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….
Tag: short documentary
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…
Teaching Op-Docs: The Role of B-Roll
As a viewer, I pay too much attention to B-roll. One reason is that B-roll is often intercut with interviews, and it changes the dynamics of movement within the frame. Even if the people talking are animated in their speech or if the camera roves around the speaking participant, interview shots still are more static…
Teaching Op-Docs: Finding Ideas for Documentaries
“Where do you get ideas for documentaries?” is the number one question I have received through comments and conversations over the years. As my students this semester have been working through ideas toward their story pitch assignment, I have been turning over some possibilities for seeking ideas. Here are some starting points to consider. Life…
Teaching Op-Docs: Women’s Stories and Issues
One of the key requirements for the web documentary assignment in my class is that my students focus on women and women’s issues in some way. My current university consists of an all-women’s liberal arts core, so this requirement connects with the school and its women-focused mission. A handful of the shorts appearing in the…
Teaching Op-Docs: Starting with the Big Questions
For a junior-level course this semester, I am using The New York Times’s Op-Doc series as a model for talking about journalism, documentary, and online video. In addition to watching multiple entries in the series, my students will be creating one of their own that focuses on women and women’s issues in some way. That…
Teaching Op-Docs
This semester I am teaching a junior-level course in news writing and reporting. As part of the course requirements, I am having the students create an “Op-Doc” similar to the guidelines outlined by The New York Times. In the prerequisite course, students learn about media writing, including documentary scriptwriting, so this course moves into more…