FACULTY OF COMMUNICATION

Department of Cinema and Digital Media

CDM 443 | Course Introduction and Application Information

Course Name
History of Documentary Film
Code
Semester
Theory
(hour/week)
Application/Lab
(hour/week)
Local Credits
ECTS
CDM 443
Fall/Spring
3
0
3
4

Prerequisites
None
Course Language
English
Course Type
Service Course
Course Level
First Cycle
Mode of Delivery Online
Teaching Methods and Techniques of the Course -
Course Coordinator -
Course Lecturer(s)
Assistant(s) -
Course Objectives This course examines the documentary through a series of questions: What defines this genre or mode? What truths can documentary claim? In addressing these questions this course considers the documentary film in relation to a wide variety of contexts: historical, political, and aesthetic. Course materials will cover the documentary canon—a set of historically important films — and examine documentary’s recent resurgence as a popular mode of entertainment and as a mechanism of discourse.
Learning Outcomes The students who succeeded in this course;
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the history of documentary filmmaking.
  • Analyze key concepts in documentary filmmaking.
  • Explain various approaches and genres of documentary film.
  • Analyze the close relationship between documentary and social, cultural, political, economic and technological transformations.
  • Compare and contrast the differences and similarities between documentary and fiction film.
  • Critically analyze individual documentary films from different periods and genres in their contexts
  • Distinguish historical differences in documentary films.
Course Description The course will include one mid term and one quiz.

 



Course Category

Core Courses
Major Area Courses
X
Supportive Courses
Media and Management Skills Courses
Transferable Skill Courses

 

WEEKLY SUBJECTS AND RELATED PREPARATION STUDIES

Week Subjects Related Preparation
1 Introduction to Documentary Bill Nichols, “Introduction” (pg. xi - xviii) and Chapter 1: How can we Define Documentary Film?”
2 Early Years of Documentary Screening: Nanook of the North, 1922, Robert Flaherty, 79 mins, Selections fromGrass and A Propos de Nice Bill Nichols, “Chapter 5: How Did Documentary Filmmaking Get Started?”
3 Social Issues in Documentary Screening: Ekümenopolis, 2011, Imre Azem, 88 min. 4.1 Miles 2016, Daphne Matziaraki, 26 mins. Bill Nichols, “Chapter 8: How Have Documentaries Addressed Social and Political Issues?” &“Chapter 4: What Makes Documentaries Engaging and Persuasive?” pages 212 – 253.
4 Ethics, Truth and Propaganda in Documentary Sections of Why We Fight, 1942, Frank Capra, 52 mins., Restrepo, 2010, Sebastian Junger & Tim Hetherington, 93 min., and Triumph of the Will, 1936, Leni Riefensthal, 1935, 1 hour 54 min. Bill Nichols, “Chapter 2: Why Are Ethical Issues Central to Documentary Filmmaking?” Sontag, S. (1975). “Fascinating Fascism”, New York Review of Books, 6 February 1975, pp. 73-105.
5 Documentary and Animals Screening: Kedi, 2016, Ceyda Torun & Los Reyes, 2018, Bettina Perut and Iván Osnovikoff, 78 min Berger, John. “Why Look at Animals,” About Looking (New York: Pantheon, 1980), 1-26. Pick, Anat. “Why Not Look at Animals?” (January 2015, NECSUS European Journal of Media Studies. 4(1):107-125..
6 The Animal Essence in Cinema Screening: Roar, 1981, Noel Marshall, 102 min. Lippit, Akira Mizuta. “Introduction” Electric Animal. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2000), 1-26.
7 Forms of Documentary: Expository Screening: Searching for Sugarman, 2012, Malik Benjdjeloul, 86 min. Bill Nichols, “Chapter 6: How Can we Differentiate Among Documentaries?” pages 167 – 172.
8 Forms of Documentary: Poetic Screening: Koyaanisqatsi, 1982 Godfrey Reggio, 87 min. and the Kuleshov Effect Bill Nichols, “Chapter 6: How Can we Differentiate Among Documentaries?” pages 142 – 166. Bill Nichols. 2001. “Documentary Film and the Modernist Avant-Garde.” Critical Inquiry. 27:4. pp. 580-610.
9 Mid Term Exam – no class
10 Modes of Documentary: Observational and Participatory Screening scenes from İki Dil Bir Bavul, Orhan Eskiköy and Özgür Doğan, 2008, 81 min., Bob Dylan: Don’t Look Back, 1967, D.A. Pennebaker, 96 min (Observational) Grizzly Man, 2005, Werner Herzog, 1 hr, 44 min. Lift, 2001, Marc Isaacs, 24 min. (Participatory) Bill Nichols, “Chapter 7: How Can We Describe the Observational, Participatory, Reflexive, and Performative Modes of Documentary Film?” pages 172 – 179.
11 Modes of Documentary: Reflexive and Performative Screening: Stories We Tell, 2012, Sarah Polley, 108 min., (Reflexive) The Gleaners and I, 2000, Agnès Varda (Performative) Bill Nichols, Chapter 7 continued, pages 179 – 194.
12 The Reenactment Screening: The Act of Killing, 2012, Joshua Oppenheimer. 1 hr 57 min., sections of The Thin Blue Line, Errol Morris, 1988 101 min.. Bill Nichols, Chapter 7 continued, pages 194 – 199.
13 The Reenactment Screening: The Act of Killing, 2012, Joshua Oppenheimer. 1 hr 57 mins., sections of The Thin Blue Line, Errol Morris, 1988. Bill Nichols, Chapter 7 continued, pages 159-172, 199 – 212.
14 The Mockumentary Screening: Land without Bread, Luis Buñuel. 1933, 27 mins. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, 2006, Larry Charles, 86 mins. F is for Phony: Fake Documentary and Truth's Undoing. Alexandra Juhasz and Jesse Lerner, Eds. University of Minnesota Press, 2006.
15 Semester review
16 Semester review

