50199 Documentary Production

Handbook description

Through screenings and readings, students develop a critical understanding of the different techniques and approaches to documentary production. Students take an idea for a documentary through the stages of researching and writing, from synopsis to treatment and script. In small groups, students also work through a series of hands-on exercises to advance their skills in producing, directing, shooting and editing for documentaries. Students are encouraged to engage with contemporary debates which concern the documentary sector of the media industries.

Subject objectives/outcomes

At the completion of this subject students are expected to be able to demonstrate:

1. introductory professional hands-on skills of producing, directing, shooting and editing video documentaries
2. a critical understanding of the different techniques, approaches and forms of the documentary
3. skills in taking an idea for a documentary through the stages of researching and writing, from synopsis to outline or short treatment and production proposal
4. skills in critically analysing documentaries
5. an understanding of contemporary issues in documentary through screenings and readings
6. a basic understanding of the documentary industry in Australia.

Contribution to graduate profile

Students develop their professional skills and creative expertise through the development of skills in documentary video production. Students acquire a conceptual framework for analysing documentaries and become familiar with contemporary issues facing documentary program makers in Australia. This will better equip them to take up industrial and artisan roles in the film and television industries.

Teaching and learning strategies

The subject will be conducted as weekly seminars throughout the semester. There will be lectures, seminar discussions and screenings. Students participate in class exercises and out of class group production work. Seminars workshop student's research and project development and work-in-progress on production exercises.

Content

The subject will cover the following aspects of documentary theory and professional practice:

• Overview of the documentary industry in Australia
• Researching the documentary
• Developing a documentary treatment, production proposal and script
• The possibilities and limitations of different documentary forms
• Shooting for documentary
• Interviews
• Observational documentary
• Structuring a documentary script
• The essay documentary
• Narration and sound design
• Montage
• Dramatic elements
• Reflexivity and the authorial voice
• Archival documentary
• Biography
• Budgeting for documentary
• Funding possibilities in Australia
• Marketing and distribution.

Assessment

Assessment item 1: Production of a group devised mini documentary – Group

Assessment item 2: Develop a synopsis and short treatment for a documentary

Minimum requirements

Students are expected to read the subject outline to ensure they are familiar with the subject requirements. Since class discussion and participation in activities form an integral part of this subject, you are expected to attend, arrive punctually and actively participate in classes. If you experience difficulties meeting this requirement, please contact your lecturer. Students who have a reason for extended absence (e.g., illness) may be required to complete additional work to ensure they achieve the subject objectives.

Attendance is particularly important in this subject because it is based on a collaborative approach which involves essential workshopping and interchange of ideas. Students who attend fewer than ten classes are advised that their final work will not be assessed and that they are likely to fail the subject.

Indicative references

Required reading
Bruzzi, Stella New Documentary A critical introduction. Routledge, Londn. 2000
Nichols, Bill Representing Reality - Issues and Concepts in Documentary. Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indiapolis, 1991
Rabiger, M Directing The Documentary, Focal Press, Boston, London, 1992
Renov, Michael (ed) Theorizing Documentary. Routledge, New York, 1993.
Rosenthal, Alan Writing, Directing and Producing Documentary Films. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale,1990
Winston, Brian Claiming the Real: the Documentary Film Revisited. British Film Institute, London 1995.

Recommended
Darren-Smith, Kate and Hamilton, Paula Memory and History in Twentieth-Century Australia Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1994
Devereaux, Leslie and Hillman, Roger (ed) Fields of Vision: Essays in Film Studies,Visual Anthropology and Photography. University of California Press, Berkley, 1995
MacDougall, Transcultural Cinema Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1998
Middlemiss, Jenny Guide to Film and Television Research. AFTRS, Sydney, 1992
Nichols, Bill Blurred Boundaries: Questions of Meaning in Contemporary Culture, Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indiapolis, 1994
Plantinga, Carl R Rhetoric and Representation in Nonfiction Film Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1997
Rabinowitz, Paula They Must Be Represented: The Politics of Documentary Verso, London, 1994
Rosenthal, Alan (ed) New Challenges for Documentary. University of California Press, Berkley, 1988
Sherman, Sharon Documenting Ourselves: Film Video and Culture University of Kentucky Press, 1998