Documentary Project, Coffeehouse, & Portfolio

Please continue working on your documentary projects. These projects are due as completely edited and rendered by the end of class Tuesday, June 4. Rendering your film takes up to 10-20 minutes, so please keep that in mind as you work today and next class on finishing these projects.

Tonight is our coffeehouse reading performance at 7:00 in the Ensemble Theater. All are welcome to attend, and if you participate by reading something you have written and prepared, you will get extra credit for this marking period. We'd love for you to attend tonight's celebration of a year of hard, excellent work done by all the grades. Please come! Parents and family members are, of course, welcome!

Finally, please read about your "final exam" portfolio requirement. Instructions are posted here (and you will be starting to work on your portfolio in both Ms. Perez and my classes). The portfolio is due Friday, June 7.

There are two (2) parts to your final portfolio:

A. A 4-6 page, double-spaced, typed self evaluation essay
B. A variety of your best work chosen from all your CW classes

Your final portfolio will count for both 9th grade creative writing classes and will be reviewed by Mr. Craddock & Ms. Perez. It will constitute 25% of your final grade.

Part A. Self Evaluation Essay (see details below)

Part B. Portfolio

Select work that you created this year in Ms. Perez or Mr. Craddock’s classes. All work should be copies of original work. No journals will be accepted. Follow the guideline below.

Table of contents. Your table of contents should order your portfolio into the following parts:

a. Poetry
b. Fiction
c. Non-fiction
d. Scripts
e. Special projects

Poetry. Choose 5-7 of your best poems. Select work that shows your understanding and growth in the field of poetry. Each poem’s title should be listed on the table of contents.

Fiction. Choose 3-5 of your best fiction pieces. Select work that shows your understanding and growth in the field of fiction. Each fiction piece’s title should be listed on the table of contents.

Non-fiction. Choose 2-3 of your best non-fiction pieces. Select work that shows your understanding and growth in the field of non-fiction. Each non-fiction piece’s title should be listed on the table of contents.

Scripts: Choose 1-3 of your best scripts. Select work that shows your understanding and growth in the field of script writing. Each script’s title should be listed on the table of contents.

Special Projects: Choose 2-3 of your special projects (documentary, newsletter, brochure, literary magazine, online blog, etc.) that show your growth and creative ability. Each project should be listed on the table of contents. If you have been working on a project not assigned in class, you may include this work in your special projects. (Example: I am working on a novel, and I haven’t told my teachers or I have written a musical, etc.) Please do NOT print your special project, unless you already have an extra copy. Instead, please write about these projects in your reflection.

Self Reflection Non Fiction - Creative Essay:
During the entire freshman year, we have thrown quite a bit of information, projects, and assignments your way. We did not do this to be cruel, but to see how you react to pressure, deadlines, writing & reading skills, and so that you had the opportunity to grow as a writer and a student. It is true that the most important qualification for writers is that they write. Apart from this, reading is also the most important way to improve your writing at this stage of your development and education. These introductory courses are designed to get you to know yourself as a student and writer a little better. Part of this is the need to self-reflect. Examine the writing rubrics below and the material in your portfolio. Reflect on your work this year.

Reflective piece: 4-6 pages, double-spaced. Write about how you’ve grown as a writer this year, what has been easy/hard for you, what areas you feel you need more work in; reflect on your progress as a writer, a reader, and as a student. Write about each selected piece you have chosen to include in your portfolio (per genre): why did you include these pieces in your portfolio? How does the piece show your growth and development as a writer in this particular genre? What did you learn about yourself concerning writing from this assignment or project? Discuss the writing process you used to create the work, where you got your ideas, what you learned about the form or genre of the work as you wrote and revised it, what you learned about yourself as a writer, etc. Discuss special projects and reading that had an impact on you. Which books you read were of high interest and what did you learn about writing from reading them? What did you learn about writing and about yourself through these assignments and courses this year?

Rubric

_____ Table of Contents 10 points
_____ Reflective Essay (4-6 pages) 30 points
_____ Poetry (5-7 poems) 10 points
_____ Fiction (3-5 short stories) 10 points
_____ Non Fiction (2-3 creative essays) 10 points
_____ Scripts (1-2 scripts) 10 points
_____ Special Projects (1-2 special projects) 10 points
_____ Grammar (Work is clean, copy-edited, free of errors) 10 points
Penalty: (-1/2 point for each grammar error. Up to -10 points)
_____ Portfolio turned in complete and on time: bonus 10 points

Penalties:
• Late portfolios (-10 points per day late)
• Handwritten work (-1 for each handwritten page)
• Grammar errors (see above) & missing required components of your portfolio

Documentary Project; Post Assessment

During period 3, please continue working on your documentary project. During period 4, we will take a break when Ms. Gamzon will take you next door to take our post assessment/final local exam. When you finish the test, please return to the lab and continue working on your project.

If you cannot work on your project for some reason, please prepare your portfolio. Gather a collection of 5-10 poems you wrote this year, 3-5 stories, and any scripts or non-fiction you wrote.

HOMEWORK: Complete the shooting of your documentary project.

Documentary Project

Please continue working on your documentary projects. Use the Belkin card reader on my desk to upload footage that you have shot. Please return the card reader to my desk after using it.

Once your film is uploaded, begin editing and preparing each clip. Help each other (even if a person is not in your group) if you get stuck.

Use the time in the lab to make some progress on your documentary. See previous posts for further details.

HOMEWORK: Keep making your documentaries. These are due by June 3.

Bowling For Columbine & Documentary Project

Today, we will complete our viewing of Bowling for Columbine. With any time remaining, we will return to the lab and continue working on our documentary projects.

