A popular practice-led course suited to documentary filmmakers, film academics and non-fiction enthusiasts looking to further their approach and understanding of non-fiction cinema and its theoretical applications.

Course Description

Indicative Course Outline

Session 1: Soviet Montage and Poetic Documentary

• Documentary elements·       
• Soviet montage and conceptual watching·       
• The poetic documentary

Session 2: Continuity and Observational Documentary·       

• Spatial and emotional impact of shot sizes·       
• The immersive actuality of continuity·       
• The observational documentary.

Session 3: Interviews and Participatory Documentary

• Characterisation through interviews
• The function of cutaways
• The participatory documentary

Session 4: Defamiliarisation and Reflexive Documentary

• Brecht and defamiliarising the audience
• The reflexive documentary
• The hybrid documentary

Session 5: Narrative and Point-of-View

• Narrative structure: story and plot
• Narrative point-of-view
• Creating empathy for characters

Session 6: Comedy Documentary

• Documentary comedy and distantiation
• Parody and mockumentaries
• The investigative documentary comedy

Session 7: Materialities: Objects and Spaces

• The mediation of space and time
• Everyday materialities
• Memory as trace and event

Session 8: Essay Film

• Portrait essay
• Travel essay
• Diary essay
• Editorial essay
• Refractive essay

Session 9: The Other and Performative Documentary

• Representing the Other
• Embodied knowledge
• The performative documentary

Session 10: Stigma and Stereotypes

• Stereotypes and social stigma
• Methods for de-stigmatising communities
• Case study: undoing disability stereotypes

 

This course takes place across 10 Tuesday Evenings (6.30pm to 9pm) from 21st January until 25th March 2025.

If you have any enquiries regarding this course, please contact [email protected]

 

Course Costs:

For each course, we offer three rates: General, Students/Concessions, and UCL Students. 

For a full breakdown of our costs/concessions, please reach our Terms and Conditions:

https://opencitylondon.com/school/terms-and-conditions/