The Home Stretch

With only two weeks remaining in the semester we're approaching what is famously known as "the home stretch." No matter how great your initial idea or proposal...no matter how fascinating your interviewees...and no matter how compelling your visuals...all that matters now is how the final product comes together to tell a story that grabs the viewer's attention and makes him forget everything but what's on the screen. It all comes down to this...this very exciting and nerve-wracking time when sleep goes wanting and creativity courses like adrenaline through your veins.

How will you know if you've been successful? It's pretty simple actually. All that it requires is to gather some people who know a few things...some who know a few things about the artform we call documentary, some who know a bit about your subject matter, and some more who know YOU well enough to be honest with you. In fact it wouldn't hurt to invite members of the news media as well. Have them join us on Tues, December 12th to sit and watch your creation. You'll want to give the "audience" just enough of an introduction to let them know why they're there, and what you want them to contribute. Then screen your project from opening titles to closing credits. Now comes the important part. With two or three members of the team taking copious notes, ask your audience to tell you what they liked, what they didn't care for, what scenes grabbed them, and which ones moved too slowly. Ask them if they understood what you were trying to communicate (without giving them clues as to what that is) and ask them how you might improve your product.

The most useful suggestions will be ones that can be incorporated by adding a bit here and cutting a bit there...ones that don't require extensive reshooting and editing. Some suggestions will be personal preferences or may reflect personal biases and these should be graciously received and, after some consideration, used or discarded.

As with any worthwhile endeavor, the first public screening should be undertaken with the kind of professionalism and planning that befits a project and product of this enormity. You've put in too many hours to let it slip away in the end-of-semester rush. Keep up the good work folks, the end is in sight!

Shut Up and Watch

Two-time Academy Award winner Barbara Kopple (we watched her 1976 film Harlan County USA), along with co-director Cecilia Peck, is back with another documentary sure to generate interest. Opening last night on both coasts, and in a couple of weeks nationwide, Shut Up and Sing is about the Dixie Chicks, the best-selling female group of all time, and their fall from grace after their public criticism of President Bush on the eve of the invasion of Iraq. You can watch the trailer and a couple of clips at this webpage at Myspace. Here's a review from the Toronto Film Festival. Also, check out this interview with Kopple at IndieWire.

The importance of definitions

When is a docudrama not a documentary? Just listen to ABC/Disney as they respond to criticism of their "epic miniseries" The Path to 9/11, airing this Sunday and Monday evenings at 7pm locally. According to ABC, the program is, "a dramatization of the events detailed in The 9/11 Commission Report and other sources." It is also interesting that ABC attempts to deflect criticism by noting that, "the program was produced by the entertainment division rather than ABC News." Intense criticism by Democrats, including former president Clinton, has been leveled at the program for what are perceived to be inaccuracies in pre-release copies. Specifically, Democrats object to portrayals that they didn't do enough to go after Bin Laden in the years leading up to 9/11. According to news reports today, ABC is responding by making last-minute editorial changes.

But this is not simply an argument about facts or the portrayal of events. It is a debate about whether this or any docudrama/miniseries should be held to the standards reserved for news and documentaries or whether it should only have to rise to the expectations of prime-time, network, entertainment programming. Dramatizations of true events often play fast and loose with the facts. It's just that this time the facts are much more sensitive, and mid-term elections hang in the balance.

According to the New York Times, "Scholastic, the children’s publishing company, which had been working with ABC to use “The Path to 9/11” as a teaching tool, said yesterday that it was removing materials related to the film from its Web site. A spokeswoman said a new study guide was being prepared that would explain the difference between a docudrama and a documentary." Clearly the terms documentary and docudrama are important distinctions...and that, in turn, dictates the expectations that we should have as to the accuracy and objectivity of the program. Read this blog post and the readers' comments and be prepared to offer your opinion when we meet next week.

Note: see also the fascinating behind-the-scenes video clips (Recreating 9/11 Day 1, ...Day 2, Keeping it Honest, and How to Create a Riot) at the miniseries' home page.

Doc screening at the Sangre de Cristo Arts Center

I'm forwarding this message from Erin Ragulsky at the Sangre de Cristo Arts Center...

Here's a great documentary screening we will be holding Sunday, Sept. 24 at 4 p.m. in the Arts Center Theater. The the Dalai Lama, a small history of Tibet, how one man prepares to have an interview with His Holiness and the interview this documentarian has with the Dalai Lama. It's very capitivating and really worth your time.

Stay after the film for a question and answer session with Rick Ray. The Dalai Lama will be in Denver only a week before the screening of this documentary, so take part in the celebration of his momentous visit to Colorado.

Anniversary of 9/11

The events of 9/11, 2001 have provided extensive material for documentarians and conspiracy theorists worldwide. Over the weekend I saw World Trade Center, the Oliver Stone film starring Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena. While not a documentary per se, it (along with the earlier film United 93) may be as close as fiction films can come. Notable is Stone's refusal to even suggest conspiracy as he tells the tale of two Port Authority police officers caught in the collapse of the Twin Towers. This from the director of JFK!

