ARTS 643
The Changing Character of the Documentary Film
Lisa Molomot
| Course Summary | |||||||||
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This course traces the development of the documentary film from the late Nineteenth Century to the present. The goal of the course is to learn critical thinking skills as they relate to nonfiction film. As students learn about the construction of documentary films, they will be able to question what it is they are actually seeing and critique the films in class discussions and papers. |
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| Methods of Evaluation | |||||||||
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| Journal Assignments and Papers | |||||||||
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Each week students will write a two-page journal entry about the film(s) viewed outside of class. There will be both a mid-term paper and a final paper. |
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| Course Materials | |||||||||
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Students are required to purchase Documentary: A History of the Non-Fiction Film by Erik Barnouw and The Documentary Tradition by Lewis Jacobs. Students will be required to watch a film outside of class each week. All films are on reserve at Olin Library. Ask for the dvd's with the call number and specify that it's a video. Please return all DVD's back to the reserve desk. Films are also available at Best Video in Hamden-(203) 287-9286, through Netflix and at other local video stores. |
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| Attendance Policy | |||||||||
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Students are expected to attend all 12 classes. If anyone misses more than 2 classes, they will be unable to pass the course. |
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| Course Schedule | |||||||||
| Class 1 September 15 |
Introduction to Documentary Film |
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| Class 2 September 22 |
Robert Flaherty and John Grierson, the fathers of documentary Assignment Due: |
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| Class 3 September 29 |
Avant-Garde and Poetic Films of the 1920's Assignment Due: |
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| Class 4 October 6 |
World War II and Propaganda Assignment Due: |
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| Class 5 October 13 |
Postwar Documentary and Television Assignment Due: |
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| Class 6 October 20 |
New Technology of the 1960's/Cinema Verite and Direct Cinema Assignment Due: |
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| October 27 | October Break | ||||||||
| Class 7 November 3 |
Ethics Assignment Due: |
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| Class 8 November 10 |
Documentaries of the 1970's and 80's Assignment Due: |
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| Class 9 November 17 |
Watch and discuss: The Gleaners and I-Agnes Varda Assignment Due: |
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| November 24 | Thanksgiving Break | ||||||||
| Class 10 December 8 |
PBS/ Storytelling and the 3-Act structure Assignment Due: |
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| Class 11 December 1 |
Contemporary Independent Documentaries Assignment Due: Final Paper assignment will be handed out |
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| Class 12 December 15 |
Editing a Documentary Finals due Friday December 18 |
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| On Reserve at Olin Library | |||||||||
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1. Workers Emerging From a Factory-Lumiere brothers |
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