SCREEN 300

Documentary Video Making

Please note: this is archived course information from 2021 for SCREEN 300.

Description

Instead of crafting scenarios and characters wholly produced by their imagination, documentary filmmakers tell stories by looking to the world around them. This course teaches students how to make short documentaries. It encourages them to tell stories based in and of the world they inhabit rather than the one they conjure.

Over the course of the semester students will make short documentary films. These projects are designed to help develop a range of skills that are fundamental to the craft of non-fiction filmmaking. Some of these skills include how to recognise and construct narrative, how to tell a story visually, how to respond nimbly and creatively to events unfolding in real time and how to negotiate with people. Basic technical proficiency with respect to cinematography, sound and editing is expected but some class time will be spent on technical instruction.

This course is project based and some of the work will rely on collaboration and take place in groups. The course aims to develop creative and technical skills by "doing" which means practising filmmaking consistently over the course of the semester.

Provisional class limits information for 2020: Enrolment is limited to 20 students. Students must have successfully completed both SCREEN 200 and 201. This class has limited places in order to allow for adequate attention to each student. It is workshop based with project based writing/reading/making. As part of the SCREEN program it must align with attendance in other courses to maintain parity and student scheduling. Selection will also be made based on the application form in which students rank their preferences.

Assessment

Coursework only

Availability 2021

Semester 1

Lecturer(s)

Coordinator(s) Associate Professor Sarina Pearson

Reading/Texts

Points

SCREEN 300: 15 points

Prerequisites

SCREEN 200, 201 and approval of Academic Head or nominee

Corequisites

Restrictions

FTVMS 301