The storytelling tradition and documentary moviemaking

Abstract

This thesis is concerned with the relationship between the storytelling tradition and documentary moviemaking. This relationship is evaluated in three distinct points of departure. The evolution of the storytelling process from a traditional oral form of communication, by word of mouth, to its integral incorporation into the electronic media, particularly through the dissemination of motion picture and television. The documentary moviemaker and the storyteller are potentially seeking the same quest as explorers of reality. They want to teach their listeners (viewers), and need "reality" as a canvas for telling stories. A personal examination of my documentary, By Word of Mouth...Storytelling in America. By actually making a documentary about storytellers at the 10th Annual Storytelling Festival, my personal understanding of the storyteller and the documentary moviemaker became a reflexive realization in better understanding these two forms of communication. This thesis consists of a text accompanied by a videocassette of By Word of Mouth Storytelling in America.