Journal Issue 4.1
Spring-Summer 2012
Edited by Agatha Beins, Jillian Hernandez, and Deanna Utroske
Editorial Assistant: A.J. Barks
Editorial Intern: Vera Hinsey

Documentary Production & Documentary Problems
continued

By Shara K. Lange

Class Assignment: Issues & Formal Analysis in Documentary Film Production
   Documentary Research and Production is an upper-level undergraduate and graduate level class, so I expect students to synthesize a significant amount of material in a short period of time. Pairs of students are assigned a group of two or three documentaries that relate to a particular theme and related readings, including interviews with several filmmakers. They must watch and research the films, and then they present the films, their research, and their analysis of the readings to the class using PowerPoint and film clips. The themes represent key issues in documentary film such as problems of representation, truth, and ethical issues involved in making documentaries. I chose these themes because they are recurring and significant in documentary filmmaking. Because I was after variety in terms of content, form, and the date of production, I chose films to represent a mix of historically significant, seminal documentaries and new, contemporary films. When I put together this assignment, I thought it would be great to include, Stranger with a Camera, for example, because it was made in Appalachia, the region where I teach.
   I choose to have the students present this exercise, "Issues & Formal Analysis in Documentary Film Production," to the class in order to encourage dialogue and to expose students to a broad range of films, reference materials, and ideas in a short period of time. The class is focused on production, so we address the issues raised in the exercise in a cursory, efficient matter. "Issues & Formal Analysis in Documentary Film Production," is a short assignment relative to the series of production-oriented assignments that students complete during the course of the semester, concluding with the completion of a ten-minute documentary. Were a student to develop an honor's or graduate thesis from their work in, Documentary Research and Production, as has happened in the past, they would be able to delve more deeply into the subject matter covered with this exercise. A class that did not also cover film or video production would have significantly more time and room to further explore these profound areas.
  The exercise, "Issues & Formal Analysis in Documentary Film Production," could easily be modified for applications in other classes. For example, my students do presentations, but students in other kinds of courses could use the same framework to write papers. I have students work in teams, but this could be an individual assignment. I assign a different set of films to each team, but an entire class could focus on one set of films and related issues. The "Readings/Additional Screenings" could be developed, and each group of films could be the subject of an entire class period, facilitated by students or instructors, as appropriate. This assignment covers a vast range of content that could be culled for a specific class. Among the issues addressed are how war is represented, representation of African Americans, truth claims, gender, the power of the image maker, and ethnographic film. Moreover, the lesson plan's framework could be adopted, and other groups of films adopted, with additional resources, including films, articles, filmmaker interviews, and book chapters that students research themselves.
   I have taught this exercise only once and because it fits within traditional academic realms, as opposed to shooting and editing video, for example, it requires reading, writing, and research skills that lower-level undergraduate students may not have practiced as extensively. So, I have found that the grad students and the upper-level undergrads tend to do better with this assignment. Because of the function this exercise in the larger context of my video-production class, I think they still get a lot out of it, even if they aren't as successful with this particular assignment. Therefore, when crafting and presenting such an activity it can be useful to consider the student body of the university as well as the broader curriculum of a particular program.