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Kathleen McDonough: A Directors Take on Making An Historical Documentary

From: Talking History
Length: 03:12

Katheleen McDonough discusses the making of historical documentaries. Read the full description.

Default-piece-image-1 Award-winning filmmaker and Assistant Professor of Communications at SUNY Fredonia Katheleen McDonough discusses the finer points of making historical documentaries. She refers to and quotes her film "A World Inscribed" to illustrate the ways in which documentaries can be made more personal and relevant.

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Piece Description

Award-winning filmmaker and Assistant Professor of Communications at SUNY Fredonia Katheleen McDonough discusses the finer points of making historical documentaries. She refers to and quotes her film "A World Inscribed" to illustrate the ways in which documentaries can be made more personal and relevant.

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Review of McDonough on Historical Documentaries

As a documentarian working on a history documentary, I found this piece to be interesting, though I found that it wasn't long enough to delve into the subject enough. McDonough makes one point and uses an audio clip from her documentary. She makes a second point and describes a shot (she's basing this on a film documentary). Then the piece ends. Also, she sounds very scripted, which put me off at first, though I stopped being bothered by it when she got into her examples. I can imagine this on the radio played before or after a history documentary, or as part of a "behind the scenes" type of show. But ultimately, it doesn't spend enough time to get into real depth.

Broadcast History

Orignally broadcast on OAH's Talking History.

Timing and Cues

In: "One of the most popular sources..."
Out: "...State University Of New York at Fredonia."

Related Website

http://www.talkinghistory.oah.org