| CODE | MCS3600 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Documentary Film Production | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 03 - Years 2, 3, 4 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 6 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Media and Communications | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | During this study-unit students will be introduced to the history and theory of documentary film. A core selection of seminal non-fiction films will be watched and discussed in class, covering the evolution of the documentary film genre, the diverse approaches adopted by filmmakers covering a number of social, political, cultural and historical subjects. Class discussion will also cover the ethical considerations that non-fiction filmmakers have to make throughout the production process, as well as the importance of accurate and thorough research, especially during the per-production stage. Added to this, students will work in teams to produce their own documentary film short. Each team will have separate meetings so as to discuss the progress of their film as well as troubleshoot any difficulties encountered during the production process. Study-Unit Aims: This study-unit aims to familiarize students with the evolution of the documentary genre, and help them identify sub-genres as well as critically assess a repertoire of films. The study-unit also aims to enable students to prepare and present a documentary film treatment/proposal which in turn will be produced, filmed and edited. This will be based on research on their chosen issue with relevant data gathered and synthesized. Finally this study-unit aims to help students to objectively critique their own work and classmates' work using critical analysis and constructive comments. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be: - fluent in documentary film language; - able to compare and contrast different documentary modes; - able to critically assess a documentary film in terms of structure, content and bias; - able to identify, compare and contrast films across the genre; - able to evaluate the aesthetic and political ramifications of the genre. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - draft a documentary film treatment proposal; - plan and coordinate filming sessions; - plan for and conduct interviews; - script and record narration; - create an audio-visual narrative. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: - AUFDERHEIDE, Patricia (2007). Documentary Film. A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. - McLANE, Betsy (2012). A New History of Documentary Film (2nd edition). New York: Bloomsbury Academic. - NICHOLS, Bill (2017). Introduction to Documentary. (3rd edition). Bloomington, Ind: Indiana University Press. |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Pre-requisite Study-units: MCS2020 and MCS3070 | ||||||||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture, Tutorial and Project | ||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Louiselle Vassallo |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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