Customer Reviews

Archival Storytelling: A Filmmaker's Guide to Finding, Using, and Licensing Third-Party Visuals and Music

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I'm a documentary filmmaker currently producing a feature documentary about the history of urban planning. I'm going to be relying on use of a lot of archival material, so when I saw this book on the Focal Press site several months back, I pre-ordered and anxiously awaited its arrival.

I was already familiar with the popular footage licensing archives and have spent many hours perusing material in the Prelinger collection at archive.org, and also quite familiar with other topics the book covers such as Fair Use and how E&O insurance comes into play - so I had the usual reservations about whether this book would have too much more to offer. My worries were put to rest. This book is right on target for anyone embarking on any sort of project that is going to require the use of archival footage.

I think the book might best be described as a sort of prologue to the work that eventually takes place whether a professional archival researcher is hired or a producer is going at it on their own. The segway from the book as prologue and the beginning of archival research is the book's website which has a fairly comprehensive list with brief descriptions of each source of footage that the book covers. This list is incredibly useful on its own. Having read the book, however, I feel armed and prepared to not make many mistakes I may otherwise have made just going down the list - mistakes which could have cost money, time, or even prevented me from obtaining footage I hope to use. The book sets up and explains the theoretical background many archives operate on - and dispels some of the mystique of some of the larger corporate and network archives (Getty Images, NBC, etc.)

Where the book adds an interesting dimension is in its discussion of Copyright law. To read between the lines, there is an urging that because we live in a time and place where we have amazing access to great quantities of material it is criminal not to make use of it. The extent to which Youtube contains copyright violating work is a vote of no-confidence in existing copyright law. Things are changing very quickly and the regulations which have bound and often prevented unadulterated creativity by way of use of other's material are not as restrictive as they once were.

Authors have been quoting other authors for centuries, musicians have been sampling other musicians for decades, and we now live in an era in which films and videos can make use of pre-existing content to create new works without the mega-budgets of TV networks or studios. This book is an excellent guide to navigating the still often rough waters of archival footage research and licensing and I know I'll be thankful to have read it as I begin pulling material for my own project.

This book is an essential edition to any filmmaker's library. It is both a guide and a reference work. It offers listings of many archival sources that allow for access to and affordable use of all kinds of images and music. It offers a primer on copyright, covering relevant issues related to archival use such as public domain content, internet licensing, moral rights, most-favored-nations clauses, music synchronization and master use licenses, and fair use. It also covers frustrating and sticky issues that arise when acquiring materials such as inability to gain access to public domain content.

It engages the reader in an exploration that works for any of the creative arts--a discussion of ethical issues related to the use of other's content in a manner that is true to its original meaning, mission, context, and purpose.

And the book presents an inside/out perspective of the business of filmmaking and the complexities of its intellectual property issues. The authors accomplish this perspective through the use of interviews and roundtable discussions with well-established filmmakers, archivists, film researchers, insurance executives, and supervisors and managers of rights in the music industry. The work also contains a thought-provoking commentary on what copyright has become and of what it should be and why. This discussion impels filmmakers to actively engage in the current dialogue about a concept of copyright that would both protect their own and others' creations, secure current access to archival materials, and increase the amount of archival content that is accessible in the future.

Kenn Rabin and Sheila Curran Bernard have written an important book, one that will serve as the definitive text on archive-based filmmaking for years to come. The authors are among the most seasoned professionals in the field, and they generously share their deep knowledge of the subject. Film and video archives are a stimulating palette for filmmakers, although the enormous technical, legal, and research demands can be overwhelming. This book masterfully navigates these routines while keeping the focus on the creative process: a collaborative process that relies on researchers and archivists, as well as producers and story-tellers, to create programs. In the end, this is an engaging and inspirational book about making GREAT programs, and it also serves as a reliable reference to research sources, production routines, and legal considerations. I have been working with film and video archives for over twenty years, and I understand the hunger for this information in the production communities. This book delivers the information, but also reinforces why the archive-based program, done right, is a critical part of our cultural conversation. Clearly, I recommend this book to those interested in the subject, and I am thankful that the authors provided us with this wonderful gift.

Archival Storytelling provides an excellent roadmap through the landmines of documentary film making when you have to work with archival materials. In fact, it's rare in the film industry to find a single volume that provides in-depth, all-encompassing information of such an important aspect of film making.

It's all here: Where to find archival films, how to find them, how to order them, how to use them, the facts about copyright, licensing, access, public domain, Fair Use, Fair Dealing, Errors and Omissions, International rights, the works! If you're making a film that relies on archival footage, you'll find this book not only cuts through the confusion of rights and licenses, but liberates you as a filmmaker.

If you make documentaries that even refer to past events, you need this book in your personal library.

This is one of the most informational textbooks I ever purchased as a student. It's still on the shelf and I reference it often.