COMMS 713 : Documentary Making

Arts

2020 Semester Two (1205) (30 POINTS)

Course Prescription

Students produce, direct and edit a 9-12 minute documentary. Emphasis is placed on learning technical and craft aspects of documentary-making informed by the rich and varied tradition of the genre. Analysis of a series of influential documentaries.

Course Overview

CLASS TIME: 2-6 Mondays (with additional workshops on designated weeks at times to be arranged). The class combines lectures, discussions, demonstrations, and presentations. The course begins on 20 July, the first day of semester 2.

LOCATION: THE BLACK BOX - 206-201E.1.49. The ground floor of the HSB building on Wynyard St. opposite the Fale.

For approximately six sessions, technician Martin Hansen and others will run focused production workshops. At our first session, we will discuss appropriate times. The workshops are optional, but highly recommended especially for students who wish to develop their technical skills further.

CHECKOUT:  Monday - Friday, 10am to 1pm.  A blank gear loan-out form will be provided on Canvas to be filled out. There are strict conditions, so please read the document carefully. Media technician Tim Signal,  t.signal@auckland.ac.nz is in charge.

At least 24 hours e-mail notice is required for gear loan-outs. Students must be on time as a limited window of 15-30 minutes will be made available before the next scheduled pickup.  Being late may necessitate rescheduling.  A return date/time will be negotiated with the media technician. Please adhere to this return time to ensure smooth functioning of the process. This course is structured as a hands-on production class in which students will produce, direct and edit a 9-12 minute documentary. The lecturer will work largely as an “executive producer”, providing guidance and feedback, and setting certain deadlines that students will have to meet. It is assumed that students will have basic skills in production and post-production: there will be some demonstrations in class that will be followed up at the workshops. If you need further practice students can always check out the equipment in their own time.

Documentary crews tend to be small, from 1-4 people. Students are required to crew for each other. All students work as producer/director and editor of their own documentaries but may wish to work with others as DoP and sound recordists. Students should aim to film their documentaries in 4-5 shooting days, and will spend three to four weeks in the edit.

Weekly Class Schedule
Classes tend to be very intensive in the first half of the semester. In the second half, you will need to dedicate more time to your individual production and post-production schedules. We may not run the full 4 hours in the latter part of the course.

Week 1: a) The Documentary idea and b) the production rig
a) Documentary ideas: Where do they come from? Transforming an idea into a documentary. What style of documentary most closely fits your idea? Break into groups. Discuss your various ideas and options.
b) The ideal documentary rig and ideal crew.  Familiarising yourself with the documentary rig: camera, mikes, lights, tripod.

Discussion of Assignment 1: Documentary Analysis (assignment of films)

Week 2:  a) Writing the Proposal and b) Conducting interviews.      
Discussion of ideas for final films.
a) Proposal, Treatment and Pitch. What are the ingredients that form this preliminary document? The art of pitching. Be prepared to pitch your ideas (2 mins.) on Week 4. Break into groups and discuss progress on your idea: research, visual style, mode and function, drawing on concepts from last week’s reading. Short presentation required at end of discussion.
b) Building blocks of documentary 1:  The interview: Framing options, depth of field, variable focal length. Single, double and multiple. The role of the interviewer. Setting up a classic interview.

Discussion of Assignment 2: Full Proposal

Week 3: a) Revisiting the Interview and b) Location Sound Recording
a) Interview cont.: The interview 'look', the role of the director/interviewer and drafting question lines.
b) Radio with Pictures: The importance of good sound recording: analysing your locations and working with our range of microphones.

Week 4:  a) Ethics and b) Visual Coverage      
a) Documentary Ethics: The centrality of ethics to a documentary. The University Ethics approval process. Discuss ethical issues that may arise in individual projects.
b) Building blocks of documentary 2: Visual coverage: sequences, cutaways, observational footage, archive. Coverage and capturing the moment.

Assignment 2: Full proposal due.
The Pitch: All students will pitch their ideas. Pitches should be 2 minutes exactly, with a 5-minute response period for each. Be prepared to give each other feedback.

