UNIT+1

Unit Description
This introductory unit explores relationships and emphasizes literacy, critical thinking and communication skills while focusing on establishing and maintaining appropriate style and tone to suit specific audiences using documentary films as the medium of discussion.

Introduction
In studying the history of documentary film, students learn about the many complicated definitions of and disagreements about documentary film. The schools of thought that define many of the sub-genres of documentary film are pretty clearly politically motivated. Students will see a variety of examples of these different kinds of documentary to begin considering the reasons behind and effects of different modes of presentation.

Besides a historical look at the genre, students will develop a vocabulary they can use to critically analyze film. Learning the terminology of film production gets students to learn about the complex elements of film production from choice of subject matter, through filming technique to editing techniques. As a culminating activity to the course, students will produce their own documentaries. They will plan, shoot and edit, and try to communicate a message or truth to an authentic audience.


 * 1.3 Types of Documentary**


 * 1) Choose a partner or work alone
 * 2) Choose one of the following types of documentary: cinéma vérité, reflexive/interactive, mockumentary, docudrama, personal, poetic/avant-garde, expository, observational, fly-on-the-wall.
 * 3) Research the type of documentary you've chosen
 * 4) Develop a 5 - 10 minuted presentation on the type of documentary including:
 * 5) notable examples of the genre - give both examples and use clips if you can
 * 6) history of the genre
 * 7) unique features that distinguish the genre from other genres.

A good place to start researching can be found here: [|Read Me]


 * Students || Topic || Date ||


 * 1.4 Documentary Film History**
 * 1) Complete the following survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2LTJKSR
 * 2) Background reading on the history of documentary film.
 * @http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_film
 * @http://documentaryarchive.com/documentary_history.html
 * @http://www.imdb.com/list/CfHXhW5C4fo/

> See also: [] for a discussion of the making of //The Battle of the Somme.//
 * 1.4.2. Watch these on Early Film**
 * //Freeze Frame: Eadweard Muybridge's Photography of Motion//: []. [National Museum of American History]
 * The short films of the Lumière brothers: Extensively available on YouTube: [].
 * G. W. (Billy) Bitzer and the Westinghouse films: [].
 * Ford Motor Company's Motion Picture Department. Selections available at []. [Search by key words, such as: "Ford Motor Company films"].
 * //The Battle of the Somme// (British film, 1916). Sample a few minutes from this hour-long classic: [].
 * Sample some of Thomas Edison's earliest actualities and documentary-style productions, available at the Library of Congress' American Memory site: []


 * 1.4.3. Watch these on Edward Flaherty and the development of Ethnographic Documentary**
 * Robert Flaherty, "How I Filmed 'Nanook of the North,'" //World's Work// (October 1922): 632-640. [|http://astro.temple.edu/~ruby/wava/Flaherty/filmed.html].
 * Deane Williams on Flaherty (from //Sense of Cinema,// an online journal devoted to the serious and eclectic discussion of cinema): []
 * Link to Robert Flaherty-related Web sites: [|http://astro.temple.edu/~ruby/wava/Flaherty/]
 * Answer these questions in a blog post: How do you know that this film is a documentary?
 * How do you think audiences would have reacted to it in 1922?
 * In what ways does it still seem fresh, if at all? How did you evaluate the "truth" of the images you were presented with?
 * Flaherty came north seeking a vision. But often his vision corresponded to a different reality than that currently lived by his "subjects." Flaherty said, "Sometimes you have to lie. Often one has to distort a thing to catch its true spirit". In what ways does this film lie?
 * Edward S. Curtis' //The North American Indian//. [].


 * 1.4.4. Watch these on Documentary Movements of the 1920s and Early 1930s**
 * //Rain.// 1929. Joris Ivens. [Available at www.archive.org: []].
 * //Berlin: Symphony of a Great City.// 1927. Walter Ruttmann. [Available at ww.archive.org: []].

