This course is designed to teach the theoretical, aesthetic and technical principles of non-linear editing for documentary. Principally, students will be taught how to: digitize and organize source material, create basic effects and titles, develop sequences and organize and edit your raw materials into a polished final product. Throughout the semester we will screen various films for the expressed purpose of analyzing the editing techniques used by the filmmakers.
This course is primarily geared toward handling issues in regard to the completion and distribution of the creative thesis project.
Through a combination of lecture, film screenings and hands-on demonstrations, this course will familiarize students with the basics of producing, shooting, lighting, sound gathering and editing for documentary production. You will learn how to work with DV video cameras, tripods and fluid heads, field monitors, simple location lighting packages, sound recording equipment and basic editing systems. We will also discuss techniques to improve your storytelling skills and creative decision-making.
The purpose of this course is to acquaint students with the historical development of documentary film from its roots in 19th-century art forms to the present. The course will examine various styles and techniques of documentary and will analyze the contribution of the documentary as a persuasive means of communication to achieve social and political goals. In addition, it will provide an examination of how the "masters" did it and how their different aesthetic as well as personal and political philosophies shaped their vision and version of reality.
This course will familiarize students with how to conceptualize and develop a documentary. More specifically, the course will be divided into four major components: The Idea, Funding, Planning Your Production and Writing and Presenting Your Proposal.
This course provides students with the opportunity to explore the ethical issues that can arise in the course of documentary filmmaking. The discussion points in this class will evolve from the in-depth examination of a select group of films and their directors. The overriding focus of our conversations will be on the aspects of these films that illustrate the filmmaker's struggle to capture and present reality, the various methods they employ to achieve this and the potential impact on all involved--filmmaker, subject and audience.
Oscar-nominated producer, director and cinematographer Peter Gilbert provides insight into his creative process and shares his expertise and advice with second-year students.
This course is designed to teach advanced technical, theoretical, aesthetic, and ethical principles of the post-production process used in the editing of documentaries. Lectures and class discussions will focus on developing continuity, building sequences, refining dramatic structure, selecting narrators, and incorporating music and sound effects in order to produce a clear, dramatic documentary.
Students will learn the fundamentals of producing, directing, and writing for documentary as well as the major business and aesthetic dimensions of documentary production. Particular attention will be paid to the principles of documentary writing.
This course provides an understanding of the research process that precedes the production of a documentary film and the skills students need to construct an effective research strategy. We will also explore how to refine these strategies to meet the specific demands of various documentary genres.
The course is designed to familiarize students with the nature and purpose of documentary as well as the fundamentals of documentary writing, for example, drama, structure, story development and style.
The Documentary Film Program @ Wake Forest University
Box 7347, Reynolda Station | Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27109 | 336.758.3367
documentary@wfu.edu