Here’s what we’ll spend our time doing this quarter. The schedule will evolve as we proceed. Watch regularly for more details, added activities, and stuff might change or move around as our conversation does. You can use justwatch.com to find where any of the films we'll be watching are streaming or available for rent.
Calendar
March 30 - April 5: [M][T] in class, [W][R] online
April 6 - 12: [M][T][W][R] in class
April 13 - 19: [M][T][W][R] online
April 20 - 26: [M][T] film screening, [W][R] in class
April 27 - May 3: [M][T][W][R] in class
May 4 - 10: [M][T] film screening, [W][R] in class
May 11 - 17: [M][T] film screening, [W][R] in class
May 18 - 24: [M][T][W][R] online
May 25 - 31: [M][T] No Class (holiday), [W][R] in class
June 1 - 7: [M][T][W][R] in class
March 30 - April 5: Introduction
First, watch:
Either: Theater Camp (2023)
Or: Best in Show (2000)
Then, do some stuff:
1) Sign up for our Discord server, using the invite link I added to Canvas and sent by e-mail. Here's a quick getting started guide for Discord, if you haven't used it. Discord will be an extension of our classroom and where you'll be sharing your work for the course and engaging with the work of your peers.
2) Make a short (less than a minute) video introducing yourself to us. This can be super simple (shot on your phone, no editing, etc.). Share your video in the #who-are-we channel in Discord.
- Don’t tell us your major, unless you have a story about it
- Don’t tell us what you did over the holiday break, unless it involves giant snakes, parachuting, a unicorn, or it will be documented in a viral video
- Don’t tell us where you grew up, unless you’re going to show pictures
- Do tell us what moves you, what you care most about
- Do tell us what you hope to get from taking this course, but only if you can do so in a limerick
- Do tell us where you are
- Do give us random facts we can come to know you by
- Do click here and answer the first would you rather question that catches your eye
To share a video in Discord, upload to YouTube (or any other site where videos live) and share with a link. Or click the little + to the left of the message box in Discord, select a video file you created, and add a title or hello in the message.
3) Watch some of the videos of your peers, respond, add reaction emojis, etc. There are four sections of this class, all of which will work together in this Discord server.
4) You'll need a space online to share your work for this course. A couple options: (a) Use your own personal site or blog, if you have one; (b) Sign up for a free account on Medium; (c) Prepare to publish anywhere else (Google Drive, WordPress, Tumblr, etc.), as long as you can post regularly and share your work with the class via hyperlinks. Feel free to leave your full name off of your site (or use a psuedonym).
5) Write a short response (several paragraphs) to one of the two mockumentaries, Theater Camp (2023) or Best in Show (2000). Share your response in the #our-work channel on Discord.
April 6 - 12: What is Documentary For?
First, watch:
Stories We Tell (109 min) [YouTube Rental] [iTunes Rental]
StoryCorps [browse and listen to a handful of stories]
Angie Kordic, “Documentary Photography: Art as Life”
Then, do some stuff:
1) The director of the film tells stories through editing but also in the way that she composes shots. Choose at least one frame (a single static image) from the film that moves you or captures your imagination. Respond to it. Describe what you're seeing? What does it do in the film? What can you say about its shape, geometry, colors, lighting, etc.? Incorporate more shots or frames in your response, if you want, and feel free to bring in thoughts from either of the readings for this week or anything else you find or learn about the film. Share a link in the #our-work channel in Discord.
2) Respond to your peers there.
April 13 - 19: Human Subjects
First, read and watch:
Amanda Knox (92 min) [Netflix]
Then, do some stuff:
1) Our first major assignment: a photo documentary. 7 days. 7 B&W photos of your life. No people. No explanation. Each day this week, publish one photo tagged #digdoc to your Instagram, Facebook, or wherever. If you'd rather be less public, just share in the #our-work channel in Discord.
2) At the end of the week, share all 7 images in the #our-work channel in Discord, or share a link there to let us know where online we can follow you.
April 20 - 26: The Camera
Is there a relation between “things and their filmed projections, which is to say between the originals now absent from us (by screening) and the new originals now present to us (in photogenesis) — a relation to be thought of as something’s becoming something (say as a caterpillar becomes a butterfly, or as a prisoner becomes a count, or as an emotion becomes conscious, or as after a long night it becomes light)?” ~ Stanley Cavell
First, read and watch:
Cameraperson (102 min) [Amazon Prime] [justwatch.com]
Michael Koreski, “I Am a Camera”
Richard Brody, “Cameraperson and the Conventions of Documentary Filmmaking”
This is my favorite of the documentaries I've assigned this term, but it's an odd film, so I highly recommend reading one or both of the short articles I included above, which offer some context for the film.
