This course is designed to serve as an introduction to the documentary form of journalistic and artistic expression and film art. Through the classes students are expected to build skills in critical analysis and gain a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of documentary films. They will also have the ability to examine how documentaries reflect societies and have impact on them.
In this course, documentary film-making will be analysed from the historical perspective in terms of content, style, and methodology. The course will be consisted of a three-hour lecture, which will include documentary film screenings, in either excerpt or entirety. The students will be responsible for the reading material before class. Tutorials will follow in-depth discussions on issues relating to the lecture and screening. All students will be graded according to their active participation in discussions and their understanding of the reading material.
Vertical Tabs
Course Learning Outcomes
| Learning Outcomes | Program Learning Outcomes | Teaching Methods | Assessment Methods |
| 1) Identify and discuss the history and styles of documentary films from pre-cinematic era to present | 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,11,13 | 1 | A,C |
| 2) Classify and analyze the form and style of documentary films according to categories outlined in class | 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,11,13 | 1,2,3 | A,C |
| 3) Distinguish the different styles of eminent documentary film filmmakers | 6,7,13,11 | 1,3 | A,C |
| 4) Assess the impact of new technologies on documentary form and content | 6,7,13,11 | 1, | A,C |
| 5) Evaluate the role and the relevance of documentary films in the social history and development of the United States, Europa, and other nation. | 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,11,13 | 1,3 | A,C |
| 6) Be familiar with the process through which non-fictional films are made | 8,9,10 | 1,2,3 | A,C |
| 7) Analyze the interplay between fact and fiction in all media | 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,11,13 | 1,2,3 | A,C |
Course Flow
| COURSE CONTENT | ||
| Week | Topics | Study Materials |
| 1 | Origins of Documentary Film: Early ethnographic documentaries and experimentations. | |
| 2 | How do documentary films represent reality? Who are social actors? What is the responsibility of a documentary filmmaker? | |
| 3 | First principles of Documentary : Richard Grierson and Robert Flaherty | |
| 4 | Reality vs realism: How far can documentary producers “control” or “create” reality. | |
| 5 | Establishing National Documentary Cinemas | |
| 6 | Documentary film as propaganda. | |
| 7 | Cinema Verite, Direct cinema, and the observational mode: are they voyeurs or social commentator. From Dziga Vertov to Jean Rouch | |
| 8 | First person films as reflection of social issues | |
| 9 | Impact of technology on style and content of documentaries. | |
| 10 | The new hybrids: blurring the line between documentary and fiction | |
| 11 | Point-Of-View and Committed Documentaries | |
| 12 | WEB Docs | |
| 13 | Working with Documentary Film Analysis Worksheet | |
|
14
|
Discussion on topics for final papers. | |
| 15 | General Assessment | |
Recommended Sources
| RECOMMENDED SOURCES | |
| Textbook |
Nichols, Bill Introduction to Documentary, Indiana University Press, 2001
Rotha, Paul Documentary Film, Faber and Faber, 1964 |
| Additional Resources |
Grant and Sloniowski, eds. Documenting the Documentary, Wayne State 1998
Rosenthal, Alan and John Corner, editors. New Challenges for the Documentary, Second Edition, Manchester University Press, 2005. Ellis, Jack and Betsy McLane. A New History of Documentary Film, Continnuum International Publishing Group Inc., 2005 |
Material Sharing
| MATERIAL SHARING | |
|
Documents |
Lumière Short Films , Á Propos de Nice (Jean Vigo, France, 1930, 25 min)
Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, Soviet Union, 1929, 68 min) Nanook of the North (Robert Flaherty, U.S./France, 1922, 79 min) Land Without Bread (Las Hurdes, Luis Buñuel, Spain, 1933, 30 min) Coal Face (Alberto Cavalcanti, UK, 1935, 11 min) Night Mail (Henry Watt and Basil Wright, UK, 1936, 25 min) The River (Pare Lorentz, USA, 1938, 31 min) The Spanish Earth (Joris Ivens, USA, 1937, 52 min) Triumph of the Will (Leni Riefenstahl, Germany, 1935, 110 min) Why We Fight (Frank Capra, U.S., 1943, 52 min) Let There Be Light (John Huston, U.S., 1946, 58 min) Night and Fog (Alain Resnais, France, 1955, 32 min) Overlord (Stuart Cooper, UK, 1975, 84 min) |
