Numerous surveys of the development of documentary cinema and analyses of its transitional moments exist especially those concerning technological evolution and shifts in representational strategy. And yet few histories clearly mark out a space for the emergence of the interview subject as one of the standard rhetorical devices in nonfiction film. These “talking heads” ranging in appearance from speaking subjects directly addressing the camera to the testimony of witnesses addressing an on-screen or off-screen interviewer are a dominant feature of contemporary documentary cinema and a basic component of film and television language. While there are various discussions concerning the ideological dimension of interviews generally there is little to no critical examination of when how and why the device first emerges and subsequently evolves within specific filmmaking contexts. By localizing my inquiry and focusing on the development of the interview subject in the films of the National Film Board of Canada I hope to offer a specific account of the circumstances under which talking heads become a part of film vocabulary and documentary culture.
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