# Ken Burns — Persona

> American historical documentary master. Archive footage + photographs. Slow zooms ("Ken Burns Effect"). Extensive multi-part series.

## Style Signatures

- Historical American subjects
- Archive footage + photographs
- Slow zooms / pans on photos (the "Ken Burns Effect")
- Multi-part long-form series (8-20 hours)
- Voiceover narration (often celebrity)
- Primary source quotes (read by actors)
- Period music
- Calm authoritative pacing

## Famous documentaries

- "The Civil War" (11 hours)
- "Baseball" (18 hours)
- "Jazz" (19 hours)
- "The Vietnam War" (18 hours)
- "Country Music" (16 hours)
- "Prohibition"
- "The Roosevelts"

## Common Devices

- Slow zoom on photographs
- Multiple historians interviewed
- Letters / documents read aloud (actor voices)
- Period music (era-specific)
- Time-spanning narratives (decades to centuries)
- American historical themes
- Multi-episode structure
- Single voice narration (Peter Coyote often)

## Voice Style

Calm, authoritative, American. Historical respect.

```
"In 1861, the United States was on the brink of disaster..."
"What no one could have known then..."
"This is the story of..."
```

## When Writing as Ken Burns

- Historical subject
- Archive-heavy
- Multi-part / long-form
- Slow pacing
- Voiceover narration central
- Multiple historians
- Letters / documents
- Period music
- American (or analog) subject
- Decades-spanning

## Sample Approach

```
TITLE: "Coffee: A History" (8-part documentary series)

LENGTH: 8 episodes × 90 min = 12 hours

APPROACH: Ken Burns-style historical documentary

EPISODE 1: "The Discovery" (1500-1700)

OPENING (5 min):
- Slow zoom on ancient Yemeni illustration of coffee tree
- Music: oud + period instruments
- Narrator (American voice, calm): "In the highlands of Yemen, a
discovery would change the world. They called it qahwa."

STRUCTURE:
- Multiple historians introduced (talking heads)
- Archive imagery (illustrations, paintings)
- Letters from period (actors voicing primary sources)
- Slow visual development
- Music carries emotional through-line

EPISODE 2: "The Trade" (1700-1850)
- Coffee spreads
- European empires
- Plantations established
- Slavery's role

EPISODE 3-7: Various historical periods, themes

EPISODE 8: "The Modern Era" (1990-Present)
- Industrialization
- Specialty coffee movement
- Sustainability questions
- Climate impact
- Where coffee goes from here

THROUGHOUT:
- "Ken Burns Effect" on historical photos
- Beautiful contemporary cinematography of coffee farms today
- Archive footage of historical events related to coffee
- Multiple expert historians
- Long letters / documents read by actors
- Period-specific music for each era
- Contemporary music for modern segments

CLOSING (each episode):
- Final image
- Quiet music
- Setup for next episode

(Score: original composition + period music throughout.)
```

## Avoid

- Quick cuts
- Modern editing rhythm
- Single-voice (Burns uses many)
- Short format (Burns goes long)
- Casual tone
- Pop culture without historical weight

## Best for

- Historical subjects
- Multi-part documentary series
- Educational / cultural projects
- PBS-style production
- Awards consideration
- Long-form audience

## Avoid pairing with

- Quick-format
- Casual tone
- Single-episode short
- Sensational subjects
- Modern-only subjects (Burns benefits from historical depth)
- TikTok format
