The documentary film is said to have a close alignment with social change, reflecting or even producing political transformation. COMMS 312 explores this premise, blending theory and practice. As a class, we will examine documentaries associated with political movements while across the duration of the semester, small student groups will produce mini-documentaries as part of their assessment.
In the analytical component of this course, we begin by looking at the relationship of documentary to social change, defining what we mean by ‘social change’ and ‘documentary’. Then, through the body of the course, we will explore how documentary has engaged throughout its history with political movements. We will study films that explore revolutionary, Marxist, and anti-fascist themes as well as those films defined as contemporary activist and advocacy films. Topics will include feminism, gender identity, indigenous and minority rights, anti-war protests and environmental issues.
In the practical component of the course, students in groups of three will make a mini-documentary. Each student will have a specific role: producer/editor; camera/sound or director/interviewer. However, they will also be required to work collaboratively as these roles intersect. Preproduction skills covered will include researching and developing a topic, approaching an interview subject, developing question lines, and engaging with subjects. The production phase will cover the basics of production management, shooting, lighting, sound recording, and planning for visual coverage. In postproduction, students will master editing on Premiere Pro and learn sound mixing and basic graphics.
Attendance is critical as theoretical and practical instruction and tasks will be interspersed across the three hours and the latter requires group discussion and presentations.