately, Moore wasn't interviewed though he gets mentioned by some of his peers. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member A sort of "documentary 101", but not much more. Never seems to get to the heart of the matter or anything really interesting, instead spending its time skirting as many issues as it can fit in. One of the interviewees points out that good documentaries are all about digging deeper and deeper into the subject, beyond the obvious. This film would have done well to learn that lesson. It hints at interesting, controversial, philosophical subjects like "what role should re-enactments play?" and "how 'real' are documentaries anyway?", "is there room for commentary?" but doesn't go deeper than an answer or two. It would have been more interesting to have two filmmakers in the same room to debate some of these issues. Might be of interest to first year film students. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member More insightful than a lot of documentaries on cinema, but not as insightful as the best of them. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member Notable directors such as Werner Herzog, Nick Broomfield and Errol Morris discussing the art, craft and unique challenges of nonfiction filmmaking. The real value in this documentary is that it emphasizes the differing theories on just exactly what a documentary should be. There is no one right way to produce and film a documentary. Some directors like to film their interviewees when least expected to capture as much of the interviewees real character as possible, while others (like acclaimed director Werner Herzog, and one of my personal favorites) prefer to embellish the truth slightly to better establish a literary theme in the documentary. Also, beside the sheer ideas this picture provides for student filmmakers, there are also clips from a wide variety of acclaimed documentaries for those looking for good ideas on what documentaries to watch. Capturing Reality: The art of Documentary is a great source for those who want to better understand what non-fiction filmmaking is. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary

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