Then, do some stuff:
Either, Join a two-hour optional live chat of this week's film in the #cameraperson channel on Discord (watch for a scheduled day/time here). We'll all hit play at the same time, and chat via text as we watch.
Or, Write/record a short piece responding to Cameraperson and publish it wherever you are doing your work for the class. As before, your response can be text, audio, video, multimedia. Share your work in the #our-work channel.
Note: You only need to do one of the two, but feel free to do both, if it's useful or if you missed one of the other assignments thus far.
April 27 - May 3: One Minute Documentaries
First, read and watch:
One Minute Wonder, 1MinuteDoc, 1 Minute Meal, 1 Minute Short Films
Overview: How Does Cinematography Impact Tone?
Use Your Camera to Control Audience Perspective
Using Sound in Your Film
Film Lighting Basics
Then, do some stuff:
1) Begin work on your one-minute documentary, which will be due at the end of next week. There are a bunch of examples linked above.
And a deceptively simple prompt: One-minute documentary. A single voice. 20 cuts. Upload to Instagram, YouTube, or elsewhere and tag with #digdoc. Share a link to your film in the #our-work channel on Discord.
One of the goals is to get you thinking about how editing works, how it can be used to tell stories. Even the simplest footage can make meaning through the ways one shot is juxtaposed against another.
May 4 - 10: Politics
First, read and watch:
The Perfect Neighbor (98 min) [Netflix]
or
13th (100 min) [Netflix] [Free on YouTube]
Then, do some stuff:
1) Either, Join a two-hour optional live chat of 13th in the #13th channel (watch for a scheduled day/time here). We'll all hit play at the same time, and chat via text as we watch.
Or, Write/record a short piece responding to The Perfect Neighbor or 13th. Publish it wherever you are doing your work for the class. As before, your response can be text, audio, video, multimedia. Share your work in the #our-work channel.
2) One-minute documentary. A single voice. 20 cuts. Upload to Instagram, YouTube, or elsewhere and tag with #digdoc. Share a link to your short film in the #our-work channel on Discord.
Note: Feel free to use any editing software, including iMovie, Final Cut Pro, OpenShot, Premiere, etc. There are even some pretty good video editing tools for iPhone and Android, but you may want to experiment with one of the others, in order to help you develop skills you'll find useful for the final project.
May 11 - 17: Rhetoric
First, watch:
Blackfish (83 min) [Netflix] [Rent via YouTube]
Then, do some stuff:
1) Click here to complete your Midterm Self-reflection
2) Either, Join a two-hour optional live chat of this week's film in the #blackfish channel on Discord (watch for a scheduled day/time here). We'll all hit play at the same time, and chat via text as we watch.
Or, Write/record a short piece responding to Blackfish and publish it wherever you are doing your work for the class. As before, your response can be text, audio, video, multimedia. Share your work in the #our-work channel.
Note: You only need to do one of the two, but feel free to do both, if it's useful or if you missed one of the other assignments thus far.
3) The final project for this class will be a short documentary film. Begin considering your subject matter and deciding what shape your film will take. You'll need an idea, so start here. Start planning, drafting, and filming.
May 18 - 24: Lights
First, create a research list for your final project:
Assemble a list of 3 - 5 films that connect with the idea you have for your final project. Those will be your "viewing list" for the next several weeks. They can be documentaries you want to watch again or ones you haven't seen. Begin watching.
Then, do some stuff:
1) Write an annotated bibliography with the 3 - 5 films you've chosen. Include a paragraph introducing the theme of your list and how it connects to your final film. Include 1-2 sentences about why you've chosen each film and how it connects to your theme. Share your bibliography in the #our-work channel.
2) Begin work on your final documentary, if you haven't already. The guidelines are simple, giving you lots of wiggle room. Your final film should be 3-10 minutes. I would encourage you to work toward the shorter end of this, using careful editing. Think of this as a way to practice at filmmaking and, perhaps, to create a portfolio piece.
You can use archival footage, images, voiceover, interviews. You can use footage you've already shot and/or new footage. Feel free to be as creative as you'd like with subject matter and approach. (You could even create a mockumentary, which is an amazing genre worthy of a whole other course.) Along with your film, you'll write a 1-3 paragraph artist statement, introduction, analysis, or narrative of your process.
May 25 - 31: Camera
First, watch:
Films from your own viewing list.
Then, do some stuff:
Work on your final documentary.
June 1 - June 7: Action
First, watch:
Screen clips and full films in class.
Then, do some stuff:
1) We'll watch clips and full films in class this week. But make sure to share your full final film by midnight on June 7 in the #final-films channel in Discord. Remember, your final film should be 3-10 minutes, and include a 1-3 paragraph artist statement or narrative of your process wherever you "publish" your film (in the YouTube description, in a blog post with the video embedded, etc.).
2) Comment on final films of your peers.
3) Submit your final self-reflection by midnight on June 9 (click here)