PREFACE TO THE SIXTH EDITION

 

Today people are shooting actuality as never before, using consumer cameras to shoot friends, children, or pets, and smartphones to cover demonstrations or document the retribution meted out by “security forces.” On the front lines of human conflict, courageous men and women risk their lives to document war and natural disasters that turn human life into an atrocious struggle. This they do, I believe, because something noble and brave in them believes that people should not suffer alone. The resulting torrent of documentaries—committed, quirky, funny, outrageous, and sometimes horrific—creates an appetite not only to see films reflecting reality, but to make them.

Which is where this how-to book comes in. Today, ...

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