MFC6142 - Advanced Documentary Production for Journalists

Objectives:

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
Demonstrate a theoretical understanding of the role of documentaries, their historical development and the impact they can have on society;
Devise, plan and produce a documentary;
Work effectively within a team to meet deadlines and utilise resources effectively;
Critically evaluate the process and the finished product.

Content:

In this module, students will have an opportunity to build on the editorial and technical skills learned on previous modules, in order to devise, research and produce a ten-minute documentary film, for their career portfolio.

Sessions will provide a theoretical understanding of the nature and role of documentaries and an insight into the impact they can have, as well as practical aspects of contemporary documentary production - such as devising and researching programme ideas, finding key contributors the preparation and execution of single-camera location filming and story-telling in the editing process.
It will culminate in an intensive period of self-directed team-based production, during which students will work in teams with students from the MFC 6044 module, to create a ten-minute documentary film to a professional quality (together with a 'legal binder' of industry-standard production documents).

They will also supply an individual critical analysis of the finished film, their individual role in it, what they learned and how they would improve their performance in the future.

Learning and Teaching Information:

This module involves a combination of set lecture/workshop sessions and independent study/work, which will be supported by the module co-ordinator, module tutors and industry professionals, where appropriate. Regular progress meetings will be scheduled throughout the course of the module.

Lectures/tutorials/workshops will be based on refreshing students' existing knowledge with regard to the fundamentals of researching ideas, working with contributors, story-telling, camera work and editing/post-production. These sessions will also include more advanced techniques, including various filming and editing styles and techniques.

This will be a single-semester module and for the key practical assessment students will be expected to liaise with peers on the existing MFC 6044 Advanced Documentary Production module to make a strong contribution with an industry-standard documentary film.

Lectures
Hours: 6
Intended Group Size: Cohort

Tutorials
Hours: 10
Intended Group Size: 2-3

Guided independent study
Hours: 180

Further details relating to assessment
The two assessments to be delivered will consist of:
1) A group-produced, 10-minute documentary film: in line with requirements of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code - to be filmed, edited, colour-graded and audio-mixed prior to submission, together with a 'legal binder' containing all necessary industry-standard production paperwork (including risk assessments, call-sheets, location and personal consent forms and a 'programme as submitted' form). This body of work will be a collection of the necessary textual and logistical materials necessary for broadcast-ready documentary production. This will receive a group mark, but will be subject to a peer assessment of the production process (under which individual students may receive a reduction of up to 10% of the mark) and to the module co-ordinator's understanding of the individual contribution made;
2) An individually-produced 1,000-word critical evaluation of the finished film and the student's assessment of their own contribution to it.

Assessment:

001 Group produced documentary & production documents; end of semester 2 65%
002 Critical evaluation; 1,000 words; end of semester 2 35%

Fact File

Module Coordinator - PRS_CODE=
Level - 6
Credit Value - 20
Pre-Requisites - EVIDENCE OF ENGAGEMENT WITH BROADCAST ASSESSMENT/PRODUCTION OF BROADCAST ARTEFACTS
Semester(s) Offered - 6S2

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