Course Schedule Fall 2026

Schedule Fall 2026

Do not print out. This schedule needs a few updates after the first weeks. I’ll update the schedule as we go along.

WEEK OF 8/17 (week 1)

Thursday 8/20 – Introduction to Course

IN CLASS

  • Introductions – ourselves, the course
  • What is documentary? Some short answers
  • How to look at the world like a filmmaker – watch clips from students
  • Hands on – shooting exercise
  • Assignment for next week – Your documentary pitch
  • Any questions?

CLASS LINKS

  • Actualités, Lumière Brothers First Films (1895 and after) – online at YouTube
  • American Factory, dir. Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, 2019 – online at YouTube
  • Croquet – and History – at the College of Wooster, dir. Jack Anderson, Daniel Cohen, and Peter Synk’s, 2011 – clip online at YouTube
  • We Are People: Black Student Movements and the 1971 Homecoming Boycott, dir. Ruby Summers 2014 – online at YouTube
  • Malasaña 2026, dir. TyLynn Gault, 2026 – online at Vimeo
  • Chainsaw Michelangelo, dirs. Greg Shaya and Colin Kelly, 2011 – online at Youtube

WEEK OF 8/24 (week 2)

Tuesday 8/25 – Introduction to Documentary Filmmaking & Shooting

PREPARATION

  • Read Nancy Kalow, Visual Storytelling: The Digital Video Documentary (2011), Introduction, Chap. 1, “Shooting,” Chap. 2, “Listening,” and Chap. 3, “Finding the Story”, pp. 4-26 – in our Moodle Readings Folder
  • Read Michael Moore, “Michael Moore’s 13 Rules for Making Documentary Films” (2014) – online at Indiewire and in our Moodle Readings Folder
  • Read Steve Stockman, selections from “How to Shoot Video that Doesn’t Suck” (2011) – Moodle Readings Folder
  • Watch the opening (the first ten minutes, or more if you like) of any documentary on Kanopy (the College of Wooster video streaming platform). Take notes on what you’ve watched and be prepared to share with class. Think about it in light of what you’ve read in Moore and Kalow. Is it entertaining? Interesting? Moving? How does it tell its story?

IN CLASS

  • Questions about Thursday’s Assignment?
  • Discuss: The documentaries you watched
  • Discuss: What is documentary? What do good documentaries do?
  • Discuss: How do we make our documentaries look good? Introduction to composition
  • Exercise: in class shooting exercise – 10-15 photos using cameras

LINKS FOR COMPOSITION – CAMERA – LIGHTING

Thursday 8/27 – Documentary Pitches & Shooting

PREPARATION

  • Spend some time thinking like a documentary filmmaker. Look and listen for
    • story – character – questions
    • light – composition – visual interest
  • Complete First Assignment – Documentary Pitch – submit on Moodle by noon before class. (Don’t agonize over this assignment – it is not a lifelong commitment, but a first shot at explaining a film you might want to make)
  • Review the list of shots in Kalow, pp. 9-11

IN CLASS

  • Documentary pitches
    • Let’s share our pitches and plan shooting
    • Practical questions
  • Break
  • Shooting – discuss and practice
    • Composition, camera movement, lighting
    • Go through the principles and shots from Kalow and Stockman
    • Key terms: B-roll, coverage, shoot to edit, rule of thirds… camera shots… camera movement… focus, depth of field, aperture…
  • Watch 
  • Handout assignment for next Thursday – Shooting Assignment #1

SOME RESOURCES

WEEK OF 8/31 (week 3)

Tuesday 9/1 – A Very Rudimentary Introduction to Editing

PREPARATION

  • Read Kalow, Chap. 5, “Finishing and Sharing the Story,” pp. 35-41
  • Download the free version of DaVinci Resolve from Blackmagic Design to your computer and make sure you can open it
  • Watch introduction to DaVinci Resolve
  • Read (quickly) Artis, Shut Up and Shoot, Chap. 6 selections on composition and coverage,  pp. 157-180 – in Moodle Readings Folder – a reference for Thursday’s assignment
  • Work on Shooting Assignment #1

IN CLASS

  • Questions about Thursday’s Assignment?
  • Documentary Planning – steps of documentary
  • Introduction to Editing
    • DaVinci Resolve – getting started
    • Importing and organizing media
    • Working with timelines
    • Exporting timelines
  • Creative work – and the Ira Glass principle

Thursday 9/3 – Shooting & The Interview

PREPARATION

  • Complete Shooting Assignment #1: First Video Exercises
    • See full details on assignment page
    • Save file to OneDrive – share with me – upload link to Moodle

IN CLASS

  • Watch some of our video exercises
  • The Interview
    • Watch interview examples
    • Demonstrate: simple interview setup
  • Practice interviews
  • Handout assignment for next Thursday – Shooting Assignment #2

SOME EXAMPLES

  • Three Souls in Search of an Embrace, 2022
  • The Fog of War, dir. Errol Morris, 2003
  • 13th, dir. Ava DuVernay, 2016
  • Man on Wire, dir. James Marsh, 2008