In contrast, conspiracy theories about 9/11 abound in the Internet documentary Loose Change, 2nd edition, available courtesy of Google video at their web site, http://www.loosechange911.com/
While the WTC script was based upon hours-upon-hours of interviews with principles and eye-witnesses, LC is another type of documetary...one that raises more questions than it answers and does not hesitate to speculate about possible scenarios.

At the Loose Change web site you can even purchase a T-shirt calling for an investigation of 9/11, and when you do you are pledging to, "do you best to wear it to wear it at Ground Zero on September 11th, 2006." For those of you who may be interested, that is less than a week away!

9/11 doc to re-air on CBS

CBS (KKTV) will re-broadcast the documentary 9/11 on Sunday, September 10th at 7pm. The documentary, hosted by Robert DeNiro, was filmed by two french brothers who were shooting a program about one of NY's fire stations when the attack took place. Footage of flight 11 slamming into the North Tower came from these filmmakers. The film contains graphic language which is creating some controvery about what is acceptable language for a documentary aired on broadcast TV.
More info at IMDB and The Hollywood Reporter.

The War Tapes

Another new documentary is in Southern Colorado for a limited engagement. The War Tapes is a documentary shot by three National Guardsmen who shipped out to Iraq in 2004. According to Wired news,

Director Deborah Scranton described War Tapes as the result of a "virtual embed." She gave cameras to 10 Iraq-bound soldiers, and then used e-mail and instant messaging to provide them with advice on technique and technical issues.

By the end of their yearlong tour of duty, the soldiers, all from New Hampshire's National Guard, had sent Scranton 800 hours of what she considered thoughtful, often beautifully shot, footage.

"They became journalists," Scranton said. "This isn't like soldiers making home movies. This was a process, a conscious effort for us to together tell the experience of what it means to go to war."

The film is showing at Colorado Springs Carmike 19, 1550 Pulsar Drive.

Ken Burns coming to Colorado Springs

Award-winning documentary filmmaker Ken Burns will make a rare appearance as part of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs lecture series at Pikes Peak Center. The appearance will take place August 27th and will begin at 7:30 p.m. Burns will reflect on his 25 years of documentary films and his future projects. Cost is $35 for the general public, and $30 for RMPBS members.

UPDATE: KTSC-TV will be videotaping a Q&A session with Ken Burns and students from UCCS. We can take a few CSU-Pueblo students to help crew the Q&A session which will run from 4:30-5:30 pm on the 27th. Please contact prof. e. if you'd be interested in being part of the production crew.

Thinking about documentary topics

Following is the email that I sent out a week after the end of the spring semester. The intent was just to encourage you to think about documentary topics this summer, before the crunch of the fall semester hits.

I just wanted to get this word out in time for some of you who may want to get a jump on the fall TV Doc class. The class will involve; learning about documentary as an art form, studying the most important TV documentaries and documentarians in past and recent history, and as a final project, producing one or more documentaries. I would encourage you to be on the lookout for good documentary topics that are local, accessible, and of interest to people in the region. Some of you may already have ideas for documentary topics, and that's great.

However, by the time that the fall semester rolls around it may be too late to shoot video of your proposed topic. For example, say you wanted to produce a documentary about the Kayaking course in Pueblo. The best water and kayaking activity will take place from now until late June, not in the fall. Another example might be a documentary topic related to the State Fair, and that happens just as school is ramping up in late August. I'm going to be around for part of the summer, and just wanted to propose an option that might appeal to you. If you have the time now to shoot video that will be unavailable or difficult to get once classes start, I'll do what I can to make the necessary equipment available. I only ask that you work in teams of 2 (at a minimum) for safety reasons.

Don't let this email cause worry if you have no idea what you'd like to do for the documentary project. There will be plenty of ideas and discussions about viable topics once the fall semester begins. Also, I'm considering making various options available for the documentary project, e.g., radio (audio) documentary, web (flash) documentary, etc., and those formats are likely to be less dependent on seasonal issues.

One last item for your consideration. The only prerequisite for the class in MCCNM 142, Digital Video Production. However, for those students who choose to work on a TV doc for broadcast (possible consideration of airing on KTSC and Comcast local access), production skills necessary involve extensive location videography, audio and lighting expertise. If you are not comfortable with location shooting with the full-size camcorders, location lighting, and location audio, I would encourage you to also enroll in MCCNM 231, Digital Media Production, call #3960, MWF 9-9:50, for the fall. MCCNM 231 will focus on location video production skills and will augment the TV Doc class.

That's all for now.

Have a great summer!
Prof. e.

Global Warming doc from Al Gore

If you have a chance you might consider going to see Al Gore's new documentary film about global warming when it comes to a theater near you (okay, it may not come to Pueblo, but perhaps to Colorado Springs). Or, check out the website at http://www.climatecrisis.net/

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to the TV Documentary blog. This site will provide updates, postings, and comments related to our class, MCCNM 432, Television Documentary. I'm looking forward to the class and to the creative journey that we will take together. It has been several years since we've been able to offer this class. The last group of students to take the class produced a half-hour documentary about the history of CF&I steel mill. Other classes have produced documentaries about the Levee Mural, Mission Wolf project, Bishop's Castle, Tatoo art, etc. There are plenty of stories waiting to be told...so think big and feel free to contact me this summer if you want to talk about an idea that you might have.

See you soon-
prof. e.