商品簡介
Taking the long view: A study of longitudinal documentary explores a form of documentary epitomised by Michael Apted's Seven Up series. 'Long docs' set out to trace the life-journeys of individuals from their earliest schooldays till they are fully grown adults, often with children of their own. They also invite audiences to reflect on the changes that time or circumstances have brought about.
In addition to Apted's highly popular series, the book also provides extended accounts of two other well-known long docs. The East German series The Children of Golzow (directed by Winfried and Barbara Junge) began life in the autumn of 1961 soon after the building of the Berlin Wall and followed the lives of its subjects right through until the early years of the new millennium. Its particular significance lies in the way it shows how the fall of communism impacted on the lives of ordinary East German citizens. The third long doc on which the author focuses attention is the Swedish series The Children of Jordbr÷ (directed by Rainer Hartleb).
Each of the featured long docs has had a particularly strong audience appeal, not only for the respective national audiences but also for a much wider constituency of viewers. The author suggests possible reasons for this appeal and seeks to draw parallels between long docs' mode of address and that of television soap opera.
作者簡介
Richard Kilborn is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Film, Media & Journalism at the University of Stirling
