The art of the observer is a personal guide to documentary filmmaking, based on the authors years of pioneering work in the fields of ethnographic and documentary cinema. It stands in sharp contrast to books of academic film criticism and handbooks on visual research methods, being based extensively on concrete examples from the authors own filmmaking experience. The book places particular emphasis on observational filmmaking and the ways in which this approach is distinct from other forms of documentary. It offers both practical insights and reflections on what it means, in both emotional and intellectual terms, to attempt to represent the lives of others. The book makes clear that documentary cinema is not simply a matter of recording reality, but of artfully organising the filmmakers observations in ways that reveal the complex patterns of social life.

Part I1: The practice of documentary2: How the visual makes sense3: Observational Cinema: A Unique Practice4: Ethnographic film: evolution of a conceptPart II5: Structuring nonfiction films6: Filming in a closed community7: Seven types of collaboration8: Microstructures of film editingPart III9: Films and feelings10: The life of others11: The strangers within us12: How children seePart IV13: An encounter with Robert Gardner14: The percentage of disaster15: Clearing customsFilmographyBibliographyIndex