Handbook : Unit informationEdith Cowan University

School: Arts and Humanities

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

• Unit Title

  The Documentary

• Unit Code

  FAV2117

• Year

  2018

• Enrolment Period

  2

• Version

  1

• Credit Points

  15

• Full Year Unit

  N

• Mode of Delivery

  On Campus
  

• Unit Coordinator

  Mr Keith Raymond SMITH

Description

What is documentary? This unit traces the evolution of the documentary from its inception, covering key documentary theorists, movements and filmmakers. It examines the role of the documentary as cultural intervention. Students are encouraged to develop their own documentary script proposal.

Prerequisite Rule

Students must pass 1 units from FAV1111

Equivalent Rule

Unit was previously coded CMM2107, CMM4107, FAV2107

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

1. Describe key historical movements in documentary and evaluate their contribution to the development of the form.
2. Recognise and critique the different forms the documentary has taken.
3. Apply theoretical perspectives to their own documentary practice.
4. Develop their own documentary proposal.

Unit Content

1. The role of documentary.
2. Historical evolution of documentary styles.
3. The politics of representation in documentary.
4. Contemporary hybrid fact-fiction forms.
5. Documentary storytelling.
6. Community engagement and ethical practice in documentary production.

Learning Experience

Students will attend on campus classes as well as engage in learning activities through ECU Blackboard.

For more information see the Semester Timetable

Additional Learning Experience Information

The unit consists of a weekly 4 hour teaching block. This will include lectures, screenings, seminar discussions and workshops.

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant Board of Examiners.

Core Reading(s)

• Simpson, C. (2014). Tales of Toad Terror and Tenacity: What Cane Critters Can Teach Us. Australian Humanities Review, 57, 81–100.
• Murray, L. (2009). Review; RIP a remix manifesto. Culture Machine, (June), 1–8.
• Forceville, C. (2017). Interactive documentary and its limited opportunities to persuade. Discourse, Context and Media, 20, 218–226.
• Dovey, J. (2000). Klutz Films. Freakshow: First Person Media and Factual Television (pp. 27–35). London: Pluto Press.
• Nichols, B. (2010). The Participatory Mode. Introduction to Documentary (2nd ed., pp. 179–192). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
• Nichols, B. (2010). Documentary Modes and the Filmmakers' Voice. Introduction to Documentary (2nd ed., pp. 158–179). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
• Borschke, M. (2011). Rethinking the Rhetoric of Remix. Media International Australia, 17–25.
• Rutland, P. (2014). The Pussy Riot Affair: gender and national identity in Putin's Russia. Nationalities Papers: The Journal of Nationalism and Ethnicity, 42(4), 575–582.
• Austin, T., & de Jong, W. (2008). Documentary Studies: Dimensions of transition and continuity. Rethinking documentary: new perspectives and practices (pp. 19–28).
• Corner, J. (2008). Documentary Studies; Dimensions of transition and continuity. Rethinking documentary: new perspectives and practices (pp. 19–28).
• Corner, J. (2008). Documentary Studies; Dimensions of transition and continuity. Rethinking documentary: new perspectives and practices (pp. 19–28).
• Horeck, T. (2007). From Documentary to Drama: Capturing Aileen Wuornos. Screen, 48(2), 141–159.
• Scott, A. (2010). Documentaries (in Name Only) of Every Stripe. The New York Times.
• Renov, M. (1993). Towards a Poetics of Documentary. (M. Renov, Ed.), Theorizing Documentary (Republished 2012, pp. 21–36). London: Routledge.