DOCUMENTARYPRODUCTION

THE ART OF TRUTH, INTUITION, FEAR & FAILURE

Week 1

SHANNON WALSH / SM2229/ FALL 2014

SCHOOL OF CREATIVE MEDIA, CITY UNIVERSITY HONG KONG

ALL YOU

NEEDTO

KNOW!

http://documentaryproductionhk.wordpress.com

LECTURESTopic DateIntroduction Sep 3

Documentary Form & Choosing your Subject Sept 10

Treatment Writing for Documentary Sept 17

The Interview: Establishing Relationships Sept 24

Phases of Production & Work Flow Oct 8

Political & POV Docs Oct 15

Ethical Questions Oct 22

Dealing with Time: History & Archives Oct 29

Post Production: Editing & Sound Nov 5

Rough Cut & Assembly Screenings Nov 12

Experimental Approaches in Documentary Nov 19

Final Screenings & Crit Nov 29 & Dec 3

ASSIGNMENTS & GRADES

Assignment Weight DeadlineScreening Discussion & Critique 10% Ongoing

Production Plan & Reflection 15% Sept 17

Project Treatment 25% Oct 8

Shooting Report & Footage 20% Nov 12

Final Screening 30% Nov 26

Final Submission Dec 10

IT STARTS WITH YOU

What do you bring?

What would you like to learn?

Trust yourself!

Don’t be afraid to try!

All learning comes from failures

Look at the world around you everyday

COURSE STRUCTURE

Part I is THINKING! Researching, planning & writing

Part II is DOING! Filming, interviewing, editing, organizing

Always WATCHING! Commenting, critiquing

Doing “Self-Inventory” or finding creative voice, from “Directing Documentary” Michael Rabiger

Start looking by looking around you.

What stories move you?

What excites you?

What do you want to tell?

What do you want to preserve?

What is close to you?

HOW HAS LIFE MARKED YOU?

“Modern documentary avoids telling us what to feel or think. Instead it exposes us to contradictory, provocative evidence that

moves us to inner debate and realization.”

DOCUMENTARY IS…

Who does it? Artists; Filmmakers; Professional Journalists; Activists; Ethnographers

What do you need? Engaging characters; narrative tension; something to say about the world around us.

Documentary is the “creative treatment of actuality” – John Greison

FORM

The way in which the story is presented …

SUBJECTIVE/ OBJECTIVE?

“Since you must subjectively choose everything you show, your documentary can never be objective truth. Instead, it is a construct by which you convey the spirit of truth.”

DIVERSITY IS THE RULE, NOT THE EXCEPTION!

“Act of Killing” Josh Oppenheimer

“Fog of War” Errol Morris

P.O.V. & POLITICAL

“Roger & Me” Michael Moore “Better this World” Kelly Duane, Katie Galloway

“Let the Fire Burn” Jason Osder

ARCHIVAL

“Capturing the Friedmans” Andrew Jarecki

“Up the Yangtze” Yung Chang

CINEMA DIRECT

Petition (2009) Zhao Liang

“Century of the Self” Adam Curtis

ESSAY

SCIENCE & NATURE

“March of the Penguins”

EXPERIMENTAL

“Sans Soleil” Chris Marker

“The Thin Blue Line” Errol MorrisTRUTH?