Charles Urban: Pioneering the Non-Fiction Film in Britain and America, 1897 - 1925

Awards:   Winner of Winner of the Kraszna-Krausz Moving Image Book 2014
Author:   Luke McKernan
Publisher:   University of Exeter Press
ISBN:  

9780859892964


Pages:   256
Publication Date:   30 April 2018
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
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Charles Urban: Pioneering the Non-Fiction Film in Britain and America, 1897 - 1925


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Awards

  • Winner of Winner of the Kraszna-Krausz Moving Image Book 2014

Overview

Charles Urban was a renowned figure in his time, and he has remained a name in film history chiefly for his development of Kinemacolor, the world’s first successful natural colour moving picture system. He was also a pioneer in the filming of war, science, travel, actuality and news, a fervent advocate of the value of film as an educative force, and a controversial but important innovator of film propaganda in wartime. The book uses Urban’s story as a means of showing how the non-fiction film developed in the period 1897-1925, and the dilemmas that it faced within a cinema culture in which the entertainment fiction film was dominant. Urban’s solutions – some successful, some less so – illustrate the groundwork that led to the development of documentary film. The book considers the roles of film as informer, educator and generator of propaganda, and the social and aesthetic function of colour in the years when cinema was still working out what it was capable of and how best to reach audiences. Luke McKernan also curates a web resource on Charles Urban at www.charlesurban.com

Full Product Details

Author:   Luke McKernan
Publisher:   University of Exeter Press
Imprint:   University of Exeter Press
ISBN:  

9780859892964


ISBN 10:   0859892964
Pages:   256
Publication Date:   30 April 2018
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Note Introduction 1. ‘That Slick Salesman in the Silk Hat’ 2. We Put the World Before You 3. The Eighth Wonder of the World 4. The Motion Picture Object Lesson for America 5. The Living Book of Knowledge Conclusion Notes Select Bibliography Index

Reviews

This is a fine and much needed book, and deserves to have a wide readership. It tells the story of Charles Urban, an important pioneer of both non-fiction and colour films, and also has much to say about the silent cinema and documentary film in general. . . . McKernan steers us through with a sure hand, writing concisely and engagingly. . . . Exeter have done their usual quality job, so this is built to last. Undoubtedly, the volume deserves to be on the shelves of every cinematheque and research library in the world. --Stephen Bottomore Historical Journal of Film, Radio, and Television


Reviews of the hardback edition: 'Luke McKernan's fascinating new book...' 'Luke McKernan has written a scholarly, important book on a little-known pioneer in the early documentary movement. It deserves to be widely read.'(History Today, January 2014) 'It has taken Urban's champion the better part of a century to arrive. The wait would seem to have been worth it. . . . McKernan shows himself to be a diligent and impartial scholar. . . . [Urban's ] accomplishments and his philosophy have found an excellent channel in McKernan.' (Eric J. Iannelli, Times Literary Supplement, November 8, 2013) 'This is a fine and much needed book, and deserves to have a wide readership. It tells the story of Charles Urban, an important pioneer of both non-fiction and colour films, and also has much to say about the silent cinema and documentary film in general.' 'McKernan steers us through with a sure hand, writing concisely and engagingly' 'Exeter have done their usual quality job, so this is built to last. Undoubtedly, the volume deserves to be on the shelves of every cinematheque and research library in the world.' (Stephen Bottomore, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 34.2, 2014)


Reviews of the hardback edition: `Luke McKernan's fascinating new book...' `Luke McKernan has written a scholarly, important book on a little-known pioneer in the early documentary movement. It deserves to be widely read.'(History Today, January 2014) 'It has taken Urban's champion the better part of a century to arrive. The wait would seem to have been worth it. . . . McKernan shows himself to be a diligent and impartial scholar. . . . [Urban's ] accomplishments and his philosophy have found an excellent channel in McKernan.' (Eric J. Iannelli, Times Literary Supplement, November 8, 2013) `This is a fine and much needed book, and deserves to have a wide readership. It tells the story of Charles Urban, an important pioneer of both non-fiction and colour films, and also has much to say about the silent cinema and documentary film in general.' `McKernan steers us through with a sure hand, writing concisely and engagingly' `Exeter have done their usual quality job, so this is built to last. Undoubtedly, the volume deserves to be on the shelves of every cinematheque and research library in the world.' (Stephen Bottomore, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 34.2, 2014)


-This is a fine and much needed book, and deserves to have a wide readership. It tells the story of Charles Urban, an important pioneer of both non-fiction and colour films, and also has much to say about the silent cinema and documentary film in general. . . . McKernan steers us through with a sure hand, writing concisely and engagingly. . . . Exeter have done their usual quality job, so this is built to last. Undoubtedly, the volume deserves to be on the shelves of every cinematheque and research library in the world.---Stephen Bottomore -Historical Journal of Film, Radio, and Television -


Author Information

Luke McKernan is a film historian and Lead Curator of Moving Image at the British Library. He has written widely on early film for a number of academic journals and also curates a web resource on Charles Urban at www.charlesurban.com    

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