RTVF 5790 Advanced Graduate Documentary Workshop
2nd year MFA Students, Production Semester – Fall, 2016
Wednesday 2:00pm – 4:50pm, Room 282
Professor Melinda Levin, Department of Radio, Television and Film
940.565.3194 (RTFP office), 940.300.9744 (cell)
Office Hours: Wednesday 12pm to 2:00pm, or by appointment
Course Objectives:
The primary intent of this year-long course is the completion of a creatively produced and technically proficient short documentary video from idea through final edit and public screening. The fall semester is taught in conjunction with your Graduate Audio Production course. This production workshop and the postproduction workshop next semester will emphasize a collaborative effort between director, videographer, sound recordist and editor. A final, public screening will be scheduled for the end of the Spring, 2016 semester, and students will be responsible for designing and creating press materials and for contacting various media outlets and other organizations to announce this event.
It is important to emphasize, however, that the PROCESS that each of you goes through during the semester are key to the assignment of your final grade. Deadlines must be met, transparent and proficient location production techniques are required. Mature and respectful interaction with crew and other graduate student colleagues is expected.
Note: As production continues through the winter break, all students will receive a temporary grade of “I” for the fall semester, which will be changed to the grade earned after evaluation of work completed in production. You will be given input on your progress as the semester unfolds, however.
A failing grade in either 5790 or 5791 will require that the entire year-long course be repeated the following year, prior to moving onto the thesis level. Note that at the graduate level, both D and F are failing grades.
Course Organization and Projects:
Discussions and readings will provide information pertaining to the art and craft of documentary filmmaking and related endeavors. However, the bulk of the class will be presentations of production research and plans, along with screenings of dailies by each student director. This course will be held in a true workshop style, with in-class discussions and critique session on ideas, plans, shooting assignments, raw footage, preliminary edits and final projects. You will also be responsible for discussing the work of the other documentary directors in class. Students will be accountable for fully participating in all sessions, both for the benefit of the films in question, and to hone your own conceptual abilities. In addition to your role on 4 separate documentaries this year (as Director, Cinematographer, Sound and Editor), you will be responsible for creating and following through on a “Social Media Business Plan” that will begin in preproduction and continue on through postproduction and distribution.
MFA Cameras and Other Production Gear – see accompanying page:
You have already successful completed Graduate Cinematography, and should therefore be fully fluent with the available cameras, lenses, lights and grip gear. If you need refreshing on this equipment, it is YOUR responsibility to become fully a proficient and professional operator ASAP. We will not be reviewing this gear during this class. You are greatly encouraged to check out gear prior to the start of production to practice, perform crew tests, etc.
Postproduction: You will be taking the postproduction semester under Professor Tania Khalaf, who has designated Adobe Premiere as your required software platform. We have systems set up in the Media Arts editing labs. IF you choose to edit off-site on your own gear, note that you will not have the technical support of our lab staff if there are problems.
Audio: You will be taking a tandem Graduate Audio course this semester to learn advanced specifics on location sound recording and postproduction. It is imperative that you get up to speed on location recording equipment and techniques, and how this equipment works with the camera that your Director has selected to use. As an editor in the spring, you will also be responsible for audio post sound mixing, so need to make sure you understand these specifics as well.
We have audio/video sound synchronization for double system production (Plural Eyes) and transcoding software installed on the Instructor station of the Mac lab for your use. I require that we look at dailies with synced location audio, not just the audio scratch track.
Time Commitment:
During the Fall Semester/Winter Break, you each will begin working on three different films, serving as Director/Producer on one, Camera/DP on a second and Location Sound Recordist on a third documentary. Often, production meetings and location shoots will occur in the evenings, on weekends and during academic calendar breaks. You are part of a larger crew effort, and while your other commitments are to be considered, you must plan on being available for shoots as needed. Directors must at the same time work around class and graduate assistant obligations. Remember that you will come out of this academic year with four film credits for your resume.
This academic year this second-year MFA film is to be a priority for you. It is not a “stepping stone” to the thesis, and there should be no production on a thesis film until you have completed your final, public screening of this second-year film and passed this 2-semester course. If you want to begin production on your thesis next summer, you should plan on defending your thesis prospectus late in the spring 2017 semester.
Text and Readings:
Required:
Rabiger, Michael. Directing the Documentary (5th Edition)
Required Materials:
1) You will be required to purchase a minimum of three external drives. If you are
editing in the Mac lab, your drives need to have a USB 3 connection. Data files for these High Definition cameras are VERY large. We recommend getting multiple 4 TB drives (if your film is shooting on the RED camera, we recommend you get a Drobo).
One external drive will be yours to keep all footage from the film you direct, one as a backup of this footage, and a third to provide to your editor with all of the footage from your film. The Director’s drive and backup will be taken on location to dump footage as needed from the cards during production. Trust me on getting at least 3 drives. We have had films in the past where 2 of the 3 drives were corrupt, and it was drive #3 that saved the film!
2) Memory cards for recording on with the Canon 5D cameras: I recommend
SanDisk Extreme CF cards (60mb/s or faster.) They are available at 32gb, 64gb and 128gb. They have lots of storage and they don't get bogged down with all the incoming data like slower cards do. Lexar and Kingston are also good brands. If you go for SDHC/SDXC cards you get Class 10 or better.
3) Memory cards for recording on with the RED Scarlet: Five cards and a reader
are available for check out with the Scarlet camera. However, these must be returned with the camera, you cannot hang onto them, so must back up the footage immediately.
4) USB Drive(s) to keep camera project preferences on.
