Directing the Documentary, Fifth Edition

Directing the Documentary is a comprehensive manual that has inspired over 100,000 readers worldwide. If you are interested in making documentary films, everything you need technically and conceptually is here. Filled with practical advice on every stage of production, this is the book you will return to throughout your career.

Directing the Documentary covers the methods, technologies, thought processes, and judgments that a director must use throughout the fascinating process of making a film. It emphasizes low-cost digital technology, which allows cutting-edge creativity and professionalism on shoestring budgets. And, recognizing that you learn best by doing, the book includes dozens of practical hands-on projects and activities to help you master technical and conceptual skills.

Just as important as surmounting technological hurdles is the conceptual and authorial side of filmmaking. This book offers eminently practical tools and exercises to help you develop credible and compelling stories. It shows you how to surpass mere technical proficiency and become a storyteller with a distinctive voice and style.

* Comprehensive manual on the creative, technical, and artistic aspects of directing; become an inspired director!
* Includes dozens of practical exercises that demystify the complex process of making a documentary and make it achievable
* Realistic advice and encouragement from a highly regarded filmmaker, mentor, and teacher to help you on your path to making successful documentary films
* New companion website features tons of handy production checklists & forms, videos for some of the films discussed in the book, along with a master bibliography (access information for the companion site is located inside the book)
* "Remember Me" and "Project" boxes are now scattered throughout the text, pointing out key concepts and practical projects that students may undertake

"While there are many books about the technical basics of documentary film production, none of them integrate so thoroughly the artistic intention at the heart of great direction with the means of realization in pre-production, the field and the editing room...Great directing is equally a matter of heart and soul as much as technical knowledge. This idea is prevalent throughout Rabiger's book." - Ray Zone, International Documentary Magazine

"What makes this book so valuable is that the author consistently searches for the philosophical underpinnings of his art and never gets lost in the technical processes of filmmaking." - Jonathan Luskin, Flying Moose Pictures, San Francisco

"The book's greatest strength is the emphasis on documentary filmmaking as a creative, storytelling process....It supplies more in the way of an ethical foundation for the young filmmaker than any other title on the market." - Phil Hopper, Director, Theatre and Media Arts Program, Marymount College of Fordham University

"Intelligent and artfully written, Directing the Documentary should enjoy a place of prominence in the library of every documentary videomaker." - Videomaker magazine

"...what really makes this book so valuable is that the author is just so inspiring. Rabiger writes with such enthusiasm that even the most nervous would-be documentary maker is encouraged. But this is not the extent of his audience as this text is also highly relevant and impassioning to the seasoned pro...This text is inspirational, accessible, filled with useful filmic references and snippets of advice...This updated 4th edition really is a must for anyone with an interest in documentary filmmaking." - POV2 Journal
"Skim and scan this one? Nope! Read it cover to cover? Absolutely! Not since I read Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code has a book been the cause of forcing me to rethink things as much as this one. For those either making documentaries or thinking about it, this is the book to get." - Steve Douglas, underwater videographer and writer for kenstone.net