Ken Burns’s America PDF
Preview Ken Burns’s America
KEN BURNS’S America Gary R. Edgerton Palgrave forSt.Martin’sPress KENBURNS’SAMERICA Copyright©Gary.R.Edgerton,2001. Softcoverreprintofthehardcover1stedition2001978-0-312-23646-5 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybeusedorreproducedinanymanner whatsoeverwithoutwrittenpermissionexceptinthecaseofbriefquotations embodiedincriticalarticlesorreviews. Firstpublished2001byPALGRAVETM 175FifthAvenue,NewYork,N.Y.10010. Companiesandrepresentativesthroughouttheworld. PALGRAVEisthenewglobalpublishingimprintofSt.Martin’sPressLLC ScholarlyandReferenceDivisionandPalgravePublishersLtd.(formerlyMacmillan PressLtd.). ISBN978-1-349-63110-0 ISBN978-1-137-05482-1(eBook) DOI10.1007/978-1-137-05482-1 LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Edgerton,GaryR.(GaryRichard),1952- KenBurns’sAmerica /byGaryR.Edgerton. p.cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. 1.Burns,Ken,1953---Criticismandinterpretation. I.Title. PN1992.5.B79E342001 791.45’0232’092--dc21 2001019451 Designbyplanettheo.com Firstedition:November2001 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents Preface and Acknowledgments............................... v CHAPTER ONE Rebirth of a Nation: Reframing The Civil War (1990) on Prime-Time Television .................................. 1 CHAPTER TWO Life Lessons: Learning the Basics on Brooklyn Bridge (1982) .......27 CHAPTER THREE Variations on a Theme: American Originals, Symbols, and Institutions ................................. 51 CHAPTER FOUR The Creative Team as Historian: Inside the Production Process on Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio (1992) ........................................... 85 CHAPTER FIVE A Whole New Ball Game: Baseball (1994) and The West (1996) as Event TV.............................. 109 CHAPTER SIX American Lives: Thomas Jefferson (1997) and the Television Biography as Popular History..................... 151 CHAPTER SEVEN Ken Burns’s AmericaReconsidered: Mainstreaming Jazz (2001) for a National Audience ........................ 181 NOTES .................................................... 219 VIDEOGRAPHY .............................................. 249 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY: PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCES ...... 253 GENERAL INDEX ............................................. 262 FILM / TV INDEX ............................................ 267 Tenpagesofphotosappearbetweenpages108and109. This page intentionally left blank Preface and Acknowledgments Scholars have generally paid less attention to documentary films and television programs than to their fictional counterparts, reflecting both the longstanding prioritiesofthemotionpictureandtelevisionindustriesaswellasthecustomary preferencesofmassaudiencesthroughoutmuchofthelastcentury.Sincetheearly 1980s, in particular, the conventional boundaries between fact and fiction, information and entertainment, and among film, photography, TV, video, and multimediaproductionhavegrownincreasinglyindistinctwitheachpassingyear. Ken Burns became the first breakthrough documentarian of his generation, workingmainlyintelevisionandreachingtensofmillionsofpeoplewithhisprime- timevisionofAmerica.Aboveallelse,Burns’sinfluenceasanonfictionfilmmaker andapopularhistorianspringsfromhiscloseassociationwithpublicTV,notin spiteofthisfact.ThequestionofwhetherBurnswillsomedaymakeafictionfilm is mostly beside the point by now. Contemporary motion picture and television producer-directorsregularlyconsiderthefullrepertoireofnonfictionalandfictional stylistics when fashioning their stories for the screen. Burns’s success is directly attributabletohiswillingnesstobridgetraditionalcategoriesinhishighlypersonal (andoftenimitated)approachtoproducinghistoryonfilmforTV. Afteraquartercenturyofworkincluding16majortelevisionspecials(with severalmorealreadyinpreparation),atmid-careerKenBurnsispresentlypublic television’s most prominent and acclaimed producer-director. Ken Burns’s America,inturn,isthefirstbook-lengthstudytocomprehensivelyexaminethis innovative filmmaker as a television auteur, a pivotal programming influence within the industry, and a popular historian who portrays a uniquely singular andcompellingversionofthecountry’spast.Thisvolume’sthree-foldagenda, isto,first,delineatehispersonalinfluences,hisdistinctiveandwell-recognizable style,andthedevelopmentandmaturationofhisideologicaloutlook,identify- ingthosefeaturesthatmakehimoneofthemostsignificantculturalvoiceson TVtoday.Burnsisnextviewedastheownerandexecutiveproducerofhisown independent productioncompany operating on the periphery ofpublic televi- sion’s institutional framework. And, last, he is analyzed as a popular historian whoreevaluatesthenation’shistoricallegacyfromanewgenerationalperspec- vi KEN BURNS’S AMERICA tive.Thisfirstbook-sizedassessmentofBurns’shistoricaldocumentariesisnot intended in any way as a biography, although biographical elements do inevitablysurfaceasawayofsheddingfurtherlightonthefilmsunderstudy. TheCivilWarisboththewatershedeventinBurns’scareerandtheimpetus fortherecentrenaissanceindocumentaryprogrammingonAmericantelevision. ThisminiseriesisthereforetheidealplacetostarttodefineandillustrateBurns