Five Films by Frederick Wiseman : Titicut Follies, High School, Welfare, High School II, Public Housing

Frederick Wiseman is among America's foremost documentary filmmakers. The recipient of many awards, including three Emmys, Wiseman has made more than thirty feature-length documentaries during a career that has spanned five decades. Together, these films provide a fascinating chronicle of American social and institutional life. This book makes available for the first time transcriptions of five of Wiseman's most important films-- Titicut Follies, High School, Welfare, High School II, Public Housing--providing all of the dialogue as well as annotations about other aspects of the soundtracks such as music and ambient noise, and notes about editing and camera movement. These scene-by-scene transcripts enable readers to scrutinize the films' complex structural patterns, recurring motifs, editing regimes, and the unscripted dialogue that makes Wiseman's cinema a rich repository of American speech. Editor Barry Keith Grant's critical introduction discusses the importance of sound in Wiseman's documentaries. Liberally illustrated with images from the films, these meticulous transcriptions are accompanied by a bibliography and filmography.

barry Grant Has Created A Monumental Resource For The Study Of A Monumental Filmmaker. The Transcripts Of These Five Films Have Been Meticulously Constructed Without Compromising The Vitality And Energy That Characterizes The Films Themselves. This Book Should Be Invaluable To Film Scholars For As Long As The Films Of Fred Wiseman Are Viewed, Discussed And Dissected—which We Now Know Will Be A Long Time Indeed.—ross Mcelwee, Director, sherman's March And bright Leaves

fred Wiseman Is The Perfect Example Of Someone Who Has Created A Great Canon Of Films. He Is Not Just A Great Documentary Filmmaker, He Is A Great Filmmaker And Artist. He Has Created Some Of The Wildest, Most Personal, And Oddly Expressionistic Filmmaking Around. His Origins Are Not In The Movies But In The Theater Of The Absurd. I Imagine His Smile Of Pleasure When The Man In Welfare Compares His Situation To Godot. It's Not Life Imitating Art, But A Strange Admixture Of Both Where The Boundary Lines Between The Two Are No Longer Visible. Ultimately, Wiseman Has Showed Us That The Ultimate Institution Is Life Itself, And Properly Speaking, We Should All Be Institutionalized.—errol Morris

Frederick Wiseman is among Americas foremost documentary filmmakers. The recipient of many awards, including three Emmys, Wiseman has made more than thirty feature-length documentaries during a career that has spanned five decades. Together, these films provide a fascinating chronicle of American social and institutional life. This book makes available for the first time transcriptions of five of Wisemans most important films Titicut Follies, High School, Welfare, High School II, Public Housing providing all of the dialogue as well as annotations about other aspects of the soundtracks such as music and ambient noise, and notes about editing and camera movement. These scene-by-scene transcripts enable readers to scrutinize the films complex structural patterns, recurring motifs, editing regimes, and the unscripted dialogue that makes Wisemans cinema a rich repository of American speech. Editor Barry Keith Grants critical introduction discusses the importance of sound in Wisemans documentaries. Liberally illustrated with images from the films, these meticulous transcriptions are accompanied by a bibliography and filmography. Wiseman Is Among America's Foremost Documentary Filmmakers. The Recipient Of Many Awards, Including Three Emmys, He Has Made Over 30 Feature-length Documentaries During A Career That Has Spanned Five Decades. Together, These Films Provide A Fascinating Chronicle Of American Social And Institutional Life. Titicut Follies -- High School -- Welfare -- High School Ii -- Public Housing. Transcribed And Edited By Barry Keith Grant ; With A Foreword By Frederick Wiseman. Filmography: P. (415-421). Includes Bibliographical References (p. 423-432). Frederick Wiseman is among America's foremost documentary film-makers. Providing transcriptions of five of Wiseman's most important films, this book enables readers to scrutinize the films' complex structural patterns, recurring motifs, editing regimes, and the unscripted dialogue that makes Wiseman's cinema a rich repository of American speech. Contents 6 List of Illustrations 8 Foreword 12 Acknowledgments 14 Introduction 16 Titicut Follies (1967) 30 High School (1968) 66 Welfare (1975) 104 High School II (1994) 217 Public Housing (1997) 341 Filmography 430 Bibliography 438