SPORT AND SOCIAL CHANGE: DOCUMENTARY PRODUCTION   Comm Studies 639 Section 008  Spring 2009
 Prof Kindem  Office hrs.: 12:00-1:45 pm TTh  Rm 315 Bingham Hall 962-4960  
Course Purposes and Objectives:
1) to work in a small group producing a short sports documentary video that promotes progressive social change and 2) to acquire video/digital media writing and production skills used in sports documentary preproduction, production, and postproduction
Required Texts:
Rabiger, Michael, Directing The Documentary, 4th ed. Focal Press, 2004.
Bernard, Sheila Curran, Documentary Storytelling, Making Stronger and More Dramatic Nonfiction Films, 2nd ed. Focal Press, 2007.
Wenner, Lawrence A., ed., MediaSport, Routledge, 1998, (full electronic text available UNC-CH Libraries, online resource).
Rail, Genevieve, ed., Sport and Postmodern Times, SUNY Press, 1998 (NetLibrary electronic book UNC-CH Libraries, online access).
Recommended Texts:
Kindem, Gorham and Musburger, Robert, Introduction to Media Production: the Path to Digital Media Production, 3rd ed., Focal Press, 2005
Nichols, Bill, Introduction to Documentary, IU Press, 2001, (electronic text available via the UNC-CH Libraries, online access).
Nichols, Bill, Representing Reality, Issues and Concepts in Documentary, IU Press, 1991.
Rosenthal, Alan, Writing, Directing, & Producing Documentary Films,  Revised ed., SIU Press, 1996.
Wigging, David and Patrick Miller, eds., The Unlevel Playing Field, A Documentary History of African American Experience in Sport, UI Press, 2003.
O'Reilly, Jean and Susay Cahn, eds., Women and Sports in the United States, NEU Press, 2007
Requirements:
Editing Exercise  10%  (Feb 10)
Proposal, Treatment, Budget & Schedule, Presentation  20%  (Feb 5 & 12)
Midterm Examination  10%  (Mar 5)
Documentary Still Images & Counterpoint/Overlap Sequences  20%  (Mar 17 & 31)
Completed Documentary Video  40%  (Apr 23)
Proposal and Treatment:
A  proposal and treatment for your ten minute sports 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   13   Introduction: Producing and Directing Low Budget, Short Sports Documentary Videos that Promote Progressive Social Change
        15   Formulating Ideas for Sports Documentary Projects that Promote Progressive Social Change
        20   Research and Writing the Proposal; PRELIMINARY PROJECT IDEA PRESENTATIONS
        22   Shaping the Approach, Structure, and Style: Modes of and Aesthetic Approaches to Sports Documentaries
        27   Basic Digital Editing
        29   Digital Editing Practice
Feb   3   Writing the Treatment and Narration;
         5   Budgeting and Scheduling; PROPOSAL PRESENTATIONS
        10  VIEWING OF EDITING EXERCISES; Still Image Scanning & Counterpoint/Overlap (B Roll) Recording & Editing
        12  Digital Video Recording;  WRITTEN PROPOSAL/TREATMENT/BUDGET/SCHEDULE DUE
        17  Digital Video Recording Practice
        19  Lighting
        24  Lighting Practice
        26  Audio Recording and Dubbing
Mar   3  Audio Recording and Dubbing Practice
         5   MIDTERM EXAMINATION
        10  Spring Break
        12  Spring Break
        17  Still Image Scanning/Editing & COUNTERPOINT/OVERLAP (B-Roll) RECORDING RAW MATERIAL PRESENTATIONS
        19  Still Image Scanning/Editing Practice
        24  More Advanced Digital Editing
        26  Digital Editing Practice
        31  COUNTERPOINT/OVERLAP EDITED SEQUENCE (approx. 2-5 minutes) PRESENTATIONS
Apr   2   Special Effects
         7   Special Effects Practice
         9   Audio Mixing
        14  Titles  
        16  HDV Tape Transfer
        21  Project Problem Solving
        23  Project Problem Solving; FINAL PROJECTS DUE                                                                           
        28  CLASS SCREENING of Completed Documentary Projects

Required Reading  Sport and Social Change: Documentary Production  Comm. Studies 639 Section 008  Spring 2009

Required Texts:
Bernard, Sheila Curran, Documentary Storytelling, Making Stronger and More Dramatic Nonfiction Films, 2nd ed., Focal Press, 2007.
Rabiger, Michael, Directing The Documentary, 4th ed., Focal Press, 2004.
Wenner, Lawrence A., ed., MediaSport, Routledge, 1998, (full electronic text available UNC-CH Libraries, online resource).
Rail, Genevieve, ed., Sport and Postmodern Times, SUNY Press, 1998 (NetLibrary electronic book UNC-CH Libraries, online access).

Recommended Texts:
Rosenthal, Alan, Writing, Directing, & Producing Documentary Films, 2nd ed., SIU Press, 1996.
Kindem, Gorham & Musburger, Robert, Introduction to Media Production 2nd ed., Focal Press, 2001.
Nichols, Bill, Introduction to Documentary, 2001, (electronic text available via the UNC-CH Libraries, online access).
Wigging, David and Patrick Miller, eds., The Unlevel Playing Field, A Documentary History of African American Experience in Sport, UI Press, 2003.
O'Reilly, Jean and Susay Cahn, eds., Women and Sports in the United States, NEU Press, 2007.

Required Reading Schedule:                              (Recommended)          (Recommended)                (Required)                                               (Recommended)    
                   Bernard                   Rabiger    Rosenthal & [Nichols]    Kindem & Musburger        Wenner & Rail                                 Wiggning/Miller & O'Reilly/Cahn
Jan     13       1-11                         1-46                    1-13                          1-38
          15     137-142                  117-139              14-44; 223-258              39-42      Wenner 134-217; 266-281 & Rail 49-139      Wigging/Miller & O'Reilly/Cahn
          20  113-136;142-149       203-255            [Nichols 99-138]            42-52
          22  47-86;93-109              47-112             45-103; 181-213       61-72; 83-88               Rail ix-xxi; 143-161 
          27    193-210                   428-435                                               331-346
          29 
Feb     3 151-174;211-234 218; 369-402; 443-454
           5                    218-224; 256-281; 324-328   105-131                   52-58
          10                            401-427; 436-442            65-180
          12    177-192  141-174; 194-201; 283-301  133-163; 281-290     103-129;
          17                                    324-367                                             217-238; 255-267
          19                            174-186; 302-312                                            181-214
          24
          26                            187-194; 313-323   149-177;241-248;353-361
Mar     3
           5
          10
          12
          17
          19
          24
          26                                                                                                    403-405
          31
Apr     2                                   443-481                     214-221                377-382
           7                                   482-496                                                   281-311
           9
          14     
          16
          21
          23