|
Assignments |
Working with Documentary Film Analysis Worksheet |
| Exams | 1 Mid-Term , 1 Final Exam,1 Homework |
Assessment
| ASSESSMENT | ||
| IN-TERM STUDIES | NUMBER | PERCENTAGE |
| Mid-terms | 1 | 30 |
| Homework | 1 | 20 |
| Final Exam | 1 | 50 |
| Total | 100 | |
| CONTRIBUTION OF FINAL EXAMINATION TO OVERALL GRADE | 40 | |
| CONTRIBUTION OF IN-TERM STUDIES TO OVERALL GRADE | 60 | |
| Total | 100 | |
Course’s Contribution to Program
| COURSE'S CONTRIBUTION TO PROGRAM | ||||||
| No | Program Learning Outcomes | Contribution | ||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 1 | To develop the scientific cognition, comprehensive knowledge of critical theories, concepts and scientific data collection methods and to be competent in discussion skills in the field of media and communication. | X | ||||
| 2 | To be able to define and analyze the historical development of mass communication in relation with its social and cultural results. | X | ||||
| 3 | To be able to relate the contemporary concepts like post-modernism, globalization, post-colonialism, post-structuralism to the tradition of critical thought which is constructed on mass media. | X | ||||
| 4 | To be able to analyze and discuss the economical, political and cultural facts and developments which are mediated by the forms of mass media, and their impacts on social life. | X | ||||
| 5 | To be able to define the interdisciplinary structure of cultural studies and to be able to interpret the mutual effects between the traditional scientific disciplines and communication studies. | X | ||||
| 6 | To be competent in the classical and modern aesthetic theories established in audio, visual and written history of art, and to be able to analyze and discuss the narrative types and styles under the light of these theories. | X | ||||
| 7 | To be able to critically evaluate how political actions and actors in social life use mass media and the way that they take place in them, in connection with their sociopolitical results. | X | ||||
| 8 | To be able to comprehend the national and international relationship of broadcasting policies and to be able to evaluate the social and cultural causes and effects accordingly. | X | ||||
| 9 | To be able to recognize the economical and cultural operations at the national and international levels, through the relations of media ownership, their channels and the media products, and to be able to connect and combine with the marketing techniques and items. | X | ||||
| 10 | To be able to connect the marketing techniques, devises and styles with media theories, and to be able to examine the practice methods. | X | ||||
| 11 | To be able to name the theoretical studies on national and international film history and culture, and to be able to recognize the major examples and to correlate them with theories. | X | ||||
| 12 | To be competent in the distinct writing formats of narrative styles of film and television, and to be able to apply them. | X | ||||
| 13 |
To be able to recognize the technical structures and potentials of the mass media, and to be able to follow the technological developments and to apply them.
|
|
||||
| 14 | To be able to scrutinize advanced aesthetic approaches and the visual effects with the national and international examples and to be able to apply them skillfully. |
X
|
||||
| 15 |
To be able to combine the narrative genres, the aesthetic approaches, technical knowledge and the theoretical knowledge in media and communication with a creative design, and to become skillful at embodying it with a project.
|
X | ||||
ECTS
| ECTS ALLOCATED BASED ON STUDENT WORKLOAD BY THE COURSE DESCRIPTION | |||
| Activities | Quantity |
Duration (Hour) |
Total Workload (Hour) |
| Course Duration (Including the exam week: 16x Total course hours) | 16 | 3 | 48 |
| Hours for off-the-classroom study (Pre-study, practice) | 16 | 4 | 64 |
| Mid-terms | 1 | 8 | 8 |
| Ödev | 1 | 20 | 20 |
| Final examination | 1 | 10 | 10 |
| Total Work Load | 150 | ||
| Total Work Load / 25 (h) | 6 | ||
| ECTS Credit of the Course | 6 | ||