Bill Nichols

Bio: Bill Nichols is an academic researcher from University of San Francisco. The author has contributed to research in topics: Ideology & Film studies. The author has an hindex of 18, co-authored 37 publications receiving 3492 citations.

Introduction to Documentary

Abstract: This new edition of Bill Nichols's bestselling text provides an up-to-date introduction to the most important issues in documentary history and criticism. Designed for students in any field that makes use of visual evidence and persuasive strategies, Introduction to Documentary identifies the distinguishing qualities of documentary and teaches the viewer how to read documentary film. Each chapter takes up a discrete question, from "How did documentary filmmaking get started?" to "Why are ethical issues central to documentary filmmaking?" Carefully revised to take account of new work and trends, this volume includes information on more than 100 documentaries released since the first edition, an expanded treatment of the six documentary modes, new still images, and a greatly expanded list of distributors.

Representing Reality: Issues and Concepts in Documentary

Abstract: "Representing Reality" is the first book to offer a conceptual overview of documentary filmmaking practice. It addresses numerous social issues and how they are presented to the viewer by means of style, rhetoric, and narrative technique. The volume poses questions about the relationship of the documentary tradition to power, the body, authority, knowledge, and our experience of history. This study advances the pioneering work of Nichols's earlier book, Ideology and the Image.

Blurred Boundaries: Questions of Meaning in Contemporary Culture

Abstract: Preface Acknowledgments I. Embodied Knowledge and the Politics of Location An Evocation II. The Trials and Tribulations of Rodney King III. At the Limits of Reality (TV) IV. The EthnographerOs Tale V. Performing Documentary VI. EisensteinOs Strike and the Genealogy of Documentary VII. Please, All you Good and Honest People Film Form and Historical Consciouness Notes Index

Tweets and the Streets: Social Media and Contemporary Activism

Abstract: Tweets and the Streets analyses the culture of the new protest movements of the 21st century. From the Arab Spring to the "indignados" protests in Spain and the Occupy movement, Paolo Gerbaudo examines the relationship between the rise of social media and the emergence of new forms of protest. Gerbaudo argues that activists' use of Twitter and Facebook does not fit with the image of a "cyberspace" detached from physical reality. Instead, social media is used as part of a project of re-appropriation of public space, which involves the assembling of different groups around "occupied" places such as Cairo's Tahrir Square or New York's Zuccotti Park. An exciting and invigorating journey through the new politics of dissent, Tweets and the Streets points both to the creative possibilities and to the risks of political evanescence which new media brings to the contemporary protest experience.

New Media: A Critical Introduction

Abstract: This is a Second Edition of a book first co authored for 2003. The book offers students conceptual frameworks for thinking through a range of key issues which have arisen over two decades of speculation on the cultural implications of new media .

How Does the Variance of Product Ratings Matter

Abstract: This paper examines the informational role of product ratings. We build a theoretical model in which ratings can help consumers figure out how much they would enjoy the product. In our model, a high average rating indicates a high product quality, whereas a high variance of ratings is associated with a niche product, one that some consumers love and others hate. Based on its informational role, a higher variance would correspond to a higher subsequent demand if and only if the average rating is low. We find empirical evidence that is consistent with the theoretical predictions with book data from Amazon.com and BN.com. A higher standard deviation of ratings on Amazon improves a book's relative sales rank when the average rating is lower than 4.1 stars, which is true for 35% of all the books in our sample. This paper was accepted by Pradeep Chintagunta, marketing.