Fires Were Started (BFI Film Classics)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.48 (556 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0851707734 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 96 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-05-20 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
"Sage introduction to one of Britain's greatest filmmakers." according to darragh o'donoghue. The most important and influential development in 19Sage introduction to one of Britain's greatest filmmakers. The most important and influential development in 1930s British cinema was the documentary movement, which was given the name by its chief practitioner, John Grierson, head of the General Post Office Film Unit. These documentaries weren't what we understand by the term today - rather than utilising fly-on-the-wall, observational techniques, these films were reconstructions of actual, 'typical' events, involving prior 'scientific' research and witness accounts, and often using scripted dialogue, sets and some kind of narrative struc. 0s British cinema was the documentary movement, which was given the name by its chief practitioner, John Grierson, head of the General Post Office Film Unit. These documentaries weren't what we understand by the term today - rather than utilising fly-on-the-wall, observational techniques, these films were reconstructions of actual, 'typical' events, involving prior 'scientific' research and witness accounts, and often using scripted dialogue, sets and some kind of narrative struc
. He is Head of the School of Communications at the University of Westminster. Brian Winston won an Emmy for documentary scriptwriting and is the author of Claiming the Real (1995) Technologies of Seeing (1996), Media Technology and Society (1998) and Lies, Damn Lies and Documentaries (2000)
This work suggests that Humphrey Jennings' re-enacted documentary about the London Blitz, Fires Were Started, is an understated propaganda masterpiece. The book provides an account of how Jennings recaptured the reality of the Blitz for his cumbersome camera through a process of meticulous research.
"Probably the most cogently argued study of Jennings so far." -- Sight and Sound