CMPP 569 DOCUMENTARY PRODUCING Units: 2 Spring—Thursday—730-1030
Location: SCA 204
Instructor: Julian Cautherley Office Hours: N/A Contact Info: e: [email protected] p: 323 3873288
Teaching Assistant: Contact Info: Anna Damaskova e: [email protected]
Revised July 2016
Course Description You came here to make movies, right? You might have watched a documentary or two over the years but maybe you’ve never considered making one. So let’s talk about docs then. Skip writing a script or development hell and let’s go make a movie.
Learning Objectives You already know how to make a doc you just don’t know it. We will take what you’ve learnt in all the other Stark classes and apply it to documentaries. We’ll also get to grips on what makes good documentary stories. Through case studies and guests you’ll learn how to start, finance, produce and distribute a documentary film. We’ll watch and talk about movies too.
Course Notes Letter Grade. You got to be in it to win it. Class attendance & participation required.
Required Readings and Supplementary Materials Here are 10 films/doc series to watch that we will refer to during classes. Grizzly Man Fast cheap and out of control Capturing the Freidmans Waltz with Bashir Koyaanisqatsi Faces Places (aka Visages Villages) Seana Maiden American Factory The Brink
Please make sure to watch these two before our first class as it will be part of your assignment One Day in September Man on wire
There will be additional films that I will ask you to watch before other classes.
Additionally here are a few good lists of top documentary films. If you want to immerse yourself, take a look.
Paste Magazine top 100 docs PBS top 100 docs Rotten Tomatoes top 100 documentary films
Description and Assessment of Assignments You will be graded on class participation and attendance. The bulk of your grade will be based on the class project you create. Additionally the assignments handed out in class will become part of your overall grade.
Stark Program Attendance Policy Regular, on-time attendance at all classes is expected by all students, all the time. Any student who repeatedly misses class or arrives late will be dropped per Standards of Student Conduct. All absences are unexcused absences, and will have grade consequences that can therefore put a student at risk of failure. (The only exceptions are genuine documented illness or emergency, or religious holiday observance, see paragraph 3 below). One unexcused absence in a semester will lower the student’s best possible grade for that course by a third of a grade point. Two absences will lower the student's best
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possible grade by a full grade point, three absences by two full grade points, etc. Penalties for absences from divided courses, or courses meeting more than once a week, will be proportionate. Remember, the University does not accept grades "C-" or below as credit toward a Master's Degree. Missing 40% of the classes in a course, or in any section of a divided course, for any reason, immediately constitutes a fail/non- completion of that course, and no credit will be given.
Laptop and cellphone policy No cellphone use in class either as a phone or messaging device. Laptop use is ok though students with internet access will be expected to contribute to internet research as part of the class when necessary. But creativity studies show that writing things down increase retention of information. Invest in a notebook.
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Grading Breakdown
Assignment) Points %)of)Grade
Class%participation 5 5 Final%class%project 70 70 weekly%assignments 25 25 TOTAL 100 100
Grading Scale Course final grades will be determined using the following scale A 95-100 A- 90-94 B+ 87-89 B 83-86 B- 80-82 C+ 77-79 C 73-76 C- 70-72 D+ 67-69 D 63-66 D- 60-62 F 59 and below
Assignment Submission Policy Final Class Project will be given out at our first class and will be due for our final class. Weekly class assignments will be given out the week prior to when they are due. There will be a class assignment in advance of our first class, which our DA will communicate to you a week before our first class.
Grading Timeline Grading will happen at the end of the course.
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Course Schedule: A Weekly Breakdown
Each view there will be a viewing assignment and I will give you a written assignment to go along with it. These weekly assignments will go towards your end grade.
Class 1: Thursday January 30th
— Intro to documentary film. The different kinds of documentaries and a brief history of docs. — What makes a story a documentary? — Before our first class watch Man on Wire and One Day in September and write up to 20 bullet points on why these are better as documentaries than as fiction films. We will discuss in class. — The class project aka making movies is fun. We’ll discuss our class project, which will involve each one of you making a short doc (under 5 mins). You will use tools that you have access to (shoot it on your smart phone if you need to) and edit it on your computers (iMovie or similar is fine, you don’t need to post this on Avid!). Your films will focus on one subject that I will provide the parameters for in class. We will screen the finished projects and discuss them at our last class.