Week 5: a) The Crew b) Lighting
a) The producer and director prepare. Key roles, technical overview, the vision, relationship with camera and crew crewing roles and crew relationships. Directorial confidence. Discuss your crewing arrangements. Call sheets, location releases and documentary release forms (aka Consent forms) 
b) Lighting for documentary: Colour temperatures, exterior and interior lighting; high and low contrast. Ideal kits.

Documentary Analysis 1: Control Room. All students will have been required to watch the documentary.

 Week 6:  A breather
Consolidation in preparation for your production. Revision of all aspects of production: camera, sound, lighting, crew relations, directing.

Discussion of Assignment 3: Work-in-progress presentation
Documentary Analysis 2 - Jiro Dreams of Sushi. All students will have been required to watch the documentary.

Week 7:  a) Preparing for Post b) From Assemble to Rough cut
a) Preparation for Post: Importance of the edit. Practical approaches: Transcriptions, paper edits, logging. Director/editor relationship. 
b) From Assemble to Rough Cut. Editing as scriptwriting, the importance of finding the structure. Approaching the assemble edit. 

Documentary Analysis 3 - Ai Wei Wei: Never Sorry. All students will have been required to watch the documentary.

Week 8:  The Art of Documentary Editing        
The aesthetics of the edit, pacing, lucidity, relation of image and sound. 
Assignment 3: Work-in-progress presentation (group 1)

Week 9: a) Refining the edit b) Archives and copyright 
Rough cut towards fine cut, narration writing and scratch tracks, working with music and composers, 'fair use' and use of archives. Discussion of advanced editing techniques: using narration, stills, animation, and special effects.
Assignment 3: Work-in-progress presentation (group 2)

Week 10:  a) Sound Design b) Polishing the picture
The fine cut or lock-off. Sound design and preparation for the mix; colour grading, FX and titles, credits. 
Documentary Analysis 4 - Waltz with Bazhir. All students will have been required to watch the documentary.

Week 11:  Distributing your documentary.
Distributing the documentary. Film festivals, online opportunities, cinema releases, streaming. Developing an EPK.    
Documentary Analysis 5 - How far is Heaven. All students will have been required to watch the documentary.

Week 12:  Documentary in the Real World: Developing a career.
The current state of the documentary marketplace in New Zealand and post-University opportunities.

Final Screening (to be scheduled).

Course Requirements

Restriction: SCREEN 713

Capabilities Developed in this Course

Capability 1: Disciplinary Knowledge and Practice
Capability 2: Critical Thinking
Capability 3: Solution Seeking
Capability 4: Communication and Engagement
Capability 5: Independence and Integrity

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Create and refine a substantial piece of original work. (Capability 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 4.2, 4.3, 5.1 and 5.2)
  2. Collaborate with student colleagues as commentators and as crew. (Capability 4.3, 5.1 and 5.2)
  3. Analyse a series of classic documentaries (Capability 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3)
  4. Develop a series of technical skills required for documentary making (Capability 1.2 and 1.3)

Assessments

Assessment Type Percentage Classification
Essay 15% Individual Coursework
Presentation 10% Individual Coursework
Project 60% Individual Coursework
Assignments 15% Individual Coursework

Next offered

2021

Learning Resources

Resources

Weekly readings are assigned, drawing on one principal text (Anderson, Kelly et al). There are further recommended readings that could be useful if you want differing perspectives. All readings are cited in the Reading Lists tab, and available in digital form. From about Week 4, students are required to screen a weekly documentary in their own time which will form the basis to the documentary analysis assignment. Each documentary is also listed in the Reading List tab, and is either digitised or available on DVD, to be screened at the Library. Kanopy, the educational streaming service, has some excellent documentaries if you to watch further inspiring films.

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 30 point course and students are expected to spend 20 hours per week. It is an intensive course and students are also required to work as crew on their student colleagues' projects.

For this course, you can expect 4 hours of lectures, an additional and voluntary 1 hour of workshops, 5 hours of reading and thinking about the content and 10 hours of work on assignments and/or test preparation.

Digital 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.

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework 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. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against online source material using computerised detection mechanisms.

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 at 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.

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.

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 25/06/2020 12:35 p.m.