SOME LINKS ON INTERVIEWS

  • “How to Conduct a Documentary Interview” – at Masterclass
  • “How to Conduct a Documentary Interview” – at InFocusFilmSchool
  • “Every Interview Style Explained” – Mark Bone at Youtube

WEEK OF 9/7 (week 4)

Tuesday 9/8 – The Interview continued

PREPARATION

  • Read Artis, Shut Up, “Interview,” pp. 182-213 – at Moodle Additional Readings

IN CLASS

  • Questions about Thursday’s assignment?
  • Discuss: What are the keys to good interviews? How to prepare? How to carry them off? What are the ethics of interviews? What to remember when you’re filming?
  • Demonstrate: microphones
  • Watch some examples

Thursday 9/10 – Soundscapes, Music, Still Images

PREPARATION

  • Complete Shooting Assignment #2: Interview
    • See full details on assignment page
    • Save file to OneDrive – share with me – upload link to Moodle

IN CLASS

  • Watch student exercises on interview – talk through takeaways
  • Discuss sound, music, still images
  • Handout assignment for next week: Assignment #3 Montage w/ Music

WEEK OF 9/14 (week 5)

Tuesday 9/15 – Soundscapes, Music, Narration, Recording

PREPARATION

  • Read Rabiger, Chap. 11, “Location Sound,” pp. 174-194.

IN CLASS

  • Questions about Thursday’s Assignment?
  • Discuss: How to capture good sound? How to create an interesting soundscape for your documentary? The use of music, narration, sound effects.
  • Watch some examples of use of sound in film

Thursday 9/17 – Editing and Projects

PREPARATION

  • Complete Editing Assignment #3: Montage With Music
    • See full details on assignment page
    • Save file to OneDrive – share with me – upload link to Moodle

IN CLASS

  • Watch our montage assignments
  • Talk story part 2
  • Editing – processes
  • Final projects – one-on-one meetings
  • Assignment for next week – a sequence of your film

WEEK OF 9/21 (week 6)

Tuesday 9/22 – The Variety of Documentary

PREPARATION

  • Read Rabiger, Chap. 5, Documentary Language, pp. 67-98
    • Don’t get bogged down in the details, but read through – and sample clips on YouTube – to get a picture for the wide variety of films called “documentary”
  • You should be working on mapping out your final project

IN CLASS

  • Questions about Thursday’s assignment?
  • Discuss documentary history and models
  • Watch examples from important documentaries

Thursday 9/24 – Sequences – and History of Documentary

PREPARATION

  • Complete Editing Assignment #4: Documentary Sequence
    • See full details on assignment page
    • Save file to OneDrive – share with me – upload link to Moodle

IN CLASS

  • Watch documentary sequences
  • More on history and variety of documentary
  • Review final exam study guide

WEEK OF 9/28 (week 7)

Tuesday 9/29 – Legal and Ethical Issues

PREPARATION

  • Read Kalow, Visual Storytelling, Chap. 4, “Telling Someone Else’s Story”, pp. 26-34
  • Read Final Exam Study Guide

IN CLASS

  • Talk legal and ethical issues
  • Talk through final exam

Thursday 10/1 – Final Exam (and Final Project Check-In)

PREPARATION

  • Study for Final Exam – see Final Exam Study Guide on our Moodle page
  • Catch up on any assignments you’ve missed
  • Bring a pen for exam

IN CLASS

  • Take Final Exam (I’ve written it as a thirty minute exam but you can have up to 45 minutes to finish)
  • We’ll restart about 3:15pm – after visit – questions about final projects

FALL BREAK – Week of 10/5

No classes – enjoy!

WEEK OF 10/12 (week 8)

Tuesday 10/13 – Final Project Check-In

PREPARATION

  • No regular class, but I’ll meet you one on one as scheduled below in our regular classroom to watch your projects
  • Bring rough cut of your film ready for critique
    • You might review the requirements for the final film to be sure you are on track
    • Your rough cut should have opening titles, music, narration if necessary, closing credits
    • Bring your questions
  • We will watch rough cuts and talk about final steps
  • Schedule for one-on-one meetings
    • 1:00pm – ??
    • 1:15pm – ??
    • 1:30pm – ??
    • 1:45pm – ??
    • 2:00pm – ??
    • 2:15pm – ??
    • 2:30pm – ??
    • 2:45pm – ??
    • 3:00pm – ??
    • 3:15pm – ??
    • 3:30pm – ??
    • 3:45pm – ??

Wednesday 10/14 – Upload Film

DUE

  • Complete Final Project – Short Documentary by Wednesday!
  • Due Wednesday 10/22 by noon
  • Save file to OneDrive – share with me – upload link to Moodle – I will download on Wednesday to prepare for Thursday’s screening

Thursday 10/15 – Documentary Film Student Film Festival at 2:30pm—Lean Lecture Room

FILM FESTIVAL

  • We’ll meet in Lean Lecture Room of Wishart Hall to watch our films on the big screen
  • Invite friends and classmates – I’ll invite colleagues
  • Films begin at 2:30pm
  • Please arrive at 2:15pm to set up
  • Prepare a ten second introduction – you don’t need to summarize the film or to apologize for the quality of sound or video (I’ll explain to all that these are rough cuts) – but you should say a few words to introduce yourself and what you are trying to do in your film