Module Information
Module Identifier
TFM2040
Module Title
Documentary Foundations
Academic Year
2014/2015
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 1
Co-Requisite
Other Staff
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Other | There will be 10 x 8 hour sessions over the 10 weeks comprising group screening and seminars |
| Practical | There will be a total of 24 hours of technical workshops throughout the semester |
| Seminars / Tutorials | 5 x 1 hour Tutorials Film Festival visit |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | Film Essay (5 minutes) | 70% |
| Semester Assessment | Critical Evaluation of Film Essay | 30% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Resubmission of failed element(s) | 100% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate an awareness of the ideas involved in documentary making and an ability to place these within a critical context.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the wider issues connected to and provoked by documentary work.
3. Communicate and discuss their ideas effectively within a public forum.
4. Evaluate and analyse an idea and transform it into a project.
5. Demonstrate the practical skills to shoot and edit a 5 minute video essay.
Aims
This module - delivered through a combination of seminars, workshops and screenings – is an introduction to practice-based research techniques. The module explores and analyses the personal voice of the documentary filmmaker and the significance of interrogating the relationship between maker and subject.
Through an examination of lyrical documentary and essay films, the module will encourage students to challenge the more polemical and journalistic approaches associated with factual television production and re-orientate documentary as a broader form of cinema and art practice.
There are technical workshops held throughout the module which will provide all students with basic technical skills in operating a video camera, recording sound and using non-linear editing software.
This technical foundation will be further developed by short exercises which will help students begin to explore ways of translating their ideas into imagery – both visual and aural – and then evolve different forms of narrative construction. The camera and microphone will not simply be used as recording devices, but as microscopes through which the otherwise unseen and unheard can be discovered
Through an examination of lyrical documentary and essay films, the module will encourage students to challenge the more polemical and journalistic approaches associated with factual television production and re-orientate documentary as a broader form of cinema and art practice.
There are technical workshops held throughout the module which will provide all students with basic technical skills in operating a video camera, recording sound and using non-linear editing software.
This technical foundation will be further developed by short exercises which will help students begin to explore ways of translating their ideas into imagery – both visual and aural – and then evolve different forms of narrative construction. The camera and microphone will not simply be used as recording devices, but as microscopes through which the otherwise unseen and unheard can be discovered
Brief description
Documentary Foundations is a practice-based module delivered through a combination of seminars, workshops and screenings. It will examine the potentials of documentary in the context of both art and cinema with a focus on the personal voice of the filmmaker.
During the first half of the semester, students will work on and discuss several short exercises in which the camera and microphone will not simply be used as recording devices, but as microscopes through which otherwise unseen and unheard dynamics of an environment can be discovered. In the second half of the semester each student will produce a 5 minute personal film essay reflecting on a subject of their choice. During this production, weekly seminars and tutorials will encourage students to place the work produced within a critical context – introducing practice-based research techniques.
There are technical workshops held throughout the module which will provide a foundation in technical skills: operating a video camera, recording sound and using non-linear editing software.
As part of the module, students will be encouraged to attend a documentary film festival
During the first half of the semester, students will work on and discuss several short exercises in which the camera and microphone will not simply be used as recording devices, but as microscopes through which otherwise unseen and unheard dynamics of an environment can be discovered. In the second half of the semester each student will produce a 5 minute personal film essay reflecting on a subject of their choice. During this production, weekly seminars and tutorials will encourage students to place the work produced within a critical context – introducing practice-based research techniques.
There are technical workshops held throughout the module which will provide a foundation in technical skills: operating a video camera, recording sound and using non-linear editing software.
As part of the module, students will be encouraged to attend a documentary film festival
Content
The module is delivered over a 10-week teaching period through a series of seminars, tutorials and technical workshops.
As part of the module students will be required to attend a documentary film festival such as CPH-DOX – the Copenhagen Documentary Film Festival which is one of the more progressive international documentary film festivals.
For the final and assessed project in this module each student will be asked make a 10-minute video portrait and a 2500 word paper which offers a critical analysis of the video essay produced and the process of making it.
Week One - Introduction
Exercise : ‘A walk’
Workshop – Introduction to facilities; equipment booking procedures; health and safety; risk assessment.
Week Two - Place
Discuss ‘A walk’
Screen and discuss London (Keiller, 1994)
Exercise: observations one – ‘Place’
Workshop – Introduction to camera and grip equipment
Week Three - Event
Discuss ‘Place’
Screen and discuss Galivant (Kotting, 1997)
Exercise: observations two – ‘Event’
Workshop – Introduction to location sound recording
Week Four - Journey
Discuss ‘Event’ project
Screen and discuss Sans Soleil (Marker, 1983)
Exercise: Essay Film – with theme ‘A Journey’
Workshop – Introduction to Editing
Week Five
Tutorials – filming Essay Film
Workshop – Advanced camera and location sound
Week Six
Tutorials – filming Essay Film
Workshop – Advanced camera and location sound
Week Seven
Tutorials – filming Essay Film
Workshop – Advanced editing
Week Eight
Tutorials – edit Essay Film
Workshop – Advanced editing
Week Nine
Tutorials – edit Essay Film
Workshop – Post-production techniques
Week Ten
Tutorials – edit Essay Film
Workshop – Post-production techniques
As part of the module students will be required to attend a documentary film festival such as CPH-DOX – the Copenhagen Documentary Film Festival which is one of the more progressive international documentary film festivals.
For the final and assessed project in this module each student will be asked make a 10-minute video portrait and a 2500 word paper which offers a critical analysis of the video essay produced and the process of making it.
Week One - Introduction
Exercise : ‘A walk’
Workshop – Introduction to facilities; equipment booking procedures; health and safety; risk assessment.
Week Two - Place
Discuss ‘A walk’
Screen and discuss London (Keiller, 1994)
Exercise: observations one – ‘Place’
Workshop – Introduction to camera and grip equipment
Week Three - Event
Discuss ‘Place’
Screen and discuss Galivant (Kotting, 1997)
Exercise: observations two – ‘Event’
Workshop – Introduction to location sound recording
Week Four - Journey
Discuss ‘Event’ project
Screen and discuss Sans Soleil (Marker, 1983)
Exercise: Essay Film – with theme ‘A Journey’
Workshop – Introduction to Editing
Week Five
Tutorials – filming Essay Film
Workshop – Advanced camera and location sound
Week Six
Tutorials – filming Essay Film
Workshop – Advanced camera and location sound
Week Seven
Tutorials – filming Essay Film
Workshop – Advanced editing
Week Eight
Tutorials – edit Essay Film
Workshop – Advanced editing
Week Nine
Tutorials – edit Essay Film
Workshop – Post-production techniques
Week Ten
Tutorials – edit Essay Film
Workshop – Post-production techniques
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | |
| Communication | Students will be required to communicate their ideas in audio-visual and written form. They will also be guided through the process of negotiating and communicating with the subjects of their documentary production practice. There will also be rigorous discussion of work in seminars. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Students will be able to evaluate their self management strategies and procedures. This will be assessed in the written component of the module – a critical analysis of their practice work. |
| Information Technology | Students will be using a variety of post-production software platforms and manage their data files. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | Acquired skills on the module will be regularly placed in a professional practice context. |
| Problem solving | Students will develop a range of different approaches to creative problem solving by constructing an original video essay. |
| Research skills | Students will be able to evaluate their research methods and procedures. This will be assessed in the written component of the module – a paper which offers a critical analysis of their practice work. |
| Subject Specific Skills | |
| Team work | Students will collaborate in production teams. |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 7