Crafting truth

the long version

"Although nonfiction film may have captured imaginations, many viewers enter and leave theaters with a naive concept of "reality"--For them, documentaries are sources of information. But is truth or reality readily available, easily acquired, or undisputed? Or do documentaries convey illusions of reality? What aesthetic means are used to build these illusions? Crafting Truth illuminates the ways these films tell their stories; how they use the camera, editing, sound, and performance; what rhetorical devices they employ; and what the theoretical, practical, and ethical implications of these choices are. Complex documentary concepts are presented through easily accessible language, images, and a discussion of a wide range of films and videos to encourage new ways of thinking about and seeing nonfiction cinema. --Book Jacket.