An Intro to Depth of Field

From Ken Burns to Tiger King, documentaries have become an increasingly important part of our media diet in recent years.

A decade or two ago, documentaries were too often reduced to a PBS narrator droning on about penguin migration or the history of Renaissance architecture.

In short, they were informative – and really boring.

But thanks in part to the explosive success of streaming platforms like Netflix and Hulu, documentaries have seen a creative revival that blends entertainment with information like never before

Nowadays, the best documentaries generate as much buzz as a Hollywood blockbuster. But unlike that kajillionth Transformers movie once again blowing up the box office, films like Cocaine Cowboys or Icarus bring important topics to attention while managing to evoke a sense of emotional investment.

In this newsletter, I hope to highlight some of the top documentaries defining the field. I’ll try to make sense of what makes modern nonfiction films and series successful, and do a deep dive into inventive techniques behind some of the biggest documentaries. I’ll even offer a few humble recommendations that just might help you decide on something for movie night.

But most of all, I’ll plan to give an inside look at the documentary industry. It’s a place full of wild stories and constant innovation, and your next binge deserves to be appreciated for more than a creepy lady’s plot to feed her husband to tigers.

So sit back, get your watchlist ready, and enjoy the world of documentaries.