 

Course Notes/Textbooks

Bill Nichols, Introduction to Documentary, Indiana University Press, 2017 (3rd Edition).

Suggested Readings/Materials

Geoffrey Nowell-Smith, The Oxford History of World Cinema. Oxford University Press, 1996.

 

EVALUATION SYSTEM

Semester Activities Number Weigthing
Participation
1
10
Laboratory / Application
Field Work
Quizzes / Studio Critiques
1
40
Portfolio
Homework / Assignments
Presentation / Jury
Project
Seminar / Workshop
Oral Exams
Midterm
1
50
Final Exam
-
Total

Weighting of Semester Activities on the Final Grade
3
100
Weighting of End-of-Semester Activities on the Final Grade
Total

ECTS / WORKLOAD TABLE

Semester Activities Number Duration (Hours) Workload
Theoretical Course Hours
(Including exam week: 16 x total hours)
16
3
48
Laboratory / Application Hours
(Including exam week: '.16.' x total hours)
16
0
Study Hours Out of Class
14
2
28
Field Work
0
Quizzes / Studio Critiques
1
22
22
Portfolio
0
Homework / Assignments
0
Presentation / Jury
0
Project
0
Seminar / Workshop
0
Oral Exam
0
Midterms
1
22
22
Final Exam
-
0
    Total
120

 

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES AND PROGRAM QUALIFICATIONS RELATIONSHIP

#
Program Competencies/Outcomes
* Contribution Level
1
2
3
4
5
1

To be able to have fundamental knowledge about narrative forms in cinema, digital and interactive media, and the foundational concepts relevant to these forms.

X
2

To be able to create narratives based on creative and critical thinking skills, by using the forms and tools of expression specific to cinema and digital media arts.

3

To be able to use the technical equipment and software required for becoming a specialist/expert in cinema and digital media.

4

To be able to perform skills such as scriptwriting, production planning, use of the camera, sound recording, lighting and editing, at the basic level necessary for pre-production, production and post-production phases of an audio-visual work; and to perform at least one of them at an advanced level.

5

To be able to discuss how meaning is made in cinema and digital media; how economy, politics and culture affect regimes of representation; and how processes of production, consumption, distribution and meaning-making shape narratives.

X
6

To be able to perform the special technical and aesthetic skills at the basic level necessary to create digital media narratives in the fields of interactive film, video installation, experimental cinema and virtual reality.

7

To be able to critically analyze a film or digital media artwork from technical, intellectual and artistic perspectives.

X
8

To be able to participate in the production of a film or digital media artwork as a member or leader of a team, following the principles of work safety and norms of ethical behavior.

9

To be able to stay informed about global scientific, social, economic, cultural, political, institutional and industrial developments.

10

To be able to develop solutions to legal, scientific and professional problems surrounding the field of cinema and digital media.

11

To be able to use a foreign language to communicate with colleagues and collect data in the field of cinema and digital media. ("European Language Portfolio Global Scale", Level B1).

12

To be able to use a second foreign language at the medium level.

13

To be able to connect the knowledge accumulated throughout human history to the field of expertise.

*1 Lowest, 2 Low, 3 Average, 4 High, 5 Highest

 


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