Introduction to a Documentary Film Project

Require your class members to view documentaries and comment on various elements of the films. In order to elicit their thoughts, assign a worksheet with space for individuals to predict concepts that the film will feature, note specific...

Rhetoric is the key to character. Scholars work through four activities using documentary films to complete rhetoric analysis. Learners participate in writing a note to a friend and then analyze their own writing. They also view clips...

Places everyone! Action! Imagine an entire cinematography course, already designed, that includes everything you need to launch your own film studio, in one tidy 66-page packet.

In this, the third in a series of four resources that use Robert Wise's 1951 version of The Day The Earth Stood Still as the core text, young film makers examine the language of film including shot composition, camera angle, lighting,...

Some of the boldest films in history have been documentaries or experimental films. Explore non-narrative cinema and its avant-garde techniques with a short video about a creative faction in film history. Additionally, the video...

Prepare your class for creating their own documentaries. Before they get started, they'll need to know what a documentary is and what makes a documentary compelling. As a class, watch several documentaries from the point of view of the...

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, the New York Times provides links to five short documentary films depicting Hispanic themes and culture. Learners can click on each embedded link to view the films, then answer each set of related...

The third lesson in a series, this resource narrows in on two aspects of documentary films: focus and angle. After a brief explanation of the terms, class members view a student-made film and identify the topic, focus, and angle. They...

Wrap up a documentary creation project with the final lesson in this series. Class members reflect on their learning and compose responses to four questions relating to what they learned, whey they would do differently, and how the group...

Editing is a major part of making an amazing film. Young film makers examine a clip from the movie Citizen Kane. They then discuss two editing techniques and examine them in other films. They write out short scenes, film them, and then...