Course Descriptions

This course is designed to provide an operational understanding of professional video and audio production equipment including various cameras, lighting, sound and other essential production equipment used in field operations. The course offers instruction in both basic production skills and the skills required to make the equipment work on locations far from technical support. Despite being mostly technical in nature, the course will touch upon visual aesthetics and the importance of visual story telling.

This course acknowledges the invaluable hands-on production skills learned during practical work on a video project. Students work on project planning, preparation, and execution. Working in a mentored environment, students plan, produce and edit individual and group student projects. Instruction is in the form of practical demonstrations, individual assistance, and supervised work on specific projects.

This course is an intensive grounding in the art and science of recording sound for documentary filmmaking. The course features a foundational analysis of psychoacoustic principles, the use of professional sound recording equipment, techniques for recording sound on location, and introduction to the process of postproduction sound.

Students explore the fundamentals of storytelling as they relate to film, from the basic three-act structure to developing theme, visual style and point-of-view. Focusing on the creative process of idea generation through story development to final treatment for a one-off/stand alone documentary or small unit production, the course will include the writing of material for the term projects and weekly in-class review of students' work.

This course is an intensive grounding in the art and science of storytelling through film editing. The course features a foundational analysis of editing principles, history and phases of postproduction, which include offline and online editing, sound editing, effects, graphics and format distribution.

Learning how the masters did it, students explore how different aesthetic approaches to documentary film and video were informed by historical events, creative movements, technological and industrial developments, as well as the personal, artistic and political vision that shaped documentary versions of reality. Through immersion in the diverse language of the documentary form and aesthetics, students examine how their own philosophies and vision influence the creative choices they make to tell their own stories.

This course introduces the elementary skills needed to direct a documentary film. From ideation to pre-production, students will learn basic story development strategies and professional skills to turn their ideas into short non-fiction films. As they embark on the director's journey, students will learn how to develop their artistic voice as they apply the creative and professional processes to making a film, from research and writing to funding and networking opportunities and how to exploit them. During the course students will have the opportunity to develop their documentary ideas for Production I projects.

Students continue to develop and master the hands-on production skills learned during the practical and theoretical courses of the first semester by preparing Project II, the final project of the program. Students work in a mentored environment on project planning, preparation, and execution on one or more student projects.

This course is an intensive grounding in the art and science of lighting and camera skills for documentary film. Students begin the visual development and preparation of Project II.

In this course, students learn about different aesthetic approaches to story in the technical and theoretical courses of the program, and apply these documentary styles to their own work through a series of practical exercises to help develop their own perspectives and styles. Non-fiction genres to be explored include cinema verité, compilation, personal essay, hybrid and experimental. The course will include the writing of material for preparing Project II.

This course explores the role of the director in the art of visual storytelling. Through the study of aesthetic and stylistic techniques in documentary non-fiction production, students will learn how to develop a storytelling voice and creative vision for a film, such as developing a point-of-view and coherent visual style. Carrying this artistic vision into the field of production and post production, students will learn how to lead a creative team, how to plan and organize the direction of a scene, and how to direct for different genres, locations and situations. Students will also hone their interviewing skills and learn about the roles and responsibilities of becoming a documentary filmmaker.

This course focuses on the materials needed and the methods used to secure financing for a documentary production. Students will identify appropriate sources of financing for their non-fiction projects and develop a basic understanding of project management and business affairs in the context of documentary production.

This course is an intensive grounding in the art and science of designing sound for documentary filmmaking. The course features a foundational analysis of sound editing principles, the use of professional post-production sound equipment, techniques for preparing sound for final mix, and mixing.

This course builds on the students' knowledge of post-production software while developing their story-telling skills through the articulation and manipulation of visual components related to colour, movement, and rhythm.

This course explores documentary cinema as it applies to the field of environmental studies. Students will learn the historical and theoretical background to documentary film, and how to utilize documentary principles and techniques for the creation and distribution of academically-informed non-fiction materials. Students will develop their own project ideas and materials to create a live-action short documentary as they establish a foundation in documentary cinema arts and sciences.