Course Content (Syllabus)
The second documentary course acts as a practical introduction to documentary filmmaking, especially at the production and post-production phases. The issues raised during the making of a documentary film could range from practical to moral, from shooting or editing techniques to building relationships of trust with the subjects.
Such issues are addressed through 3 individual exercises that correspond to usual situations faced by the documentary filmmaker. These exercises should be executed in couples, within specific time limitations and could be briefly described as follows:
The making of a 2min portrait of an individual based exclusively on observation.
Filming the dialogue between 3-4 people for 20 minutes and condensing it (in editing) into a 2-3 min scene that maintains a sense of continuity.
Filming an interview and enriching the portrait, made in exercise 1, with expository techniques (interview, archive material, music etc)
Working in documentary provides valuable experience and knowledge to all students, irrespectively of the direction they wish to follow or their preference to fiction or factual films. As this course puts great emphasis on editing it is considered prerequisite for those who wish to specialize and make their degree project in editing.
Keywords
documentary, observation, portrait, dialogue, interview