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Writing About Video & Film: (Excerped in part from Mary Lynn Rampolla, A
Pocket Guide to Writing in History, 7
th
edition, Boston: Beford, 2012).

Film and other visual texts are becoming increasingly important sources for
historians. Watching a film, like reading a book, should not be a passive exercise.
Approach the film and read it with the same critical and analytical skills that you
would apply to a written text.

Documentary Films:

Defined:
Documentaries are films that use primary sources (such as photographs, paintings,
and documents) and commentaries on those sources by various authorities (such as
historians, biographers, and eyewitnesses) to construct a narrative of a historical
figure or event.

Give examples?

Documentaries, given the temporality of events covered, are able to make use of
footage (a direct film or video recording of an event).
can be produced by professionals such as TV news videographers
can be produced by amateurs Abraham Zapruders 8 mm film of the
assassination of JFK.
Footage is a primary source because it records events as they happen.

Documentary filmmakers use of primary sources such as footage must be viewed
critically.
filmmakers, like writers, choose what to record, usually with a particular
purpose, and sometimes with a particular audience in mind.
Footage that makes its way into broadcasts has been cut and edited.
In evaluating a documentary that uses footage, try to determine:
o Why and by whom the original footage was shot.
o Whether it was edited.
o For what purposes it was edited.

Feature Films:
Films designed primarily as entertainment
They sometimes feature famous actors
They always aim at box-office success.
Historical rigor is not their primary concern so it should not be surprising
to us that they are not historically accurate.

But- feature films are valuable PRIMARY SOURCES
for understanding cultural attitudes
All feature films can be viewed as primary sources for the cultural and social
history of the period in which they were made.
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Questions to Ask About Film Sources:

What kind of film is this (a documentary or a feature film)?
o If the film is a documentary, not the academic credentials of the
experts who provide commentary.
o If it is a feature film, determine whether the filmmakers made use of
professional historians as consultants.
Who are the director, the producer, and the screenwriter for the film? Have
they made other films to which you can compare this one?
o Comparisons may allow you to understand the filmmakers interests
and biases.
o Did the filmmaker provide interviews or written commentary that
might shed light on their work?
Who is the intended audience?
Analyze the cinematic techniques used to convey the story.
o Is the film shot in black and white or in color?
o How does the filmmaker use lighting to convey a mood or to make a
symbolic point?
o How is one set of images juxtaposed with another to create an
impression?
o What kinds of camera angles are used, and why?
Analyze how the filmmaker uses sound.
o What kind of music is used in the soundtrack?
o Was it composed specifically for the film, or are classical and popular
pieces used?
Discuss the ways in which the filmmaker shapes the narrative.
o From what point of view is the story told?
o Does the film employ flashbacks or narrative voice-overs?
If the film is based on a play or a specific text, compare the film with the
original source.
o Are any themes or concepts portrayed more effectively in the film
than in the text?
o Conversely, are any elements of the source eliminated or distorted in
the film?
Compare the film with other films, books, and articles on the same subject.