| Module Identifier |
TF32910 |
| Module Title |
THE DOCUMENTARY TRADITION, 1920-1970 |
| Academic Year |
2005/2006 |
| Co-ordinator |
Dr Jamie Medhurst |
| Semester |
Semester 1 |
| Pre-Requisite |
TF10210 , TF10420 |
| Course delivery |
Lecture | Lectures will incorporate viewings |
| Assessment |
| Assessment Type | Assessment Length/Details | Proportion |
|---|
| Semester Assessment | Essay: 2 x 2,500 word essays (50% each) For information on due dates for submission of assessed work, please refer
to the departmental web pages at http://www.aber.ac.uk/tfts/duedates.shtml
| 100% |
|
Learning outcomes
Typically, upon completion of this module a student will be able:
To demonstrate an intelligent awareness of debates about documentary film and documentary film movements between 1920 and 1970.
To critically evaluate models of documentary theory.
To critically apply models of documentary theory to the texts under consideration.
To show an analytical understanding of a range of filmic texts.
Content
Lectures:
Issues of historiography and documentary theory
Documentary Pioneers I: Flaherty
Documentary Pioneers II: Vertov
The British Movement I: Grierson
The British Movement II: Jennings
Documentary as Observer I: Free Cinema
Documentary as Observer II: Direct Cinema and Cinema Verite
Documentary on Television
Seminars:
British Documentary
Documentary as reality
Aims
The aims of this module are to introduce students to the critical discourse relating to documentary film analysis and to consider how documentary film developed during the period under consideration as a mode of cultural expression an political propaganda. The module also aims to study the ways in which technological developments during the period influenced the pro-filmic and changed the nature of documentary film.
Reading Lists
Books
** Essential Reading
Macdonald, Kevin, & Cousins, Mark (1996) Imagining Reality: the Faber book of documentary
Faber
Nicholls, Bill (1991) Representing Reality: issues and concepts in documentary
Indiana University Press
Winston, Brian (1995) Claiming the Real: the documentary film revisited
BFI
Renov, Michael (1993) Theorizing Documentary
Routledge
Gillespie, David (2000) Early Soviet Cinema: innovation, ideology and propaganda
Wallflower
Barnouw, Eric (1993) Documentary: a history of the non-fiction film
OUP
Aitken, Ian (ed.) (1998) The Documentary Film Movement: an anthology
Edinburgh University Press
Elton + Anstey Housing Problems
Dziga Vertov Man with a Movie Camera
Riefenstahl, L Triumph of the Will
Humphrey Jennings Silent Village and Fires Were Started; Listen to Britain
Lindsay Anderson Every Day Except Christmas, O! Dreamland
John Grierson Night Mail; Drifters;
Robert Flaherty Nanook of the North and Man of Aran
Cavalcanti, Alberto Coalface
Karel Reisz We are the Lambeth Boys
Watkins The War Game
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6