Intermediate Video: Documentary Practices
Course Description
Summary
Intermediate Video builds on the concepts and technical skills introduced in Intro to Video, and has a different theme each term. This semester of Intermediate Video will be focused on the following thematic, conceptual and formal questions. Documentary as a form or genre has expanded over the past century to encompass a wide range of practices, including direct cinema, agitprop, docufiction hybrids, narrative structures imposed on non-narrative material, auto-ethnography, found footage constructs, and essay films of many kinds - not to mention 鈥渦nscripted鈥 television formats. What comprises a documentary practice today? What has shifted over time and under market pressures, and which elements remain constant? Where is the line between document, documentary, and documentation? We will look at key historical and contemporary works and discuss how technical innovations have driven formal developments. Students will be expected to produce two assigned projects and one final project of their own design; projects can be discrete or form parts of a series. They will also work in groups to complete several in-class technical exercises.
Learning Outcomes
- Students will become more proficient in the use of cameras, lighting, sound equipment, and editing software, including more advanced cameras and more complex post-production workflows, through technical workshops, collaborative in-class exercises, and practical application;
- Students will build their visual and aural composition skills and their understanding of form and structure;
- Students will engage with ideas and works important to both historical and contemporary discourse around the medium;
- Students will continue to develop the vocabulary to critique each other's work;
- Students will create two assigned projects and one project of their own design, after meeting with the instructor to discuss their final project proposal.
Prerequisites
Introduction to Video. Please email the instructor to express interest in enrolling and include a link to work produced in previous film/video courses. Preference will be given to students who have Plans in film/video or related to the course theme; please include this information in your statement of interest if relevant.
Please contact the faculty member : mariamghani@bennington.edu