Anthropological Filmmaking: An Empirical Art

This chapter provides an overview and guide to the methodology, theory, practice, and ethics of ethnographic filmmaking. Examining in turn the various uses of film in anthropology, the differences between anthropological writing and anthropological films, and the kinds of knowledge produced by each, it proceeds to discuss the practical concerns of the anthropological filmmaker: questions of point-of-view, method, and different approaches to the construction of films. It considers the pros and cons of teamwork and single-author filmmaking, aspects of film aesthetics, relationships with the subjects of films, the filmmaker’s behaviour in the field, and different modes of camera use. Finally, it addresses the different practical strategies possible for this kind of filmmaking, including a focus on individuals as subjects, the uses of narrative, and thematic approaches. Also considered is the filmmaker’s relation to the viewer, and ways of making the filmmaker’s intentions and practice more evident within the film.