COMMS 312 : Documentary and Social Change

Arts

2025 Semester Two (1255) (15 POINTS)

Course Prescription

Investigates the close alignment between documentary film and social and political transformation. The course will explore documentaries associated with political movements from anti-fascism to LGBTI issues. Students will produce a ‘mini-documentary’ as part of their coursework.

Course Overview

The documentary film is said to have a close alignment with social change, reflecting or even producing political transformation. COMMS 312 explores this premise, blending theory and practice. As a class, we will examine documentaries associated with political movements while across the duration of the semester, small student groups will produce mini-documentaries as part of their assessment. 

In the analytical component of this course, we begin by looking at the relationship of documentary to social change, defining what we mean by ‘social change’ and ‘documentary’. Then, through the body of the course, we will explore how documentary has engaged throughout its history with political movements. We will study films that explore revolutionary, Marxist, and anti-fascist themes as well as those films defined as contemporary activist and advocacy films. Topics will include feminism, gender identity, indigenous and minority rights, anti-war protests and environmental issues.

In the practical component of the course, students in groups of three will make a mini-documentary.  Each student will have a specific role: producer/editor; camera/sound or director/interviewer. However, they will also be required to work collaboratively as these roles intersect. Preproduction skills covered will include researching and developing a topic, approaching an interview subject, developing question lines, and engaging with subjects. The production phase will cover the basics of production management, shooting, lighting, sound recording, and planning for visual coverage. In postproduction, students will master editing on Premiere Pro and learn sound mixing and basic graphics.

Attendance is critical as theoretical and practical instruction and tasks will be interspersed across the three hours and the latter requires group discussion and presentations. 

Course Requirements

Prerequisite: 60 points at Stage II in BA or BC courses Restriction: COMMS 306

Capabilities Developed in this Course

Capability 1: People and Place
Capability 3: Knowledge and Practice
Capability 4: Critical Thinking
Capability 6: Communication
Capability 7: Collaboration
Capability 8: Ethics and Professionalism
Graduate Profile: Bachelor of Communication

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Critically analyse the history of documentary and its relationship to social change. (Capability 1 and 3)
  2. Communicate, consult and collaborate as part of the production of your mini-documentaries. (Capability 3, 6, 7 and 8)
  3. Demonstrate an understanding of of the modes and functions of the documentary. (Capability 3 and 4)
  4. Understand and critically explore the people and place of Aotearoa. (Capability 1, 3 and 4)
  5. Communicate with your class about your learning outcomes (Capability 6, 7 and 8)
  6. Demonstrate ethics and professionalism, both core to documentary practice (Capability 3, 4 and 8)
  7. Critically analyse documentary form as creative practice. (Capability 3, 6 and 8)

Assessments

Assessment Type Percentage Classification
Essay 30% Individual Coursework
Test 30% Individual Coursework
Practical 40% Group & Individual Coursework

Exam Mode


  • There is no final exam for this course

Further information about exams can be found at https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/about-exams.html

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 15-point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15 point course that they are enrolled in.

For this course, you can expect 2 hours of lectures, a one-hour workshop, 4 hours of reading and thinking about the content and 3 hours of work on assignments and/or test preparation.

Delivery Mode

Campus Experience

This course is not available for delivery to students studying remotely outside NZ in 2024.

Attendance is expected to receive credit for components of the course.

The course will not include live online events.

The activities for the course are scheduled as a standard weekly timetable.

Learning Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

All reading materials are included in a weekly Reading list.  There are also lists of the complete films that will be excerpted within the lectures, but that students are encouraged to watch in their entirety. There will be additional readings, documents, powerpoints, and videos pertaining to the 'production pedagogy' component of this class in the weekly Modules.

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

This is the third time this course has been taught, and generally, it has been very popular. This year, we may increase the production component as they respond extremely well to the group work. 

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework, tests and examinations as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against electronic source material using computerised detection mechanisms. Upon reasonable request, students may be required to provide an electronic version of their work for computerised review.

Class Representatives

Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Well-being always comes first
We all go through tough times during the semester, or see our friends struggling. There is lots of help out there - for more information, look at this Canvas page https://canvas.auckland.ac.nz/courses/33894, which has links to various support services in the University and the wider community.

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Learning Continuity

In the event of an unexpected disruption we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and your assessment is fair, and not compromised. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the University Website for information about how to proceed.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course you may be asked to submit your coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. The final decision on the completion mode for a test or examination, and remote invigilation arrangements where applicable, will be advised to students at least 10 days prior to the scheduled date of the assessment, or in the case of an examination when the examination timetable is published.

Published on 12/11/2024 08:15 a.m.