HOMEWORK: None.

Uploading Files

Uploading film footage:

iMovie only recognizes MP4 files. Which means if your camera or recording device does not use this format, you will need to convert the file to an MP4. To do that, use this online converter. It's free and simple, but does require an extra step. Once you convert the file, save it to your own desktop folder for your film project(s).

Online Converter

Documentary Project

During periods 3 & 4, please continue working on your documentary projects. Upload film footage, if you have it, and continue editing, adding sound, pictures, text, and research. If you need to, continue working on Ms. Perez's projects to finish them.

We will continue screening Bowling for Columbine next class.

Film Documentary Project & Bowling For Columbine

During period 3, please continue working on your documentary projects. Upload film footage, if you have it, and continue editing, adding sound, pictures, text, and research.

During period 4, we will move next door and continue screening Bowling for Columbine.

HOMEWORK: Continue working on your documentary projects.

Documentary Film Project; Bowling for Columbine

This morning, please get together with your partners and work on your documentary films during period 3.

If you have footage recorded from this weekend, please upload what you took into iMovie.

If you have not yet recorded any footage for your film, please continue researching, write ?'s for your interviews, plan what you will be able to accomplish between today and next class with your partners, decide what next steps need to be completed before now and then.

If you have not yet recorded any footage (or have uploaded footage), search the internet for pictures that you might be able to use in your film. Save these images in a documentary folder on your computer/network. Select and drag these images into iMovie. You may also create a title, intertitles for your research, and end credits. You might even select a musical score to accompany images or text.

• Remember: you need a short 1 page script for your documentary film project (with you or your partner's voice performing the VOICE OVER). Please work on writing that script today in class.

See previous student films from last blog post as models or samples of what you might be able to do with your project.

During period 4, we will begin screening another documentary as another model of the interactive documentary form.

HOMEWORK: Shoot some documentary footage for next class.

Documentary Types, Research & Treatment

The creative impulse to hold a mirror up to nature to see the reflection of ourselves has always been strong. Since the beginning of film history, filmmakers have enjoyed capturing real life. This basic style of film falls under the category of REALISM. Documentaries are generally considered the most "realistic" of all films.

All documentaries have similar basic principals and/or qualities:
1. The events depicted in the film are unstaged; the events exist above and beyond the diegesis (the film world) or the act of filming them. The unstaged nature of the events suggest that the events or subjects have an existence independent of the cinema, thus granting them an air of authenticity or "realism".

2. Documentaries are understood to be non-fiction films. The world or diegesis of what appears on screen is considered real, not imaginary (as in fiction films).

3. It is often assumed that the documentary film maker observes, recording events or subject matter objectively. This is, of course, an untrue or uninformed statement.

There are Five different TYPES of documentary:

A. Expository documentary: the film maker's commentary acts as the "voice-of-God", often giving information or perspectives external to the filmed world in order to "see the world afresh, even if the world seems romantic (idealized) and/or didactic. Here's an example: the Last Lions (2011)

B. Observational documentary: The film maker records events depicted in the film unobtrusively, without intervention from the film-maker, capturing "real life" without commentary, intertitles, or interviews. The documentary type depicts a "slice of life" or direct representation without comment or subjectivity of the film maker. The film maker is completely invisible and/or uninvolved. the French film: Etre et Avoir about elementary schools in France.

C. Interactive documentary: The filmmaker's perspective and opinion is more evident. Interview styles allow the film maker to participate actively in presenting of events. It is sort of the opposite of the observational documentary. Sometimes the film maker him/herself is present in the film, asking questions or juxtaposing their opinion with others. Unlike expository documentaries, the film maker is present instead of a disembodied voice of authority (god).

Roger & Me (1989) but also Bowling For Columbine
Capitalism a Love Story (2009)

D. Reflexive documentary: Going one step further from interactive documentary, the film maker of reflexive documentary does not attempt to hide the convention of film making. You know you are "watching a film" about "making a film." While documentaries are usually considered realistic, the camera work in a reflexive documentary are much more similar to formalism (the opposite style to realism). Example "Man with a Movie Camera" (1928)

E. Performative documentary: Going beyond the reflexive documentary, the performative documentary seeks to evoke mood or atmosphere traditionally found in fiction films. It can be downright avant garde and formalistic. Its purpose is more metaphorical than literal.

example of performative documentary:
Survivors
One of the most famous performative documentaries is Koyaanisqatsi. Here's a clip.
Sample previous SOTA creative writing documentaries:

• Post Mortem (2011 winner of the High Falls Film Festival Young Filmmaker's Award) 
• Kadisha Philips: The Nicki Syndrome (2010) & Teen Point of View: Teens Around the World (2010)
• Another student film (Interactive Documentary style): One Girl At a Time (Kyle Cox--not a SOTA student...)

Research your chosen topic. It is likely you have to uncover some basic details and information about your subject matter. Use the class period today to do that. Just like your previous research assignments, record any citations. You will need to give credit in your film for any quotes or materials you use that are not yours. Take notes on facts, statistics, definitions, or other information that will help you tell your story.

After you have researched your topic a bit, you should decide what KIND of documentary you intend to make. You have various options. Pick one of the five types from above. If you are going to begin interviewing, write a few questions you will ask all of your interviewees. If you are done currently with research, use the rest of the lab time to begin writing a VOICE OVER script. Remember that, just like in fiction, speech writing, or poetry, you want to HOOK our attention.

Use your time in the lab today to begin preparing and planning your film.

HOMEWORK: None. You may begin shooting some of your documentary footage, if you can.