Documentaries Media Studies 120

 What is a documentary?  How does a documentary differ from a reality TV show?

 Documentary films have messages that they want their audience to accept as truth. Filmmakers edit and shape their works to persuade an audience or make them intentionally feel certain ways. Documentarians are constructors of realities, and not simply documenters of reality.

Getting Started  Documentary survey (hand-out)  Background reading on documentary styles  (from the book, The Documentary Moviemaking Course by Kevin. J. Lindenmuth: “Types of Documentaries.”)  4 Corners (activity)

Camera Work  Work in groups of 4  You will be given a camera shot.  Think of examples of how this shot is used in films you know, as well as reasons why a director chooses to use that shot.  What effect does the shot have on the viewer?  Each group comes up with a "memorable" way to teach their term to the rest of the class.

Shots  establishing shot  extreme long shot  medium shot  close-up shot  low angle shot  high-angle shot  zoom shot  Hand-out: “Technique File: Deciding on shots and angles” (from the book, The Documentary Moviemaking Course by Kevin. J. Lindenmuth)

Constructed Reality  Documentaries can manipulate reality and show bias or an opinion but because they are factual, we are more likely to believe/accept this version of reality. Therefore, it is important to question our manipulation of emotions, attitudes, and thoughts.

Activity  If a television crew were to make a documentary of your LHHS, they could be neutral, positive or negative, through the choice of information and shots they presented.  Pair up! This is a small group activity.

Activity Instructions  I will give you a blank sheet of paper.  Divide the sheet in half.  On the left, brainstorm all of the ways a documentary could present a positive view of the school.  On the right, brainstorm all of the ways a documentary could present a negative view of the school.

Examples  Positive: newly constructed or refurbished buildings (the new swimming pool), successful students (those who are studying)…

Examples  Negative: shots of graffiti on the gym wall, interviews with a disgruntled students who have recently been in trouble…

Trailers

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Analyzing a Doc  Now that you’ve seen trailers for various documentaries, we need to decide on one documentary we would like to watch together to deconstruct.  Following the viewing, you will complete a written analysis.

Written Analysis  Identify the target audience for the documentary (use evidence such as documentary content, dialogue, music, themes).  Discuss what effect the creators of the documentary wanted to have on the target audience (for instance, to promote thought or discussion on a topic, to persuade viewers of a certain point of view, to affect viewers emotionally, to arouse sympathy or anger, etc.).  Discuss how the creators of the documentary attempted to achieve this.  Discuss format techniques employed by the documentary makers (camera shots, editing, music, etc.); how are they used and to what effect?  Explain whether you, the viewer, are part of the target audience.  Explain how you responded to the idea/ideas in the documentary.  Explain why you responded in this way.  You will get a hand-out with this information.

60 second trailer  Project