This post offers a thinking through of an interactive documentary production course’s possible assignments and a bit about their rationales.
Category: Production
11 Lessons from a Workshop in Audio Production
In early November 2018, I attended a workshop in audio production presented by Owen Brafford at Film North in St. Paul, Minnesota. The class represents another step toward proposing a multi-media documentary production class. The following post brings together 11 takeaways from that too-brief afternoon workshop. 1. Learn a little physics. More specifically, learn a…
11 Lessons from a Cinematography Boot Camp
In early November 2018, I attended a class in cinematography presented by Jeremy Wilker at Film North in St. Paul, Minnesota. The class represents another step toward proposing a multi-media documentary production class. The following post brings together 11 takeaways from that two-day workshop. 1. Every shot must serve a purpose. This reminder is important…
11 Lessons in Smartphone Filmmaking
In early September 2018, I attended a class in smart phone filmmaking presented by Nick Clausen at Film North in St. Paul, Minnesota. The class represents another step toward proposing a multi-media documentary production class. The following post brings together 11 quick take-aways from that day-long session. 1. To (third-party) app or not to (third-party)…
11 Lessons from a Documentary Bootcamp
In mid-August 2018, I attended a Documentary Boot Camp presented by Film North in St. Paul, Minnesota. The class represents a first step toward proposing a multi-media documentary production class. The following post brings together 11 quick take-aways from that day-long session. 1. “Not all who wander are lost.” No single path leads to learning…
Revisiting Teaching Op-Docs
Op-Docs refers to the short documentary video series curated by The New York Times. Op-Docs showcase an array of documentary storytelling styles and address a diversity of social issues. I have used Op-Docs as a pedagogical model for short documentary production and am considering them again as I develop an advanced multimedia production class proposal….
Teaching Op-Docs: Course Wrap-Up and Reflections
Teaching a course about online documentary production proved an ambitious but worthwhile undertaking. Below are some reflections on the course, its strengths, and its challenges. The Op-Docs Series The New York Times Op-Docs series made for a very engaging set of shorts to explore journalism, documentary, their overlaps, and their divergences. The series offers an…
Teaching Op-Docs: Helpful Resources
Multiple resources, both online and print, proved helpful in developing materials for and running the journalism class using The New York Times‘s Op-Docs series. Note that most of these resources are dedicated to documentary production, and not history or criticism. The key ones are listed below. The New York Times Op-Docs Videos from The New…
Teaching Op-Docs: Course Assignments
This spring I taught a journalism class that centered on making a short online documentary using The New York Times‘s Op-Docs series as model. Below are the assignments used to build the projects and some of the rationales behind them. Background Preparations Coming up with an idea often becomes the most difficult task behind any…
Teaching Op-Docs: Sound and Observation in Hotel 22
Elizabeth Lo’s Hotel 22 became the focus for a session about sound in documentary. When we think of sound, we usually think of the human voice, which has dominated documentary since the developments of workable sound technologies. Just think of the abundant voiceover narration in Prelude to War and the rest of the Why We…