Keith Beattie
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252036590
- eISBN:
- 9780252093647
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252036590.003.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter analyzes the film career of D. A. Pennebaker. Pennebaker's key word is “interesting.” In numerous interviews, he has referred to events, subjects, and topics that have a certain ...
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This chapter analyzes the film career of D. A. Pennebaker. Pennebaker's key word is “interesting.” In numerous interviews, he has referred to events, subjects, and topics that have a certain “attractive” quality, in the sense that they demand attention, as interesting. In this way, he has insisted that a filmmaker “must shoot only what interests you.” His diversity of interesting films encompasses hybrid forms in which components of “documentary” mix with heightened dramatic elements associated with fiction film. These films include Daybreak Express (1953–57), an avant-gardist look at New York City; Jane (1962), a study of the actress Jane Fonda; Depeche Mode 101 (1989), and Only the Strong Survive (2002).Less
This chapter analyzes the film career of D. A. Pennebaker. Pennebaker's key word is “interesting.” In numerous interviews, he has referred to events, subjects, and topics that have a certain “attractive” quality, in the sense that they demand attention, as interesting. In this way, he has insisted that a filmmaker “must shoot only what interests you.” His diversity of interesting films encompasses hybrid forms in which components of “documentary” mix with heightened dramatic elements associated with fiction film. These films include Daybreak Express (1953–57), an avant-gardist look at New York City; Jane (1962), a study of the actress Jane Fonda; Depeche Mode 101 (1989), and Only the Strong Survive (2002).
David E. James
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- December 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199387595
- eISBN:
- 9780199387632
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199387595.003.0011
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
The combination of Direct Cinema and folk music was most fully realized in D. A. Pennebaker’s documentary of Bob Dylan’s British tour, Dont Look Back (1967). But during that time, Dylan was in the ...
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The combination of Direct Cinema and folk music was most fully realized in D. A. Pennebaker’s documentary of Bob Dylan’s British tour, Dont Look Back (1967). But during that time, Dylan was in the process of making his epochal shift to folk-rock, which helped generate the music of the late sixties counterculture that became known as simply “rock.” This music, including Jimi Hendrix and other African American components, became the subject of more complex concert films by Pennebaker that documented the counterculture’s chief utopian ritual, the rock festival: Monterey Pop (1968) with Otis Redding and Jimi Hendrix, and Sweet Toronto (1970).Less
The combination of Direct Cinema and folk music was most fully realized in D. A. Pennebaker’s documentary of Bob Dylan’s British tour, Dont Look Back (1967). But during that time, Dylan was in the process of making his epochal shift to folk-rock, which helped generate the music of the late sixties counterculture that became known as simply “rock.” This music, including Jimi Hendrix and other African American components, became the subject of more complex concert films by Pennebaker that documented the counterculture’s chief utopian ritual, the rock festival: Monterey Pop (1968) with Otis Redding and Jimi Hendrix, and Sweet Toronto (1970).
Keith Beattie
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252036590
- eISBN:
- 9780252093647
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252036590.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This volume is the first book-length study of the extensive career and prolific works of D. A. Pennebaker, one of the pioneers of direct cinema, a documentary form that emphasizes observation and a ...
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This volume is the first book-length study of the extensive career and prolific works of D. A. Pennebaker, one of the pioneers of direct cinema, a documentary form that emphasizes observation and a straightforward portrayal of events. With a career spanning decades, Pennebaker's many projects have included avant-garde experiments (Daybreak Express), ground-breaking television documentaries (Primary), celebrity films (Don't Look Back), concert films (Monterey Pop), and innovative fusions of documentary and fiction (Maidstone). Exploring the concept of “performing the real,” the book's analysis interprets the ways in which Pennebaker's presentation of unscripted everyday performances is informed by connections between documentary filmmaking and other experimental movements such as the New American Cinema. Through his collaborations with such various artists as Richard Leacock, Shirley Clarke, Norman Mailer, and Jean-Luc Godard, Pennebaker has continually reworked and redefined the forms of documentary filmmaking. This book also includes a recent interview with the director and a full filmography.Less
This volume is the first book-length study of the extensive career and prolific works of D. A. Pennebaker, one of the pioneers of direct cinema, a documentary form that emphasizes observation and a straightforward portrayal of events. With a career spanning decades, Pennebaker's many projects have included avant-garde experiments (Daybreak Express), ground-breaking television documentaries (Primary), celebrity films (Don't Look Back), concert films (Monterey Pop), and innovative fusions of documentary and fiction (Maidstone). Exploring the concept of “performing the real,” the book's analysis interprets the ways in which Pennebaker's presentation of unscripted everyday performances is informed by connections between documentary filmmaking and other experimental movements such as the New American Cinema. Through his collaborations with such various artists as Richard Leacock, Shirley Clarke, Norman Mailer, and Jean-Luc Godard, Pennebaker has continually reworked and redefined the forms of documentary filmmaking. This book also includes a recent interview with the director and a full filmography.