Equipment and Editing Systems: See RTVF lab for editing and equipment room hours.
Mark Dobson (Media Services Coordinator) and Brian Krieger (Equipment Room Supervisor) are our very capable staff team. Students must supply their own headphones for use during shooting and in the editing facility. These should be studio type, over the ear headphones, not iPhone buds or music headphones that emphasize bass, etc. Please note that the lab/equipment room will not be open for use during part of the Thanksgiving Break or during Winter/Christmas Break. Any overnight checkout of location equipment must be coordinated in advance, via email to Brian Krieger () with a cc to Melinda ()
*** Note: due to the need for consistency in workflow across all films in this class, you must use Adobe Premiere editing software for postproduction in this class.
You may keep backups of project edit files on the EditShare server (part of the RTVF edit lab and accessible from the Avid room), but I would not recommend storing raw footage there.
Grading Criteria:
The decisive goal in this two-semester course is the completed documentary video. However, you will be graded in stages of progress in your roles as Director/Producer, Videographer and Location Sound Recordist on a third documentary (next semester you will be graded on your work as Editor on a fourth film and as Director on your film.) You will also be generally evaluated on additional required production exercises.
Communication in these roles is key, and you will evaluate your collaborators and will be evaluated by them. It is also crucial that you make written note of comments made in class critique sessions, and strongly consider the professional guidance of your student colleagues.
We will be setting individual meetings to discuss progress as the semester unfolds, to be held during office hours or by other appointment. It is your responsibility to make an appointment with me to discuss your progress after you have completed your Production slot. This appointment is principally meant for the Director, but I encourage the Director to invite his/her crew members to the meeting as appropriate. If you want to meet about your progress in other crew positions, please feel free to contact me for a meeting.
Technical problems (including, but not limited to, those related to lighting, sound, videography, edit pacing and structure, etc.) are not considered professional or appropriate for a Master of Fine Arts assignment and will not be allowed. Make note that re-shoots may be required, and this possibility should be communicated to all subjects in your documentary film. Your final grade for this semester is based on a 1,000-point scale. The breakdown of points per assignment is listed below.
Your Role as Director/Producer (You will be evaluated by your collaborating crew members) – 300 points possible. You will be evaluated on several levels, including your written critique/guidance of your crew members after initial screening of dailies, your coordination of crew members, subjects and locations and their written evaluation of you.
Your Role as Videographer/Director of Photography – 250 points possible
(Your collaborating Director/Producer will evaluate you). You will be evaluated on the traditional concepts of professional videography and lighting design, including composition, camera movement, white balance, proper and stylistically appropriate light and shadow combination, focus, artistic use of the lens, following the guidance of your director, etc.
Your Role as Location Sound Recordist – 250 points possible
(Your collaborating crew members will evaluate you, and your audio instructor Brenda Jaskulske will provide evaluation context for Professor Levin as well) You will be evaluated on clear, clean audio, camera/sound audio perspective, work with camera composition, etc.
In-class participation and leadership: - 100 points possible
Social Media Entrepreneurship Report: 100 points possible –
This will be an extensive social media ecosystem designed specifically by you for your documentary, and should include a wide variety of outreach elements.
Please note that there will be no preliminary grades given during the fall semester for work as Director, Videographer and Sound-Recordist, though we will have discussions about your progress. Your final grade for each role will be given at the end of the semester or when all production has completed and the Professor has reviewed evaluations. However, you should have a good understanding of your approximate grade status after class meetings and individual meetings with the professor.
STATEMENT ON WHAT GRADES EARNED ON ASSIGNMENTS MEAN IN THIS CLASS:
Letter Grade / Grade DefinitionA / Excellent: Strong evidence of original thinking, leadership and collaboration skills; outstanding organization; follow directions exactly, capacity to analyze and synthesize; superior grasp of subject matter; superior grasp of equipment and media workflow; evidence of extensive knowledge base of literature (readings/media)
B / Good: Evidence of grasp of subject matter, leadership and collaboration skills; good organization; follows directions well; some evidence of critical capacity and analytic ability; reasonable understanding of relevant issues; evidence of familiarity with equipment and literature (readings/media)
C / Adequate/Average: Student who is generally profiting from the university experience; basic understanding of the subject matter, leadership and collaborative skills but this basic level has caused problems in the larger collaborative goals of the crew and the class. An ability to develop solutions to simple problems, evidence of some basic familiarity with equipment and literature (readings/media)
D / Marginal: Some evidence of minimal familiarity with the subject matter and some evidence that minimal critical and analytic skills have been developed; this minimal expression of skills has negatively impacted the larger collaborative goals of the crew and the class; minimal use and understanding of equipment and literature (readings/media)
F / Inadequate: Little evidence of even superficial understanding of subject matter, which has greatly and negatively impacted the crew and the class to the point of likely failure of the documentary film(s) in question; weakness in critical and analytic skills; limited or irrelevant use and understanding of equipment and literature (readings/media)
Disability Accommodation:
The RTVF Department cooperates with the Office of Disability Accommodation to make reasonable accommodations for qualified students (Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504, Rehabilitation Act). If you qualify, and have not registered with the Office for Disability Accommodation at UNT, we encourage you to do so. If you have a disability for which you will require accommodation under the terms of the Americans with disabilities Act or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, please discuss you needs with the professors by the second week of class.
Safety:
This course may involve potentially hazardous activities, the nature of which include working with and exposure to electronically powered equipment. Accordingly, the Department of Radio, Television and Film has slated this course within Category 2 (courses in which students are exposed to some significant hazards but are not likely to suffer bodily harm.)