Cmty Dev & Apld Econ: CL:Doc. Film for Social Change

Documentaries can leverage social change through education, fundraising, or urging political action; the results are hardly guaranteed. Introduces the study of documentaries as they relate to social change, environmental, and community development movements; focusing on film and context. Prerequisites: CDAE 1020, CDAE 1240, FTS 1420, FTS 1400, or FTS 1430.

Open to degree and PACE students

https://vimeo.com/user/75590533/folder/23717229

Interested in Social Change? Want to make a difference in the communities you care about? Documentaries for Social Change is a hands-on documentary production class where students team up with local organizations, groups and individuals to produce short videos to promote social change. NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY. This class is for independently motivated students. It is a Civic Learning class where you will CHOOSE YOUR OWN Community Partners and learn by setting up your own relationships and projects! The goals of this semester-long civic learning course are to give students an understanding of the form of documentary video through formal analysis and watching documentaries (weekly) that exemplify social change. Working collaboratively with their instructor, students are tasked with completing exercises to put the theories they are learning into practice. These exercises scaffold into assignments where students work collaboratively with a community partner to promote or tell stories surrounding social change. The course asks the question if storytelling can be used for community development and how it applies to economics through distribution and consumption. Their work will culminate in a community screening where community partners are invited to campus. Students can pick their own topics or be assigned topics. Topics may include: Community Partners that exemplify social change, Local Non-Profits, International Community Partners, Fundraising / Crowdfunding for local organizations or businesses, or other miscellaneous projects in the local community.

Expectations for students are to understand what social change is, how documentaries can promote social change, and to apply social change to community development through storytelling and media practices. This understanding will come from formal analysis of documentaries, discussions during class time, technical training including time in the media lab, apply theory into practice both in class and during site visits to community partners outside of class, develop a basic understanding of video production including interviews and camera skills, scaffold technical exercises into video production skills, ability to use Adobe Premiere Pro, work collaboratively with Instructor and community members, individually design projects and finally host a community screening at the end of the semester. With a serious emphasis on critical reflection and problem solving, this class relies heavily on students to be independently motivated and find topics they are passionate about exploring. It is not a one size fits all and this allows for students from all different levels to participate. Course Learning Objectives 1) The Practical Application of film and video production: Documentary filmmaking in the local community Hands on experience from pre-production through post-production Pre production includes reaching out to community partners, planning shoots, etc Production includes camera and field work Includes shooting interviews Using B-Roll to tell the story Collaborate with community members Post-Production includes media management Editing in Adobe Premiere Uploading and sharing for review in VIMEO Screening Final Projects 2) The theoretical understanding of documentary filmmaking and modes: Explore the forms of documentary from traditional to experimental The process of reflection through journaling or behind the scenes videos 3) Community engagement includes: Finished video(s) for online distribution & end of semester Community Screening Community Screening planning and promotion Creating a trailer for the class use Inviting friends and family Refreshments Archive all raw material for use in later classes Work alongside a professional filmmaker working in the community

This class is very focused on allowing each student to set their own goals and expectations. Through individual spreadsheets and critical reflections, students have the opportunity to communicate their individual goals to be evaluated on. This allows students of all levels of experience to participate in the class. On Mondays, students will have labs where the instructor exemplifies weekly exercises and what is expected of them. On Wednesday’s students will have discussions on assigned visual material and readings. THIS IS A LEARN BY DOING and INQUIRY BASED MODEL OF TEACHING. Throughout the semester, the students will learn by doing; the class will decide if they will be working on individual projects or a possible group project. This is an iterative process and students are expected to pass in incomplete work to be reviewed on a weekly basis. The instructor will provide feedback to help the student learn from the process. For some, they will contact community members and make short 1-2 minute videos. Instructor will show a diverse model of student work from past classes. Evaluation is based on a point system that the students can track. Students will be evaluated on attendance, reflections and exercises, three assignments at the end of each section, work outside of class in the community, and their contribution to the community screening at the end of the semester. They will be evaluated on their individual levels and on completion of assignments according to their experience. In this sense, the class embodies asynchronous learning. At the beginning of the semester, students will lay out their own expectations for the course and create their individual spreadsheet for the Instructor. Students will co-create an individual experience. As different students have different experience levels, assessment will rely on communication with the instructor, goals set out by the student and completion of all course work.