DOCUMENTARIES

Thanks to today's technology - ranging from the highest 'spec' to the humblest cellphone, all the world's a filmmaker. Just pointing-and-shooting doesn't necessarily constitute a 'doco', whatever some so-called examples of 'reality TV' might claim. Everything you ever wanted to know about the nuts-and-bolts, from idea development to screening, is here as well as a DVD containing three expert examples - Eric Bafving's Boogie Woogie Papa (2002), Marc Isaacs' Lift (2001) and Ben Hopkins' Footprints (2003) - to provide some visual clues.

Essential reading, should next year's Empire Awards include a 'Done In 90 Minutes' docucomp. Endlessly fascinating, this thorough guide to making a doc is a great read, whether you're planning on becoming the next Michael Moore or just putting on the DVD instead. Five Stars.

[Joint review of Documentaries... and How to Make Them, and Short Films... and how to Make and Distribute Them]

Whether these two works were written in reaction to insufficient subject representation and methodology or by trendsetting idealists who simply know their field and how to communicate it, we as readers win. These volumes intelligibly convey information didactically in a palatable fashion without suggesting that you are a dummy or an idiot. Of similar design, both books exhibit a physically efficient while textually dense architecture; their dimensions are expanded further by DVD-ROMs showcasing case-in-point documentaries and shorts as well as invaluable interactive Excel spreadsheets and PDF and Word templates outlining budget and call sheets, licensing and release forms, treatment examples, fill-in storyboards, and more. Both books provide background history of their respective genres; cover preproduction, production, and postproduction; explore marketing and distribution; and flesh out all of this with interviews, cost-sheet examples, production notes and product info, and clearly organized references, referrals, and links.

Glynne and Parker each wonderfully represent their gifts as both instructors and filmmakers with these academic-by-nature but practical-in-design titles. Save for a few Anglocentric sprinkles (convert the pounds to dollars or swap Main Street for High Street and everything will be just fine), the books speak the international language of film and can be enjoyably read straight through but are priceless as sources of reference - all the while funny, insightful, and realistic. Where these books lack (and they don't much), they provide excellent referral information. They're like filmmaking courses bound and at a fraction of the cost. Accessible and valuable to academic and public libraries of all sizes - and, obviously, highly recommended.