Documentary Making for Digital Humanists

Reviewed by Adam Boggs, Assistant Professor, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on 12/31/25

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

Reid and Sanders' text "Documentary Making for Digital Humanists" is comprehensive, clear and well-organized, an excellent point of entry to academic filmmaking presented in a manner that doesn't feel overwhelming to the reader. There is no glossary, however the text is well-researched and cited.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Based on my own experience (Ph.D. and MFA) the material is accurate in both it's research presentation, with sources cited from masters in the field of film and scholars working in disciplines in the humanities, and in the method which it is conveyed. The authors write in appropriate academic language that allows the reader to follow-up on threads presented throughout the text via the footnotes and bibliography. There is also "proof of concept" owing to the accompanying links to a ten-part video tutorial on filmmaking fundamentals.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The theoretical discourses the authors engage in are up-to date with current issues and to knowledge creation, i.e. story-telling, or where culture/politics meets emotion. I imagine the text will maintain relevancy since it references sufficiently the theory of film, and the practical aspects relay timeless techniques related to vision. However, as technology changes, the tools filmmakers utilize will also evolve. For example, the book was published in 2021 and no where is mentioned AI (artificial intelligence). I don't think this detracts from the resource, but AI is a topic that digital humanists will be asked to weigh in on.

Clarity rating: 5

Reid and Sanders' text is carefully crafted. It is presented in "Chicago style" format, which flows better in my opinion. Footnotes are more conducive to keeping the ideas presented within reach. For example, the authors open-up a discussion on interdisciplinarity in the humanities on page 17 with footnote 33, making space for the discourse on post-humanism, or the marriage of the digital and the human, to expand. Terminology related to the film production process is adequately explained.

Consistency rating: 4

The authors blended their two primary disciplines, humanities (traditional scholarship) with 21st century filmmaking (digital tools that overlap with media art). A multiplicity of perspectives are presented, including important, fundamental theories of story-telling. For example, Campbell's concept of "the hero's journey'" is compared to contemporary filmmaker Harmon's concept of the "Story Embryo," or "...narrative...can be distilled down into a fundamental sub-structure... [that], is hard-wired into the human imagination; that it serves as one of the key perceptual filters that allows the species to interpret and make sense of the world and their own lived experiences." (pp, 211). In this manner, issues that both the humanist scholar and the filmmaker should consider overlap in universal discourses. Perhaps a concluding chapter that tied filmmaking back to the methodology of digital/public humanities could've been added.

Modularity rating: 5

The authors wrote the text with the expectation that it could be adapted to a course curriculum. In the introduction, they state "This design [the textbook's organization] would also, with context-appropriate adjustments, function well if integrated into traditional learning environments with lessons and discussions which can be easily mapped against most ten-to-fifteen-week semesters." (pp, 3). The first few chapters lean more toward the theoretical, while the last third of the text provides a practical, step-by-step approach to making a documentary film.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

I find the text well-structured and presented in a logical sequence. The chapters are subdivided by topic and easily linked in a PDF reader. When appropriate, the chapters contain a link to the relevant author-produced video tutorials. The arch of the process: pre-production, production, post-production, is adequately laid-out.

Interface rating: 4

The authors packed a surprising amount of information in under 300 pages. The major concepts are all subdivided, facilitating navigability. It is easy to jump around to major topics, without confusion. The included diagrams are minimal but effectively communicate.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text is clearly written, and breaks down technical concepts into easy to understand parts. For example, the chapter "Settings, Lenses, Focus, and Exposure" succinctly explains f-stop, shutter speed and white balance. The authors describe Stylised Focus: "Shallow focus, where only a part of the shot is in focus, often produces aesthetically beautiful shots which serve to direct the viewer’s attention to a specific location within a frame. If a person is filmed in shallow focus, the background around them will typically be so indistinct that the viewer will have no choice but to direct their attention fully towards the subject" (pp, 98). The text touches on nearly every aspect in the art of documentary, including lighting, sound recording, shot composition, story structure and more.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The authors angle is not polemical, it is centered on a discourse that relates image and representation to digital technology. If anything the authors encourage those with no training to fearlessly experiment with filmmaking, to become "...a deliberate filmmaker.. to consider your shots, cut different pieces of footage together, and create something that is important to people beyond your immediate acquaintances (pp, 26)." This is also evident in Chapter 18, where the authors provide a case-study of a student project concerning the 2020 U.S. Presidential election titled, "Aftermath: A Portrait of a Nation Divided." There is no proselytizing, only a narrative of the decisions that were made during the phases of production.

Darren R. Reid and Brett Sanders' text "Documentary Making for Digital Humanists" is a worthy resource for independent learners and a suitable road-map for teaching a semester course on topics that intersect with the principles of filmmaking and the methodologies of digital humanities. This is not merely a technical manual, though the techniques of photography are explained in a practical manner, it is grounded in sufficient film theory aimed at elevating the possibilities for expressing scholarship in the digital age, where "...in some sense we are all filmmakers" (pp, 25). The material is a serious inquiry into two epistemologies (film and academic research); the authors relate humanistic inquiry to the technologies of storytelling, where "the subjectivity of truth" can be represented. As a textbook, the inclusion of a ten-part video tutorial enriches the application of the material. The chapters include a quick-start option ("The Two-page film school") for those more aligned with a "learn by doing" approach, and otherwise walk the reader through every step of the process, from what accessories to buy to how to light a subject to the post-production, or editing process. The work contains relevant footnotes connecting to important scholars in the field. I am an Assistant Professor trained in digital humanities and New Media art; Reid and Sanders' text will join my library of teaching and research resources.