This course will guide students through the pre-production, production and post-production stages of documentary filmmaking. Students will work either in groups or individually.
Students are expected to do extensive research on a chosen family member (it can be an elderly relative or a parent, etc.) and start searching for their roots. Students are expected to film interviews with their subjects to create a record of the unfolding stories of where they come from and where they belong. They can also take a self reflexive approach in audiovisual storytelling and interview themselves about their findings. Students are expected to put the results of their research on their personal roots in a short documentary form. The videos produced in this course will be a testimony, a journey down the memory lane of the filmmakers’ personal history and a chance to explore their family history: ethnicity, cultural background, gender roles, etc. It will be an introspective filmmaking experience that will result in the production of personal short documentaries. Short and feature films related to personal biographies and autobiographies will be screened throughout the course.
Pre-production, production, post-production stages
Students will be introduced to the theoretical analysis and practical methods of documentary filmmaking. They will watch several documentary films and learn about the pre-production, production and post-production process and techniques for documentary film production. Voice overs can be used as well as interviews, ambient sounds and copyrighted music. This hands-on production course will allow students to work with audiovisual storytelling. Students will explore the relationship between memory and roots. They will develop and improve their creative storytelling skills through documentary filmmaking.
At the end of the course, students will complete a short documentary film which they have fully produced. The short videos will be screened publicly in a student show. The final projects will become part of the students’ portfolios. Selected projects can participate in national and international film festivals.
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