as a TV producer-director and popular historian. Chapter 1, “Rebirth of a Nation: Reframing The Civil War (1990) on Prime-Time Television,” intro- ducesBurnsafteryearsofrefininghisskillsasanartistworkinginphotography, film,andvideoasastorytellerandlearningthebusinessoftelevisionproduction as owner of an independent company. All of Burns’s stylistic elements come together as never before in The Civil War, as does his producing talent for shepherding a project of this size, scope, and ambition from initial concept to public release. After September 1990, the month of its release, Burns’s public persona is also established. He becomes a national celebrity, which helps his subsequenttelevisioncareerbutnoticeablystrainshisrelationswiththehistorical community.TheCivilWarassertsinonefellswoopthathistoryisnolongerthe principaldomainofspecialists,asithadbeenformorethanhalfacentury,but isnowrelevantandcompellingforeveryone—andthistimeonTV. Chapter2, “LifeLessons:Learning theBasicson BrooklynBridge(1982),” essentially“flashbacks”tothebeginningofBurns’sprofessionalcareerin1975 whenheandtwoofhiscollegefriends—BuddySquires,whoisstillhisprincipal cinematographer,andRogerSherman—startedtheirownindependentproduc- tion company, Florentine Films. They struggled for a number of years doing freelanceassignmentsandfinishingafewshortdocumentariesbeforebeginning work in 1977 on their first major project, based on historian David McCullough’sbook,TheGreatBridge(1972).Fouryearslater,theycompleted BrooklynBridge,sponsoredpartlybytheTelevisionLaboratoryatthepublicTV station,Thirteen/WNET,inNewYorkCity.Thishistoricaldocumentarywon several important commendations,including an Academy Award nomination, thususheringKenBurnsandFlorentineFilmsintothesystemthatisthePublic Broadcasting Service where he and his company have happily remained ever since. Overall, this second chapter closely explores Burns’s seminal influences (i.e., the films of John Ford, photographer Jerome Liebling, and David McCullough), his switch from fictional to nonfictional subjects and stylistics, andhisevidentgrowthasanartistasillustratedbyassessinghisfirsttwoefforts asaproducer-director,WorkinginRuralNewEngland(1976)forOldSturbridge Village,alivinghistorymuseumincentralMassachusetts,andBrooklynBridge, whichwascompletedsixyearslater. PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii Burns becomes more confident and comfortable with the professional choices he’s made during the 1982-1988 time frame covered in Chapter 3, “Variations on a Theme: American Originals, Symbols, and Institutions.” At the beginning of this period, he has just moved to a quiet, picturesque village ontheConnecticutRiver,Walpole,NewHampshire,whichallowshimtolive inexpensivelyandworkonlyonthoseprojectsthathecreatesanddevelopsfor himselfalongwithhisclosestcolleaguesatFlorentineFilms.Thisprovestobe aprolificstretchofyearsforBurnsandhiscreativeteam,resultinginTheShakers: Hands to Work, Hearts to God, The Statue of Liberty, Huey Long, Thomas Hart Benton,andTheCongress.Althoughatfirstitappearsthatheisembracingawide assortmentofsubjects,thisthirdchapterdelineatestheunderlyingcharacteristics that hold his approach to the American past together. Burns’s work from this point onward demonstrates certain narrative and ideological imperatives that supporteachother,andwhichformanimageofthenationthatisromantic(i.e., based on emotions), liberal pluralist, and largely celebratory in nature. By the mid-1980s,KenBurnsbeginstocreateaseriesoftelevisionspecialsasmorality tales, drawing upon epic events, landmarks, and institutions of historical significance,populatedbyheroesandvillainswhoallegoricallypersonifycertain virtues and vices in the national character as understood through the popular mythologyofAmerica’scollectivememory.Thisisastylisticformulathatcomes to full fruition in The Civil War, an approach that he and many other TV documentaristsofhisgenerationwillcontinuetodevelopandrefinethroughout therestofthe1990sandintothecurrentdecade. Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio is an important transitional filminBurns’scareer.Chapter4,“TheCreativeTeamasHistorian:Insidethe Production Process on Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio (1992),” offers a glimpse into the directions Burns will take in the future. Empire of the Air was conceived and created while The Civil War was being edited and later released to wide attention and acclaim, a period during which Burns’s profes- sional profile changed dramatically as he became a national celebrity virtually overnight. The heightened work environment and reaction surrounding The CivilWaralsoaffectedEmpireoftheAir’sproductionprocessinminorwaysat first, but then more tangibly after the summer of 1990. The main purpose of Chapter 4 is to analyze Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio as made- for-televisionhistory.Itoffersarevealingobjectlessononthesharedauthorship thattypicallyoccurswhencreatingmediatedhistoryonfilmforTV.Empireof the Air, moreover, appeared first as a book, then as a major public television special, and finally as a radio play, providing a representative example of how history (like any other narrative genre) commonly is adapted across multiple viii KEN BURNS’S AMERICA