— Viewing assignment for next week’s class: any one of the 5 nominated Oscar feature docs.
Class 2: Thursday February 6th
— The documentary producer…what you need to know (part 1) The nuts and bolts! More fun than it sounds. o finding a project o writing a treatment o fundraising and fundraising tools, who can finance your film o budgeting & scheduling o putting the team together o wearing different hats! o managing money o how are those class projects going?
— Viewing assignment for next week’s class: The Crash Reel
Class 3: Thursday February 13th
— The documentary producer…what you need to know (part 2). o post production (it’s so long!) o more fundraising o crowd funding o building an audience o distribution & marketing aka getting people to see it
— The social Impact Documentary and the “Impact Producer” o we will break down the social impact of documentaries o how to create impact with documentaries o what is an impact producer?
— Viewing assignment for next week’s class: Buena Vista Social Club: Adios
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Class 4: Thursday February 20th
— TBD secret doc screening — Breaking down the documentary nightmare: a case study
— Viewing assignment for next week’s class: TBD
Class 5: Thursday February 27th
— The different formats of documentary story telling & and the current landscape for documentary content o VR & documentary o Documentary shorts o Branded documentary
— Dive into the renaissance of the “docuseries” o Non fiction series vs limited series vs reality
— Developing your own documentary project part 1
— Viewing assignment for next week’s class: TBD
Class 6: Thursday March 5th
— Documentary writing o narrative structure for docs o writing vs editing
— Developing your own documentary project part 2
— Viewing assignment for next week’s class: TBD
Class 7: Thursday March 12th
— The producer & the documentary. What is your role, how to make a living, and how is a documentary producer different (or the same as) a producer of other types of content. — Understanding the documentary community, the organizations and the festivals. — Life stuff. You’re about to go out there and be a producer or a filmmaker or an assistant, this is what you need to know. — last chance to ask about those class projects! — Viewing for next week’s class: dig into those roughs cuts of your own class project you should be watching them and sharing them to get feedback.
Class 8: Thursday March 26th
— Let’s watch those class projects! (yes this is going to take a whole class to do).
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Statement on Academic Conduct and Support Systems
Academic Conduct: Plagiarism – presenting someone else’s ideas as your own, either verbatim or recast in your own words – is a serious academic offense with serious consequences. Please familiarize yourself with the discussion of plagiarism in SCampus in Part B, Section 11, “Behavior Violating University Standards” https://policy.usc.edu/scampus-part-b/. Other forms of academic dishonesty are equally unacceptable. See additional information in SCampus and university policies on scientific misconduct, http://policy.usc.edu/scientific-misconduct.
Support Systems: Student Counseling Services (SCS) - (213) 740-7711 – 24/7 on call Free and confidential mental health treatment for students, including short-term psychotherapy, group counseling, stress fitness workshops, and crisis intervention. https://engemannshc.usc.edu/counseling/
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 1-800-273-8255 Provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org
Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Services (RSVP) - (213) 740-4900 - 24/7 on call Free and confidential therapy services, workshops, and training for situations related to gender- based harm. https://engemannshc.usc.edu/rsvp/
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Student Support and Advocacy – (213) 821-4710 Assists students and families in resolving complex issues adversely affecting their success as a student EX: personal, financial, and academic. https://studentaffairs.usc.edu/ssa/
Diversity at USC Information on events, programs and training, the Diversity Task Force (including representatives for each school), chronology, participation, and various resources for students. https://diversity.usc.edu/
USC Emergency Information
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Provides safety and other updates, including ways in which instruction will be continued if an officially declared emergency makes travel to campus infeasible, http://emergency.usc.edu
USC Department of Public Safety – 213-740-4321 (UPC) and 323-442-1000 (HSC) for 24-hour emergency assistance or to report a crime. Provides overall safety to USC community. http://dps.usc.edu
PLEASE NOTE: FOOD AND DRINKS (OTHER THAN WATER) ARE NOT PERMITTED IN ANY INSTRUCTIONAL SPACES IN THE CINEMATIC ARTS COMPLEX
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