FMCS3600

Documentary Cinema

10 Units 3000 Level Course

Available in 2014

Callaghan Campus Semester 1
On-Line from Callaghan Semester 1

Previously offered in 2012

Involves a critical and historical survey of documentary as a reportorial, experiential, persuasive, and aesthetically diverse form of film.

Objectives Upon completion of this course students will be able to demonstrate:
1. An understanding of the history and different forms of documentary film.
2. Knowledge of the major theoretical positions and aesthetic debates in the area
3. The ability to relate questions of ethics and interpretation to the functioning of the media in the contemporary world.
Content This course involves an examination of the various styles, aims, and methods of the documentary approach to filmmaking. In doing so it explores such topics as:

a) the relationship between documentary film, memory, history, politics and social reality;
b) usage and function of experts, witnesses, archive footage and narrators;
c) the responsibility of the filmmaker to his/her filmed subjects as existing within a specific social context, and, the relationship between 'the public's right to know' and the individual on-screen subject's right to privacy; and
d) ways by which new forms and technologies erode traditional boundaries between documentary, narrative, and experimental film, in the process undermining documentary's traditional claims to truth-telling.
Replacing Course(s) FILM3230 Documentary Cinema
Transition Students who have successfully completed FILM3230 Documentary Cinema may not enrol into FMCS3600 Documentary Cinema.
Industrial Experience 0
Assumed Knowledge 20 units 1000 level film courses.
Modes of Delivery Internal Mode
Teaching Methods Laboratory
Seminar
Assessment Items
Essays / Written Assignments Film analysis of 1000 words, featuring a close analysis of a film within the course, worth 20%
Essays / Written Assignments Major essay of 2500 words, featuring extensive research beyond primary course materials, 40%
Journal Weekly journal assessing students' engagement with films and readings, total 40%
Contact Hours Laboratory: for 2 hour(s) per Week for Full Term
Seminar: for 2 hour(s) per Week for Full Term
Timetables 2014 Course Timetables for FMCS3600