Documentary (DFLM1-CE)

In this intermediate-level course, students have the opportunity to produce, direct, shoot, and edit their own short documentary project. Our faculty of industry professionals guide students through all phases of preproduction, production, and post-production to create films up to seven minutes long––the standard festival length. The resulting short could be submitted for festival audience review or potential financial backing, as a showcase of a crew's capacities, or as a pitch to garner enthusiasm and funding for a specific larger project.

Explore the roots of contemporary documentary, including cinema verité masters such as Barbara Kopple; first-person essayists, such Ross McElwee; interrogators, such as Errol Morris; and iconoclasts, such as Michael Moore. Students survey practitioners of traditional genres, such as music, biography, and competition, as well as innovators and experimentalists. Experienced documentarians are on hand to share their filmmaking secrets and offer advice on what it takes to make a successful nonfiction movie.

<p>This lecture-based course is designed for individuals who are interested in developing and producing live-action films and documentaries. Focus on honing your ideas into a viable project by addressing all the issues that precede shooting, including research, fundraising, budgets, and contacts. Gain an understanding of the structure and economics of the screen industries, locally and internationally. Industry professionals, including filmmakers, lawyers, fundraisers, and others, visit and share creative, legal, and financial strategies that are employed by film and documentary producers.</p>

What do you do when your documentary is finished? Survey the five marketplaces for documentary distribution: theatrical, domestic television, international, DVD home video, and educational. Find out how to deal with film festivals, sales agents, publicists, self-distribution, online promotion, and more.

Gain a basic understanding of how to manage the post-production workflow of documentary filmmaking, as well as the basic business practices associated with archival and fair use material. Lectures, screenings, and in-class assignments with footage supplied by NYU-SCPS introduce students to the workflow and creativity required to oversee the post-production process and provide an overview of the technology and professional division of labor. Sessions cover edit room management, strategies for editing a story from hours of footage, researching and utilizing archival materials, on-lining the project, and creating the final deliverables necessary for broadcast.