Today, we'll start with a little brainstorming:
If we divide cinema into real and fiction, Documentary is the most realistic film style.
Narrative in film, while attempting to be realistic, usually includes camera shots and angles that are most unnatural. Editing also plays an important role in film, as the pacing, the content, and how the film is presented to us and in what order, can influence or manipulate our emotions as viewers. When this happens, we call this formalistic.
Originally, documentary films started off as just "home movies" or simple scenes of ordinary life (without actors or scripts). They were capturing real life on film for the purpose of sharing reality with its audience.
Here's a famous example of one of the first films: The Arrival of a Train (1897)
Filmmakers today use documentary to "document" important social, political, and popular cultural events. An example:
Survivors by Errol Morris
What sort of topics might you come up with if you were going to make a documentary? Make a list of topics that you can think of that would make a good or interesting documentary.
Take some time to discuss this with your small group. Add ideas to your list.
After our class discussions, we will screen the documentary film: Michael Moore's Bowling For Columbine (2002).
HOMEWORK: Please read the introduction and chapter one of Chew on This (1-36). On YOUR blog, please respond to the first chapter by reflecting on your experience with fast food. Did your family allow you to eat fast food regularly? Do you sit down every evening to a home cooked meal? Examine your family's feeding routine and write about it. Add any details from the chapter that you thought were interesting to comment on.
- What are some key issues in American culture that you feel are relevant or important?
If we divide cinema into real and fiction, Documentary is the most realistic film style.
Narrative in film, while attempting to be realistic, usually includes camera shots and angles that are most unnatural. Editing also plays an important role in film, as the pacing, the content, and how the film is presented to us and in what order, can influence or manipulate our emotions as viewers. When this happens, we call this formalistic.
Originally, documentary films started off as just "home movies" or simple scenes of ordinary life (without actors or scripts). They were capturing real life on film for the purpose of sharing reality with its audience.
Here's a famous example of one of the first films: The Arrival of a Train (1897)
Filmmakers today use documentary to "document" important social, political, and popular cultural events. An example:
Survivors by Errol Morris
What sort of topics might you come up with if you were going to make a documentary? Make a list of topics that you can think of that would make a good or interesting documentary.
Take some time to discuss this with your small group. Add ideas to your list.
After our class discussions, we will screen the documentary film: Michael Moore's Bowling For Columbine (2002).
HOMEWORK: Please read the introduction and chapter one of Chew on This (1-36). On YOUR blog, please respond to the first chapter by reflecting on your experience with fast food. Did your family allow you to eat fast food regularly? Do you sit down every evening to a home cooked meal? Examine your family's feeding routine and write about it. Add any details from the chapter that you thought were interesting to comment on.
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