The Geo-Doc, 1st ed. 2020
Geomedia, Documentary Film, and Social Change
Palgrave Studies in Media and Environmental Communication Series

This book introduces a new form of documentary film: the Geo-Doc, designed to maximize the influential power of the documentary film as an agent of social change. By combining the proven methods and approaches as evidenced through historical, theoretical, digital, and ecocritical investigations with the unique affordances of Geographic Information System technology, a dynamic new documentary form emerges, one tested in the field with the United Nations. This book begins with an overview of the history of the documentary film with attention given to how it evolved as an instrument of social change. It examines theories surrounding mobilizing the documentary film as a communication tool between filmmakers and policymakers. Ecocinema and its semiotic storytelling techniques are also explored for their unique approaches in audience engagement. The proven methods identified throughout the book are combined with the spatial and temporal affordances provided by GIS technology to create theGeo-Doc, a new tool for the activist documentarian.

1. Introduction.- 2. Farming the Tools of Persuasion.-3. Methods and Approaches to Documentary Influence.- 4. Ecocinema and Semiotic Storytelling.- 5. The Documentary’s Digital Turn.- 6. Visible Volume: The Multilinear and Database Documentary.- 7. The Geo-Doc: A Locative Approach to Remediating the Genre.- 8. Conclusion.

Mark Terry, PhD is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research and the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University, Canada. He is also an award-winning documentary filmmaker having won the Gemini Humanitarian Award, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal and the Stefansson Medal for his work as an ecocinema documentarian.