Ken Burns
Historical documentary director
Ken Burns is an American documentary filmmaker known for his distinctive style of presenting historical subjects through archival photographs, letters, and interviews.
His technique of slowly panning and zooming across still images has become so identified with him that video editing software often includes a "Ken Burns effect." His multi-part documentary series on subjects like the Civil War, jazz, and baseball have become staples of public television.
We binged the new Ken Burns documentary over the weekend.
Non-profit educational broadcaster
- The Civil War1861-1865 American conflict
- National ParksOfficially designated conservation areas
- Brooklyn BridgeFamous East River crossing
- ProhibitionConstitutional alcohol ban era
American history · archival footage · interviews · narration · voice-over · miniseries · cultural heritage · nonfiction
Shallow cooking vessel
- zoomRapid movement or magnification
- camera movementRepositioning the filming device
- documentary styleRealistic, unscripted filmmaking method
- visual storytellingConveying meaning through images
Account of events
- chronicleOrdered historical record
- American mythologyIndigenous and settler legends
- oral historyRecorded interviews about the past
- personal accountsFirst-person experiential narratives
historical drama · emotional resonance · epic · saga · cultural narrative · collective memory · nostalgia · human experience
PBS
Non-profit educational broadcaster
- The Civil War1861-1865 American conflict
- National ParksOfficially designated conservation areas
- Brooklyn BridgeFamous East River crossing
Prohibition · American history · archival footage · interviews · narration · voice-over · miniseries · cultural heritage · nonfiction · biography
pan
Shallow cooking vessel
- zoomRapid movement or magnification
- camera movementRepositioning the filming device
- documentary styleRealistic, unscripted filmmaking method
visual storytelling · Final Cut Pro · Apple · slideshow · digital editing
narrative
Account of events
- chronicleOrdered historical record
- American mythologyIndigenous and settler legends
- oral historyRecorded interviews about the past
personal accounts · historical drama · emotional resonance · epic · saga · cultural narrative · collective memory · nostalgia · human experience · tragedy
- DocumentariansMichael Moore, Werner Herzog, Penny Lane, David Attenborough
- PBSSesame Street, Mister Rogers, Arthur, Nova, Daniel Tiger
- documentariesdocumentary, documentary film, nature documentary, true crime docs, crime documentary
- War DocumentariesThe Civil War, The War, combat footage, archival footage, newsreels
Ken BurnsWerner Herzog
Bavarian cinema auteur
Michael Moore · Michael Bay · reality television · cinéma vérité · TMZ
Ken Burnsdramatist
Writer of stage works
Steven Spielberg · historical drama · biopic · period drama · docudrama
Ken Burnsprovocateur
One who deliberately incites
revisionist · iconoclast · polemicist · agitprop · John Waters