1. What makes a good history documentary? L/O – To identify the key components of a historical documentary and to judge what features make a good documentary

2. History Documentaries Creating a documentary film is an increasingly popular category at the National History Day competition. However creating a high-quality and winning documentary is harder. This lesson is all about learning how we can produce a great documentary! Task 1 – Go online and find a history documentary you think is really good. Write one paragraph summarising the documentary and one paragraph on why you thought it was good.

3. History Documentaries Task 2 – When you have found your documentary and have written your paragraphs, share and sell your choices with your class mates. Vote on which is the best to show Mr. Budd. Task 3 – Make a table/chart listing what makes a good/bad documentary. Try googling ‘best documentaries’ of all time. Research what is considered the best and add the reasons to your list.

4. History Documentaries Task 4 – Now watch some examples of previous National History Day winners. What makes their documentaries good or bad? And your ideas to your list.

5. 2013 - Winner

6. Planning a History Documentary Researching and planning are vital in order to create a good film for National History Day. Your films must show a clear thesis and must clearly document any supporting evidence. All filmmakers begin by researching the topic, writing a good script (narration), dividing the script into segments, matching visuals/audio to the script (storyboarding) and finally editing. Task 5 – Using the worksheets provided or your own templates, complete a story board for a 3-4 minute documentary. You will film it for homework!

10. Filming a History Documentary Filming history documentaries requires good filming equipment and editing software. Task 6 – In groups, make a list of ideal equipment and software you will need to make a documentary. Try googling for ideas or look on YouTube for iMovie tutorials.

11. Task 7 - Homework Project Your homework project for this week is to film a 3-4 minute documentary in groups of 2-3 on any topic. I suggest you use Apple iMovie. Consider what you will use for the documentary: still images; live action; soundtrack; narration/voice over; interviews; primary sources; evidence; film clips etc… Prizes for the best film next week!