Documentary Film as Portraiture

A hands-on introduction to documentary filmmaking as portraiture, focused on students producing a 3-5 minute documentary film. We will discuss film theory as relates to objective and subjective modes of shooting and editing, including an historical look at how these modes developed, how they operate today, and the ethics involved. We will examine a variety of films that use different expressive tactics (cinema verite, impressionism, classic Western film language, etc) to illustrate their subjects on psychological and social planes. And finally, we will learn the principles of camerawork and editing before creating our own documentaries as portraits.