DOCUMENTARY PRODUCTION   Comm Studies 635  Spring 2012
 Prof Kindem  Office hrs.: 11:30-12:30 TTH  Rm 205 Swain Hall kindemg@email.unc.edu
Course Purposes and Objectives:
1) to work in a small group producing a short documentary video that has cultural, aesthetic, and/or social value and 2) to acquire video/digital media writing and production skills used in documentary preproduction, production, and postproduction
Required Texts:
Rabiger, Michael, Directing The Documentary, 4th (or 5th) ed. Focal Press, 2004 (or 2009).
Bernard, Sheila Curran, Documentary Storytelling, Making Stronger and More Dramatic Nonfiction Films, 2nd (or 3rd) ed. Focal Press, 2007 (or 2011).
Recommended Texts:
Hampe, Barry, Making Documentary Films and Videos, Holt Paperbacks, 2007.
Kindem, Gorham and Musburger, Robert, Introduction to Media Production: the Path to Digital Media Production, 4th ed., Focal Press, 2009
Nichols, Bill, Introduction to Documentary, IU Press, 2001.
Nichols, Bill, Representing Reality, Issues and Concepts in Documentary, IU Press, 1991 (required of graduate students only)
Rosenthal, Alan, Writing, Directing, & Producing Documentary Films,  Revised ed., SIU Press, 1996.
Requirements:
Editing Exercise  10%  (Feb.7)
Proposal, Treatment, Budget & Schedule, Presentation  20%  (Feb.2 & 9)
Midterm Examination  10%  (Feb.28)
Documentary Still Images & Counterpoint/Overlap Sequences  20%  (Mar.13 &  27)
Completed Documentary Video  40%  (Apr.24)
Proposal and Treatment:
A  proposal and treatment for your ten minute documentary video should be approximately 8 to 10 typewritten double-spaced pages in length.  The proposal should include each of the following items: 1) a film statement, indicating what you hope to say; 2) background and need, indicating your purposes and objectives; 3) your approach, structure, and style; 4) a budget;  5) a shooting schedule, 6) an equipment list, and 7) a short summary of the creative staff’s prior credits and relevant experiences.  Your treatment should be written as a third person, present tense narrative and include each of the following: 1) action sequences; 2) main characters/social actors; 3) conflicts; and 4) stylistic features that will enhance your piece.   A treatment visualizes the story as it will unfold on the screen, and includes all the majors actions and scenes in reduced form.  A good treatment adopts a lively prose style that effectively communicates the tone of the piece. Your video project should be provocative and insightful.  It should have something significant to say and you should find an effective means of saying it.
Counterpoint/Overlap Editing:
Counterpoint editing brings sounds and images into juxtaposition.  In practice this means bringing together the sound from one shot, such as an interview, with the images from another, such as B-Roll of the interviewee actually doing or not doing what they are talking about.  The benefits are multiple.  Talking-head material is kept to an interesting minimum as an interview is pared down and the audience is challenged to reconcile people’s ideas with what they are actually doing.  The overlap cut is a contrapuntal editing device, which is often used to hide the telltale seams between shots.  It brings sound in earlier than picture, or picture in earlier than sound, and thus avoids the jarring level cut, that is, abruptly cutting sounds and images simultaneously.
    (All projects will be done in groups of three or four, and all members of a group will receive the same grade on group projects unless two members of the group indicate that a particular member, who will receive 0 out of 100 points on that project, did not participate in the production of a specific project.  Grades are calculated on a ten point basis: 92.5+pts.=A, 90-92.5pts.=A-; 87.5-90pts.=B+, etc.  Assignments and projects are considered 24 hrs. late, if they are not turned in during the class at which they are due, and they drop 10 points at the end of that class and another 10 pts. for each additional 24 hrs. they are late.)

