Practical Applications Course in Documentary Filmmaking

Observational Film
The Observational Film focuses on the fundamentals of cinematic storytelling. In this film, you will tell a nonfiction story on a small scale – something with a beginning, middle, and end—using nothing but moving images. Usually, students decide to film a process, but the door is open to other approaches. The film will have no sound and will focus on telling a story using only moving images. Your challenge is to find something that interests

you in the world and to tell its story clearly and engagingly. The first aim is that an audience can understand what is going on; the second is to capture a beginning, middle, and end, and the hope is that it will be interesting or compelling to a viewer.

Interview Film
Here, we concentrate on the character and will use interviews to tell the story. Each director will find someone who needs something and is trying to overcome obstacles to get what he or she needs. The story can be happening now or can have transpired in the past. What kind of interview will best reveal the story that you are trying to tell? What kind of presence do you, the filmmaker, want in your interview? How do we keep our stories visually vibrant and compelling? How do we incorporate what was learned in the first film – creating a beginning, middle, and end, crafting a visual story, allowing action to reveal character – into a character-driven interview film?

Final Film
This is a chance to marry visual and verbal storytelling to make a film that is important to you. You may choose any subject and use film language to tell an engaging story. Over the course of the program, you will identify what subjects you find compelling, consider what you might want to explore and prepare to produce your film. With it, you may want to fashion a calling card or aim for a film festival run.