Assignment
For your final assignment, you should select one of the recommended films from this semester. All the recommended films can be viewed through links in the Module in which they are recommended. You should then select at least three of the guiding questions we have examined in this class. The guiding questions are the questions that served as the titles of the course modules. As a reminder the questions are:
1. What is a documentary / How did documentaries start?
2. What are the types of documentaries (expository and poetic)?
3. What are the observational, participatory, reflexive, and performative modes of documentary films?
4. How do documentaries make meaning?
5. What are the ethics of documentaries?
6. Are documentaries always political?
Your answers should involve the following:
1. A discussion of the main ideas, questions, or issues involved in the question (refer to the course textbook for some ideas)
2. A discussion of the film as it relates to the question you are answering
3. An analysis of a particular image, sequence, or element of the film that shows how this helps support your answer to the question.
Films list:
• Tabu (Flaherty, 1931)
• Les Maîtres Fou (Rouch, 1955)
• Leche/Mala Leche (Uman, 1998, 1999)
• Man with a Movie Camera (Vertov, 1929)
• Portrait of Jason (Clarke, 1967)
• High School (Wiseman, 1968).