Schedule:

Jan   10   Introduction: Producing and Directing Low Budget Designed to Fulfilm Aesthetic Cultural, and/or Social Purposes
        12   Formulating Ideas for Documentary Projects
        17   Research and Writing the Proposal; PRELIMINARY PROJECT IDEA PRESENTATIONS
        19   Shaping the Approach, Structure, and Style: Modes of and Aesthetic Approaches to Documentaries
        24   Basic Digital Editing
        26   Digital Editing Practice
        31   Writing the Treatment and Narration; Directing the Documentary
Feb   2   Budgeting and Scheduling; PROPOSAL PRESENTATIONS
         7  VIEWING OF EDITING EXERCISES; Still Image Scanning & Counterpoint/Overlap (B Roll) Recording & Editing
         9  Digital Video Recording;  WRITTEN PROPOSAL/TREATMENT/BUDGET/SCHEDULE DUE
        14  Digital Video Recording Practice
        16  Lighting
        21  Lighting Practice
        23  Audio Recording and Dubbing
        28  MIDTERM EXAMINATION
Mar   1   Equipment Checkout
         6   Spring Break
         8  Spring Break
        13  Still Image Scanning/Editing & COUNTERPOINT/OVERLAP (B-Roll) RECORDING RAW MATERIAL PRESENTATIONS
        15  Still Image Scanning/Editing Practice
        20  More Advanced Digital Editing
        22  Digital Editing Practice
        27  COUNTERPOINT/OVERLAP EDITED SEQUENCE (approx. 2-5 minutes) PRESENTATIONS
        29   Special Effects
Apr   3   Special Effects Practice
         5   Audio Mixing
        10  Titles  
        12  HDV Tape Transfer
        17  Project Problem Solving
        19  Project Problem Solving
        24  FINAL PROJECTS DUE; CLASS SCREENING of Completed Documentary Projects

Required Reading  Documentary Production  Comm. Studies 635   Spring 2012

Required Texts:
Bernard, Sheila Curran, Documentary Storytelling, Making Stronger and More Dramatic Nonfiction Films, 2nd (or 3rd) ed., Focal Press, 2007 (or 2011).
Rabiger, Michael, Directing The Documentary, 4th (or 5th) ed., Focal Press, 2004 (or 2009).

Recommended Texts:
Rosenthal, Alan, Writing, Directing, & Producing Documentary Films, 2nd ed., SIU Press, 1996.
Hampe, Barry, Making Documentary Films and Videos, Holt Paperbacks, 2007.
Kindem, Gorham & Musburger, Robert, Introduction to Media Production 4th ed., Focal Press, 2009.
Nichols, Bill, Introduction to Documentary, 2001. [Nichols I]
Nichols, Bill, Representing Reality, IU Press, 1991. (required of graduate students only)

Required Reading Schedule:                                                                                  (Recommended)          (Recommended)        (Recommended)    
                        Bernard (3rd)                                                Rabiger (5th)       Rosenthal & [NicholsI ] Kindem & Musburger      Hampe
Jan     10            1-11 (1-11)                                                  1-46 (65-98)                       1-13                            1-38                             1-88
          12        137-142 (133-147)                                117-139 (27-50; 257-282)     14-44; 223-258                39-42                           91-143
          17  113-136;142-149 (119-132; 157-171)                   203-255 (51-64)       [Nichols I 99-138]              42-52                         144-172
          19  47-86;93-109 (15-91; 100-107)                   47-112 (99-130; 283-334)    45-103; 181-213          61-72; 83-88                  173-215
          24       193-210 (187-203)                                428-435 (205-253; 504-521)                                          331-346                      315-345
          26
          31 151-174; 211-234 (149-157; 205-221)  218; 369-402; 443-454 (5-26; 131-137; 361-381; 449-461;492-503)                  256-313
Feb     2                                    218-224; 256-281; 324-328 (128-130; 366-369;375-381) 105-131                   52-58                        347-389
           7                                                                       401-427; 436-442 (513-521)             65-180
           9        177-192 (173-186)               141-174;194-201; 283-301 (99-117;139-160)  133-163; 281-291   103-129;                  217-251
          14                                                                        324-367 (383-420; 438-484)                                 217-238; 255-267
          16                                                                        174-186; 302-312 (161-173)                                         181-214
          21
          23                                                    187-194; 313-323 (174-194; 421-437)    149-177;241-248;353-361                                252-255
          28
Mar    1
           6
           8
          13
          15
          20
          22                                                                                                                                                                403-405
          27
          29                                                                                               443-481                     214-221                  377-382
Apr     3                                                                                                482-496                                                     281-311
           5
          10   
          12
          17
          19
          24