David E. James
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- December 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199387595
- eISBN:
- 9780199387632
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199387595.003.0018
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
By the early 1970s in the United Kingdom, the utopian hopes of biracial, Anglo‐American rock ’n’ roll were in disarray, and British studios of the glam rock era marketed narratives of rock ’n’ roll’s ...
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By the early 1970s in the United Kingdom, the utopian hopes of biracial, Anglo‐American rock ’n’ roll were in disarray, and British studios of the glam rock era marketed narratives of rock ’n’ roll’s dystopian integration with corrupt business and political interests. Anticipated by Privilege (1967), Peter Watkins’s portrayal of rock culture as quasi‐fascist, these included two films starring David Essex that narrated the emergence and decline of English rock ’n’ roll: That’ll Be the Day (1973) and Stardust (1974). Meanwhile, D. A. Pennebaker made a documentary about the era’s most enigmatic performer, David Bowie; Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1973) seemed to exploit all the dire predictions about rock ’n’roll’s suicide, while paradoxically reasserting the communitarian bonds between performer and fans.Less
By the early 1970s in the United Kingdom, the utopian hopes of biracial, Anglo‐American rock ’n’ roll were in disarray, and British studios of the glam rock era marketed narratives of rock ’n’ roll’s dystopian integration with corrupt business and political interests. Anticipated by Privilege (1967), Peter Watkins’s portrayal of rock culture as quasi‐fascist, these included two films starring David Essex that narrated the emergence and decline of English rock ’n’ roll: That’ll Be the Day (1973) and Stardust (1974). Meanwhile, D. A. Pennebaker made a documentary about the era’s most enigmatic performer, David Bowie; Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1973) seemed to exploit all the dire predictions about rock ’n’roll’s suicide, while paradoxically reasserting the communitarian bonds between performer and fans.
Keith Beattie
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252036590
- eISBN:
- 9780252093647
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252036590.003.0002
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter presents an interview with D. A. Pennebaker conducted by Jonathan Marlow in March 2006 during a tribute to Pennebaker at the Documentary Film Institute. Topics covered include his film ...
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This chapter presents an interview with D. A. Pennebaker conducted by Jonathan Marlow in March 2006 during a tribute to Pennebaker at the Documentary Film Institute. Topics covered include his film Daybreak Express as one of the most stunning shorts ever made and at what point he decided to use Ellington as the springboard; the experiences that made him decide to pursue a career as a filmmaker; how he met Robert Drew; how much of his work with Drew, Richard Leacock and Albert Maysles was a matter of being in the right place at the right time; the unconventional editing for Dont Look Back; and the appeal of working with artists during a transitional stage in their careers.Less
This chapter presents an interview with D. A. Pennebaker conducted by Jonathan Marlow in March 2006 during a tribute to Pennebaker at the Documentary Film Institute. Topics covered include his film Daybreak Express as one of the most stunning shorts ever made and at what point he decided to use Ellington as the springboard; the experiences that made him decide to pursue a career as a filmmaker; how he met Robert Drew; how much of his work with Drew, Richard Leacock and Albert Maysles was a matter of being in the right place at the right time; the unconventional editing for Dont Look Back; and the appeal of working with artists during a transitional stage in their careers.