mediaformsthesedaysand,inturn,isdirectedtowardvaryingsegmentsofthe Americanmassaudience. BythereleaseofEmpireoftheAir,“KenBurns”isbecomingabrandname and the market is fundamentally changing for made-for-television histories. Most everything about Ken Burns’s professional life is in transition after the unparalleledreceptionandsuccessofTheCivilWar.Chapter5,“AWholeNew Ball Game: Baseball (1994) and The West (1996) as Event TV,” focuses specifically on Burns as an executive producer and business entrepreneur. BaseballisanalyzedfromitsinceptionthroughitsSeptember1994premiere.As Baseballmushroomedfromninetoeighteenandahalfhours,sodidFlorentine Films/American Documentaries, Inc. in kind. This chapter basically maps out how Burns comes to realize his company’s niche in the television business by designing Baseball from the outset as “event TV.” It first follows the rigors of conceptualizing and producing this miniseries. Baseball also required licensing agreementsformorethantwodozenancillaryproducts,whileatthesametime Burns was acquiring future projects and assigning on-the-line producers to develop these new properties according to his own well-established style and approach. The second half of this chapter follows The West as a case study in this regard. KenBurns,most significantly,assumedan evergreaterroleinthis periodasexecutiveproducerandcompanyfigureheadtogoalongwithhisusual directorialduties. Chapter 6, “American Lives: Thomas Jefferson (1997) and the Television Biography as Popular History,” primarily examines Burns as a historical biographer in his work on the American Lives series, co-sponsored by General Motors as part of its “Mark of Excellence” television presentations. American LivesdebutedinFebruary1997withareported17millionviewersforThomas Jefferson, and was followed in successive Novembers by Lewis & Clark: The JourneyoftheCorpsofDiscovery(1997),FrankLloydWright(1998),andNotFor Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony (1999).MarkTwaincompletestheoriginalquintetofAmericanLivesepisodes, settingthestageforfivemoreinstallmentstobeginproductionin2002andto continue in succession over the course of the current decade. Burns’s role as a popularhistorianisspecificallyhighlightedinChapter6,usingAmericanLives forillustrativeexamples.Thebiographicalformulaisessentiallyunderscoredfor its potential to simulate powerful feelings of intimacy in audience members as they watch and relate to the featured characters’ life stories in the privacy and comfort of their own homes. An interlocking ritual of producing, telecasting, andwatchingbiographies,suchastheonesinAmericanLives,ispresentedasa sharedceremonialexperiencefortheproducersandthevastnumbersofviewers PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix who tune in to see these newly adapted screen versions of pivotal figures from Americanhistory. Chapters4,5,and6alsoexamineandunderscoreKenBurnsasatelevision auteur,anexecutiveproducer,andapopularhistorian.Chapter7,“KenBurns’s America Reconsidered: Mainstreaming Jazz (2001) for a National Audience,” reemphasizes and summarizes the three-dimensional nature of Burns as a TV professional by using a thorough analysis of Jazz as its focal point. This final chapterendswithfivesummaryobservationsaboutBurns’stelevisualstyleand his developing conception of America. Burns’s work is very much of the moment.Hishistoricaldocumentariesaregenerallyliberalonsocialissues,asis evident by his abiding interest in race relations and the country’s democratic ideals,whileconcurrentlytraditionalinrespecttocoreAmericanvalues.Inthe summerof1999,Burnsalsosignedanunprecedentedten-yearagreementwith General Motors whereby the automaker will underwrite 35 percent of the productioncostsand100percentoftheextensivepromotionalandeducational outreacheffortsforallofhispublictelevisionspecialsthroughouttheremainder of the decade. Suffice to say, Burns’s professional plate is as full and active as ever, while his vision of America—which is very much a work in progress—is destinedtoremainafixtureonTVscreensintheUnitedStatesandinternation- allyformanyyearstocome. One of the genuine pleasures of doing a research and writing project of this magnitudeistheopportunityithasaffordedmetomeetandinteractwithscores ofnewcontactsandacquaintances,allofwhomsharedinformationbothonand off the record that helped me in incalculable ways. To some degree, it is hard not to name all of the hundreds of people I have spoken with about television and film as history over the past five years—including film and television professionals,scholarsandcritics,andvariouslibrariansandarchivists—because all have indeed influenced me in one way or another with their various perspectivesandopinionsfromtheirowndistinctivebackgroundsandareasof expertise. Let me begin by thanking those editors who encouraged me to start writingaboutKenBurns’sfilmsinthefirstplace,includingGregBushatFilm &History,MikeMarsdenandJackNachbarattheJournalofPopularFilmand Television,andDickPackatTelevisionQuarterly.Theirinitialsupportcertainly started me thinking about expanding these preliminary explorations into a far more extended study on the historical documentaries of this highly influential andcreativeproducer-director.
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