Media and film studies

Documentary Video

Module code: P4078
Level 5
30 credits in spring semester
Teaching method: Workshop, Practical, Lecture
Assessment modes: Coursework

This module offers an exploration of the documentary production process. You'll be guided through each stage and learn the key techniques and creative and organisational approaches needed for successful production.

The module concentrates on the documentary genre, a genre that has an increasingly high profile in the cinema as a medium for both raising awareness and for entertainment.

Documentary also has a history of creative development by a great range of filmmakers with whose work you should familiarise yourselves.

The techniques you'll learn are relevant to other forms of factual video-making as well as drama production.

Documentary, like filmed drama, depends on the strength of its visual story-telling, on conveying emotions, information and ideas through images and through the imaginative combination of picture, sound and speech.

The best documentaries do not aspire to objectivity as a mythical concept but have an individual style and point of view that encourage the audience to see their subject in a new light. We will view modern and historical documentaries, each with a different approach to portraying the real. 

Module learning outcomes

• Employ their skills in media practice by completing a creative project which is of an appropriate level in both form and content.
• Apply methods of critical analysis to their work by clearly defining the relationship between the practical and conceptual development of their creative project.
• Demonstrate research skills and a developed understanding of production processes.
• Reflect critically and theoretically on their production work as evidenced by the creation of their research portfolio.