Rating: 
Summary: All over the place
Review: I felt like I was back at UNCA in a Theory class. This guy was all over the place with his ideas and often repeated them. This book is old, refering to high 8 video as the best available. He wrote this before the boom of reality on TV. There's no good outlines of what to do and not do, how to set up interveiws, shots or anything of that matter. It's full of ludicrous examples that extend to great, uneccessary links. I hate this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Learned a lot
Review: I have highlighted and underlined all over this book. I have learned an extensive amount. If you are involved in documentary films, or are just learning, this is a must read.
Rating:
Summary: Learned a lot
Review: I have highlighted and underlined all over this book. I have learned an extensive amount. If you are involved in documentary films, or are just learning, this is a must read.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book!
Review: I have worked on several films and now am in pre-production of my first documentary. I have read several books on making documentaries and this is the best. The sections on budgeting, script writing, and how to conduct interviews were especially valuable. I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: How to get started -- and how to finish -- your documentary
Review: I wrote this book -- after more than 20 years of making documentaries -- because I found that many people were starting documentary projects without really knowing what they needed to do.
It explains why making a good documentary requires much more than just aiming a camera at a piece of reality -- or compiling a list of people to be interviewed. It traces the two main themes in documentary -- recording behavior and recreating past events -- and shows you how to be successful at each.
It explains the difference between shooting and showing a documentary. It tells you why the camera doesn't lie, but can't be counted on to tell the truth. You'll learn how to plan, recognize, and record visual evidence, and how to organize it into a visual argument that brings your documentary to life.
The book covers the documentary idea, preproduction planning, selecting crew and equipment, directing actors and people who are not actors, and conducting an interview on camera -- all illustrated with stories from actual productions. And it shows why editing is the heart of the documentary process, organizing your story for the audience.
The book has been praised by documentary professionals and film educators and by the International Documentary Association. For example:
"A highly valuable book which covers the many aspects of producing a documentary. I recommend it to anyone embarking on such a project." -- Gordon Quinn, Executive Producer, "Hoop Dreams"
"I found the book informative, insightful, and useful -- the same qualities that are lacking in many documentaries today . . . helps newcomers learn the basics and good documentry producers become even more productive." -- Michael Cascio, Vice President, Documentary Programming, A & E (Arts and Entertainment Network)
"I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Hampe's narrative style is clear and concise with just the right amount of humor. While acknowledging the importance of technical expertise, he focuses on those aspects of filmmaking craft that create compelling stories. Careful reading by first-time filmmakers will allow them to avoid pitfalls many of us have made. Investing a few hours of time will pay many dividends to Mr. Hampe's readers." -- Clark Bunting, Senior Vice President, Discovery Networks
My other books include VIDEO SCRIPTWRITING: HOW TO WRITE FOR THE $4 BILLION COMMERCIAL VIDEO MARKET (Penguin Books, 1993) and MAKING VIDEOS FOR MONEY: PLANNING AND PRODUCING INFORMATION VIDEOS, COMMERCIALS, AND INFOMERCIALS (Henry Holt & Co., 1998), also available from Amazon.
Rating:
Summary: Practical and Inspiring
Review: I'm a filmmaker from the Middle East. I've come across Barry Hampe's book while in New York and I couldn't think of a better time to have read it since I was developing my first documentary. After reading it, not only did the documentary come together visually in my head but I found myself very clear on what I should eliminate to help tell the story better and put down everything on paper. Since then my request for a grant to shoot the documentary has been accepted. The book demystified the whole process and gave lessons that are easily applicable for the beginning documentarian.
The book leaves you with very little need to pick up another book on making documentaries. I would love to see a revision with a section on pre- (preproduction) whereby the documentaian can learn about what to include in his/her proposal in order to strengthen his/her pitch to production houses or while seeking grants. For instance, sample letter of intention, tips on what to include in query letters, visual aids(?), script of master scenes vs. shooting script. If there is just one thing that could help the reader of this book get out there and start preparing his/her documentary, it would be a section that demystifies the getting started before the actual getting started on shooting.
Rating:
Summary: Love this book!
Review: I'm about to begin my first documentary film project and though I'm working with a skilled filmmaker I need all the help I can get. In preparation I read, "Making Documentary Films and Reality Videos" by Barry Hampe. This book covers A-Z regarding documentary filmmaking and to boot, it's a great read! Within the first few pages, my thoughts on how documentary film is made were quashed and replaced with new and correct information. Mr. Hampe draws from personal experiences which are cited throughout, and this makes the book read a bit like a story, not so much like a dry textbook. I zipped right through it, learned a tremendous amount, and have pages marked for future reference. Thank you Mr. Hampe!
Rating:
Summary: Love this book!
Review: I'm about to begin my first documentary film project and though I'm working with a skilled filmmaker I need all the help I can get. In preparation I read, "Making Documentary Films and Reality Videos" by Barry Hampe. This book covers A-Z regarding documentary filmmaking and to boot, it's a great read! Within the first few pages, my thoughts on how documentary film is made were quashed and replaced with new and correct information. Mr. Hampe draws from personal experiences which are cited throughout, and this makes the book read a bit like a story, not so much like a dry textbook. I zipped right through it, learned a tremendous amount, and have pages marked for future reference. Thank you Mr. Hampe!
Rating:
Summary: A useful guide to making 'Reality Videos' .
Review: If you had an experienced friend to guide you into the world of making documentary films and videos, then you would feel as comfortable in your journey as the author of this book leaves the reader. As the book cover states, Mr. Hampe will "tell you why making a documentary looks easy but isn't. [He] traces the two main approaches to documentary--recording behaviour and re-creating past events--and shows you how to be sucessful at each." These are the course notes of a good teacher who imparts his wisdom as well as practical guidance. His writing style is 'chatty' and friendly without ever being banal. Also, in what I hope becomes a publishing trend, he gives an Internet e-mail address where readers may send their comments .... -HMB
Rating: 
Summary: How to prepare when you don't know what will happen?
Review: In narrative film the writer, producer and director pay the actors and crew to do what the writer has planned. But in documentary, not only do the subjects not always act as planned or expected, author Hampe instructs that we shouldn't want or expect them to. Hampe's discussions of preparation are extremely well thought and reasoned and the issue of ethics is well-treated. I was intruiged by his historical explaination of how filmmaking came to be such a mercilessly perfectionist craft. Film school instructors should learn well from this book and pass this knowledge on to their students. I will read and refer to it again in the future.
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