BIS 347 (LN 11190):

History of American Documentary Films

Winter 2008

Monday/Wednesday, 3:30-5:35 p.m., Rm. UW1-041

Nonfiction films have been enlightening, entertaining, teaching, and challenging us for a century. In this course, we will explore the history of this expressive form of culture, noting its most important technological and cinematic innovations. More significantly, we will discuss the cultural contexts for the films (why they were made and what they tell us about the social concerns of the period) and the theoretical questions they raise, including the blurry line between fiction and nonfiction and the problematic assumption of unbiased presentation.

By the end of the course, you can expect to be able to define documentary films and identify their major components, speak and write critically about a few of the most important American documentaries ever made, understand the historical development of documentary films in terms of their technology and content, develop skills in the critical evaluation of documentaries, and understand the historical and social forces out of which filmmakers have created documentaries and upon which the films comment.

I strongly recommend that Interdisciplinary Studies students take BIS 300 before enrolling in this course.  Previous coursework in textual analysis (cinema or literature, for example) is helpful.

 Course texts (available in the UWB Bookstore [save your receipts for a patronage refund ] and in library reserve/reference ). Note: Click here <http://tinyurl.com/6pamk> to order books online. Click on the link for the appropriate quarter, then enter the line number (LN) shown at the top of this page for "UW SLN Code" (leave other spaces blank) and hit 'enter.' All items have been ordered; contact the bookstore if some materials are not listed.

• Optional*: Barsam, Richard M. Nonfiction Film: A Critical History, rev. and exp. ed. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1992. (ISBN 0253207061)
• Optional*: Corrigan, Timothy. A Short Guide to Writing about Film, 6th ed. New York: Longman, 2007. (ISBN 0321412281)

• Optional*: Monaco, James. How to Read a Film: Multimedia Edition. DVD-ROM.  New York: Harbor Electronic, 2000. (ISBN 0966974433)

  *I will not assign reading from these optional texts, but students who are especially interested in film might want to invest in some of these titles.  The Monaco title is a DVD-ROM which plays on any Mac or PC with a DVD-ROM drive.  It does not play on a DVD player.  The disc also contains the entire text of Monaco's textbook, How to Read a Film, 3rd ed., and a media studies dictionary.

Grading: Your grade will be based on these assignments, which are described on separate pages online (links will be activated when ready):

Scene analysis (800-1000 words; due Feb. 4 in online midquarter portfolio; final [graded] version due in final portfolio on March 10)	25%
Documentary film proposal (due March 10 in final portfolio)	30%
Test (in class, Jan. 30)	10%
Learning portfolio (including a reflective paper of 600-1000 words, due online at 3:15 p.m. on March 10 [ungraded midquarter portfolio due online at 3:15 p.m. on Feb. 4])	5%
In-class and online contribution	30%
TOTAL	100%

 

Schedule (readings are cited by author and are listed below under "Reading List"):

Reading list (except as noted, online in Blackboard at <http://bb.uwb.edu/>):

• Arthur, Paul. "Extreme Makeover: The Changing Face of Documentary." Cineaste 30.3 (Summer 2005): 18-24. Online < http://www.cineaste.com/parthur.htm>.
• Goldberg, Michael. "How to Read a Film." 14 Sept. 2000. Online <http://faculty.washington.edu/mlg/students/readafilm.htm>.
• Kopple, Barbara. Interview. 2000. Online < http://inview.kqed.org/interviews/36/interview.html>. (Click on "view the full transcript" link.)
• Nichols, Bill. Ch. 2: "Documentary Modes of Representation." Representing Reality. Bloomington: U of Indiana P, 1991. 32-75.
• ---. Ch. 6: "The Fact of Realism and the Fiction of Objectivity." Representing Reality. Bloomington: U of Indiana P, 1991. 165-98.
• "Policy on Academic and Behavioral Conduct." Online <http://www.uwb.edu/students/policies/academicconduct.xhtml>.
• Renov, Michael. "Toward a Poetics of Documentary." Theorizing Documentary. New York: Routledge, 1993. 12-36.

Media List (only UWB-owned films will be on reserve at the Campus Media Center ):

• Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien. Dir. Jessica Yu. 1996. 35 min. BOT-2142. View in class on Jan. 9.
• Dont Look Back. Dir. D. A. Pennebaker. 1967. 96 min. BOT-1764. View on your own by Feb. 11.
• Harlan County, U. S. A. Dir. Barbara Kopple. 1976. 103 min. BOT-178. View on your own by Feb. 25.
• Harvest of Shame. Prod. David Lowe. 1960. 55 min. BOT-1246 vol. 4. View in class on Feb. 6.
• Nanook of the North. Dir. Robert J. Flaherty. 1922. 79 min. DVD BOT-19. View in class on Jan. 16.
• The Plow that Broke the Plains. Dir. Pare Lorenz. 1936. 25 min. BOT-1774. View in class on Jan. 28.
• Sicko. Dir. Michael Moore. 2007. 123 min. DVD BOT-1233. View on your own.
• Streetwise. Dir. Martin Bell. 1984. 92 min. BOT-26. View in class on Feb. 27.
• The Titicut Follies. Dir. Frederick Wiseman. 1967. 84 min. BOT-2100. View on your own by Feb. 13.
• Tongues Untied. Dir. Marlon T. Riggs. 1989. 55 min. BOT-1098. View in class on March 3.
• War Comes to America. Dir. Frank Capra and Anatole Litvak. Why We Fight Series. 1945. 65 min. BOT-1846. View in class on Jan. 30.
• What the Bleep Do We Know? Dir. William Arntz, Betsy Chasse, and Mark Vicente. 2004. 108 min. BOT-598. View in class on March 10.
• The Year of the Hunter: The Story of Nanook. Dir. Mark Starowicz. 2003. 51 min. BOT-736. Optional; view on your own after Jan. 23.

 

 

This schedule is subject to change. The most current schedule will always be posted here <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/BIS347Syl.html> for your reference, and changes will be announced in class, by e-mail, or both. We will have one short, in-class test, but no final examination.