> //The City// (1939) Available at: [] (part 1) and [] (part 2).
 * 1.4.5. Watch these on the Rise of Propaganda**
 * Background Slideshow on WWII Propaganda
 * //The Plow that Broke the Plains// (Film: Pare Lorenz, 1936). Available at www.archive.org: []
 * //Triumph of the Will// (Reifenstahl,1934) @http://archive.org/details/TriumphOfTheWilltriumphDesWillen
 *  The Nazis aim was totality. Propaganda was their tool. Explain this and relate it to the film.
 *  The Nazis preferred to reduce the intellect by working primarily upon emotions. Explain this and discuss how this film (physically and psychologically) achieves this.
 *  The Nazis loved the word Bewegung (movement). Discuss two different ways "movement" (literally and metaphorically) is used in the film.
 *  What was the purpose of the film? How was it achieved? Was it a documentary or a propaganda film? Or both?
 *  Discuss the use of the masses in the film as an ornament. What did this mean to the Nazis and why did they like it a lot?
 * What were your personal reactions and your emotional responses to the film? Explain.
 * Frank Capra, //Why We Fight// series (7-part). Sample selections. All are available on www.archive.org. The first in the series is available at: [].
 * //Why We Fight// suggests that World War II was a military operation for which there existed a good justification. Is there ever a good justification for war?
 * General Marshall (who commissioned the 7 films in Why We Fight) said to Frank Capra (the director of them): "Now, Capra, I want to nail down with you a plan to make a series of documented, factual-information films—the first in our history—that will explain to our boys in the Army //why// we are fighting, and the //principles// for which we are fighting..." Did Capra achieve Marshall's goal?
 * Walt Disney's Education for Death (1943)
 * US State Dept.'s Know Your Enemy (1944)


 * Answer the following by the end of 1.4.5 on your homework page**
 * 1) Define propaganda.
 * 2) Do we come across it today?
 * 3) Where?
 * 4) How do you deal with propaganda?
 * 5) How can you be critical of it?
 * 6) Can a political documentary be unbiased? How?

Complete the __**Propoganda Assignment**__
 * 1) Create your own propaganda poster using the techniques we looked at in World War II.
 * 2) Choose a current issue to represent in the propaganda.
 * 3) Think about the following things:
 * What message are you sending, what are you trying to get the person who will look at your work to do or think.
 * How can you portray this message in a simple, catchy way that will be easy to understand and hard to forget (i.e. slogan, artwork, etc.)
 * What forms of symbolism can you use.

Answer the following questions on your homework page:
 * 1) What are the films' messages?
 * 2) What case do they make in support of these messages?
 * 3) What techniques are used to persuade the audience?
 * 4) What political agendas are behind the films?
 * 5) How are these examples of propaganda?
 * 6) What other examples of propaganda are you familiar with?


 * 1.5 Film Technique**


 * Camera Work**

Create a 5-10 minute presentation in which you: 1. Define one of the following terms: 2. Specify why you would want to use that shot in a documentary 3. Demonstrate at least 3 examples of its use in a documentary film/video and discuss the effect of using that shot on the viewer.
 * Definition || Shot/Transition ||


 * Editing**

[|Watch This]Take note on each of the editing terms and what they mean.


 * 1.6 Editorial Perspective - The History of Documentaries Revisited**


 * 1.6.2 Watch The Gods Must Be Crazy**

This is a piece of fiction that poses as "reality" in a way similar to Nanook. After viewing write 3 paragraphs comparing and contrasting The Gods Must be Crazy with Nanook of the North. You can post this on either your blog or your homework page.


 * 1.6.3 Watch** //Supersize Me// (Spurlock, 2004)

Answer the following questions on your blog:
 * What is Spurlok’s message about fast food?
 * How does he try to prove his message’s validity?
 * What does he do as a director to make you believe his message?
 * What holes do you see in his strategy?


 * 1.6.4 Watch** //Me and Mickey D// (Whaley, 2005), Whaley ate McDonald’s for 30 days and not only lost weight, but lowered her cholesterol as well.

Answer the following questions on your blog:
 * What is Whaley’s message about fast food?
 * How does she try to prove her message’s validity?
 * What does she do as a director to make you believe her message?
 * What holes do you see in her strategy?


 * PART 1.7 - "Create a Documentary" Assignment**

Think of this as a practice run for your ISU. You will create a 3-5 minute documentary on a subject of your own choosing.

1.Pre-Production

Submit the following
 * 1 paragraph summary of video idea
 * intended audience statement
 * list of locations to be filmed - see [[file:Sample Schedule.gif|example for required format]] (best done in a spreadsheet or a table in Word)
 * list of required graphics, audio, photo, video to be added to film


 * PART 1.7.2 Planning the Film**

1. Storyboarding – show [|examples] from Shrek – essential to a decent film – helps with shooting and editing.

2. In groups, students start planning their films, scene by scene. Students must hand in a rough storyboard of their documentary.

Over 1 week you must both shoot and edit your film for presentation
 * 1.7.3** Shoot/Edit the Film


 * 1.7.4** Mini-Film Fest

View all the films

//modified from a unit plan developed by Nathan Schultz and Dan Richardson//