The Documentary Film
FILM 385
Spring 2018 not offered
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This course explores the history, theory, and aesthetics of nonfiction filmmaking from the origins of cinema to the present day. We will trace the emergence and development of documentary conventions and genres, paying particular attention to how structural and stylistic choices represent reality and shape viewer response. In class discussion and weekly journal entries, we will explore topics central to nonfiction filmmaking, including how documentary has been defined and redefined, how filmmakers and theorists have perceived the relationship between documentaries and the realities they represent, what conceptions of truth have guided the work of documentary filmmakers and theorists, documentary as social advocacy, the autobiographical impulse, the use of reflexivity, and the ethics of documentary filmmaking. Screenings will include films directed by Ross McElwee, Marlon Riggs, Trinh T. Minh-ha, Errol Morris, Barbara Kopple, James Longley, Bonnie Sher Klein, Robert Flaherty, Pare Lorentz, John Grierson, Luis Buñuel, Leni Riefenstahl, Jean Rouch, Alain Resnais, Frederick Wiseman, the Maysles brothers, and Michael Moore. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA FILM |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: FILM307 |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (FILM-MN)(FILM)(HRAD-MN) |
Major Readings:
Erik Barnouw, DOCUMENTARY: A HISTORY OF THE NON-FICTION FILM
Bill Nichols, INTRODUCTION TO DOCUMENTARY (Second Edition)
Selected readings by John Grierson, Dziga Vertov, Thomas Waugh, Jeffrey Rouff, Brian Winston, Richard Barsam, Joan Nicks, and others.
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Examinations and Assignments:
Weekly reflection journal; three 6-8 page papers |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
This course is open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors and may be taken by non-Film Majors as a general education course, by Majors as a Film history/theory elective, and by Film Minors as part of their course of studies. FILM307 required. |
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