by Rovert and Helen Lynd, Peter Davis's six documentary films about Muncie, Indiana, set out to examine the lives of Munsonians in the early 1980s. The disputes and conflicts accompanying the filming revealed more about AMerican values and customs than the films themselves. While attempting to transform the data from the Middletown studies into a meaningful and interesting visual form, the filmmakers were constantly distracted by the pressures, decisions and perils of government- and corporate-funded documentary filmmaking. Dwight W. Hoover, a Muncie historian and collaborator in the iddletown film project, describes why the folms were make and how they changed the lives of everyone involved.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
Middletown: The Making of a Documentary Film Series will be long cited as a critical contribution to our understanding of the social effects of filmmaking, a field about which we know very little at the moment.
–Dr. Brian Winston of Pennsylvania State University, University Park
The book stands out as a case study and for the clarity with which it presents its vision of competing models for documentary film based on research. There are few other case studies dealing with such a high profile series of films of interest to both scholars of American and other cultures.
–Christopher Musello of University of New Mexico, Albuquerque --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
–Dr. Brian Winston of Pennsylvania State University, University Park
The book stands out as a case study and for the clarity with which it presents its vision of competing models for documentary film based on research. There are few other case studies dealing with such a high profile series of films of interest to both scholars of American and other cultures.
–Christopher Musello of University of New Mexico, Albuquerque --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
poor scholarship,
By a reader (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Middletown: The Making of a Documentary Film Series (Visual Anthropology) (Hardcover)
A very poor book on a fascinating documentary series.The Middletown Film Project represented a significant crossroads for American documentary, and the ethical and censorship controversies raised (particularly by one film in the series, "Seventeen") presaged many of the issues American documentary makers were to face in the decades that followed. Unfortunately, Hoover's understanding of documentary is woefully simplistic. He fails to grasp key issues around documentary and broadcast practice, and the text is riddled with factual errors. Frankly, I'm surprised that this book is in print.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Dull,
By A Customer
This review is from: Middletown : The Making of a Documentary Film Series (Visual Anthropology, Vol 2) (Paperback)
A waste of time. The author doesn't know anything about documentary filmmaking or visual anthropology, and it clearly shows.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A badly written vendetta, by a failed academic.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Middletown : The Making of a Documentary Film Series (Visual Anthropology, Vol 2) (Paperback)
Hoover felt slighted by his total inclusion from the production of these films, and wrote thishard-to-follow book as payback. Unlike most paranoid vendettas, this one isn't even interesting... a waste of money.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
Middletown, or Muncie, Indiana, is one of the most studied communities in the United States. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
academic humanists, direct cinema, pilot film, county chairman, film series, other filmmakers, teaching notes, film project Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Muncie Star, Vander Hill, Community of Praise, Middletown Families, Middletown Film Project, New York City, Middletown Film Series, Muncie Central, Muncie Evening Press, Ball State University, American Film, United States, Southside High School, Jim Carey, Peter Davis, The Sabbath, Alan Wilson, All Faithful People, Lynn Massie, Middletown Revisited, Andre Morgan, Helen Lynd, Tom Cohen, Democratic Party, Muncie Community Schools New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Middletown, or Muncie, Indiana, is one of the most studied communities in the United States. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
academic humanists, direct cinema, pilot film, county chairman, film series, other filmmakers, teaching notes, film project Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Muncie Star, Vander Hill, Community of Praise, Middletown Families, Middletown Film Project, New York City, Middletown Film Series, Muncie Central, Muncie Evening Press, Ball State University, American Film, United States, Southside High School, Jim Carey, Peter Davis, The Sabbath, Alan Wilson, All Faithful People, Lynn Massie, Middletown Revisited, Andre Morgan, Helen Lynd, Tom Cohen, Democratic Party, Muncie Community Schools New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 56
books:
See all 56 books this book cites
3
books
cite this book:
- Where is Nicaragua by Peter Davis on 4 pages
- Happy Days (TV and Movie Tie-Ins) by Craig Schumacher on page 82, and page 138
- Since Yesterday by Frederick Lewis Allen on page 15, and Back Matter
- The Culture of Consumption: Critical Essays in American History 1880-1980 by Richard Wightman Fox on page 17, and Back Matter
- Never Done: A History of American Housework by Susan Strasser on page 16, and Back Matter
See all 56 books this book cites
- Theorizing Documentary (AFI Film Readers) by Michael Renov in Back Matter
- Producing Public Television, Producing Public Culture by Barry Dornfeld in Back Matter
- Picturing Culture Explorations of Film and Anthropology by Jay Ruby in Back Matter
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