Childhood: father's photographic career, parents' divorce; engineering studies; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Yale, 1947; founder , Electronics Engineering; early literary aspirations; filmmaking techniques and influence of Francis Thompson; marriage to and divorce from Sylvia Bell; documentary filmmaking with Drew Associates and Time-Life Films, 1959-1963: association with Julien Bryan, Robert Drew, Ricky Leacock, Albert Maysles, Greg Shuker; development of cinematic techniques, sound and camera equipment; philosophy of documentary filmmaking; selection of characters and subjects, editing, role and size of production crew; films discussed in detail: film loops for Brussels World's Fair, DAYBREAK (1953), GYPSY (1958), DAVID (1961), SUSAN STARR (1962), JANE (1962), SECOND CITY COMMERCIALS (1965), DONT LOOK BACK (1966), MAIDSTONE (1968), MONTERREY POP (1968), 1 PM (1969), KEEP ON ROCKIN' (1972); Pennebaker Associates filming in the White House during the Kennedy and Carter administrations; relationship of Public Broadcasting System and National Film Board of Canada to independent filmmakers; impressions of Gypsy Rose Lee, Chris Hegedus, John DeLorean, Hope Ryden, Jean-Luc Godard, Bob Dylan, Eddie Sachs, Norman Mailer.
