| Course Name | History and Theory of Documentary Film |
| Code | Semester | Theory (hour/week) | Application/Lab (hour/week) | Local Credits | ECTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CDM 216 | Fall/Spring | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Prerequisites | None | |||||
| Course Language | English | |||||
| Course Type | Elective | |||||
| Course Level | First Cycle | |||||
| Mode of Delivery | face to face | |||||
| Teaching Methods and Techniques of the Course | DiscussionQ&ALecture / Presentation | |||||
| Course Coordinator | - | |||||
| Course Lecturer(s) | ||||||
| Assistant(s) | - | |||||
| Course Objectives | The purpose of the course that revolves around the central questions "What is a documentary?" "Why has the documentary become one of the most discussed and debated film genres in today's world?" "What does creative documentary mean?" and "What are the reasons for the global recognition of creative documentaries produced in Turkey in recent years?". It is to address the significance of documentary filmmaking in an informative and contemporary manner, focusing on the relationship between documentaries and real life across a broad spectrum, from early avant-garde documentaries to social media films. |
| Learning Outcomes | The students who succeeded in this course;
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| Course Description | The scope of this course encompasses the documentary canon: it will explore the resurgence of documentary as a popular form of entertainment and discourse mechanism in recent times, alongside historically significant films and established narratives, in order to develop a comprehensive understanding of documentary and documentary production. |
| Related Sustainable Development Goals | |
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| Core Courses | |
| Major Area Courses | ||
| Supportive Courses | X | |
| Media and Managment Skills Courses | ||
| Transferable Skill Courses |
| Week | Subjects | Required Materials |
| 1 | Introduction to course | |
| 2 | Discussion on Documentary | |
| 3 | History of Documentary - City Symphonies | First assignment - choosing a photograph |
| 4 | History of Documentary 2 - City Symphonies | Presenting of first assignment - Selected archive photographs with stories are presented by antiquarians. |
| 5 | Stan Brakhage and artist documentaries | |
| 6 | Economy of documentary | Second assignment - 1 minute documentary |
| 7 | Documentary and ethics | Presenting of second assignment |
| 8 | Dziga Vertov | |
| 9 | Cinema Verité | |
| 10 | Types of documentary and sub-genres | Submission of third assignment |
| 11 | Memory and archive | |
| 12 | Ethnographic film | Fourth assignment - memory study |
| 13 | Documentary in Türkiye | Submission of fourth assignment |
| 14 | Creative documentaries | |
| 15 | Semester review | |
| 16 | Final exam |
| Course Notes/Textbooks | |
| Suggested Readings/Materials | Seneler-Annie Ernaux Reality Hunger: A Manifesto-David Shields |
| Semester Activities | Number | Weighting |
| Participation | 1 | 10 |
| Laboratory / Application | ||
| Field Work | ||
| Quizzes / Studio Critiques | 3 | 30 |
| Portfolio | ||
| Homework / Assignments | 1 | 10 |
| Presentation / Jury | ||
| Project | ||
| Seminar / Workshop | ||
| Oral Exam | ||
| Midterm | ||
| Final Exam | 1 | 50 |
| Total |
| Weighting of Semester Activities on the Final Grade | 3 | 100 |
| Weighting of End-of-Semester Activities on the Final Grade | ||
| Total |
| Semester Activities | Number | Duration (Hours) | Workload |
|---|---|---|---|
| Course Hours (Including exam week: 16 x total hours) | 16 | 3 | 48 |
| Laboratory / Application Hours (Including exam week: 16 x total hours) | 16 | ||
| Study Hours Out of Class | 0 | ||
| Field Work | |||
| Quizzes / Studio Critiques | 3 | 11 | |
| Portfolio | |||
| Homework / Assignments | 1 | 17 | |
| Presentation / Jury | |||
| Project | |||
| Seminar / Workshop | |||
| Oral Exam | |||
| Midterms | |||
| Final Exams | 1 | 22 | |
| Total | 120 |
| # | Program Competencies/Outcomes | * Contribution Level | ||||
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 1 | To be able to have fundamental knowledge about narrative forms in cinema, digital and interactive media, and the foundational concepts relevant to these forms. | X | ||||
| 2 | To be able to create narratives based on creative and critical thinking skills, by using the forms and tools of expression specific to cinema and digital media arts. | |||||
| 3 | To be able to use the technical equipment and software required for becoming a specialist/expert in cinema and digital media. | |||||
| 4 | To be able to perform skills such as scriptwriting, production planning, use of the camera, sound recording, lighting and editing, at the basic level necessary for pre-production, production and post-production phases of an audio-visual work; and to perform at least one of them at an advanced level. | |||||
| 5 | To be able to discuss how meaning is made in cinema and digital media; how economy, politics and culture affect regimes of representation; and how processes of production, consumption, distribution and meaning-making shape narratives. | |||||
| 6 | To be able to perform the special technical and aesthetic skills at the basic level necessary to create digital media narratives in the fields of interactive film, video installation, experimental cinema and virtual reality. | X | ||||
| 7 | To be able to critically analyze a film or digital media artwork from technical, intellectual and artistic perspectives. | |||||
| 8 | To be able to participate in the production of a film or digital media artwork as a member or leader of a team, following the principles of work safety and norms of ethical behavior. | X | ||||
| 9 | To be able to stay informed about global scientific, social, economic, cultural, political, institutional and industrial developments. | |||||
| 10 | To be able to develop solutions to legal, scientific and professional problems surrounding the field of cinema and digital media. | |||||
| 11 | To be able to use a foreign language to communicate with colleagues and collect data in the field of cinema and digital media. ("European Language Portfolio Global Scale", Level B1). | X | ||||
| 12 | To be able to use a second foreign language at the medium level. | |||||
| 13 | To be able to connect the knowledge accumulated throughout human history to the field of expertise. | |||||
*1 Lowest, 2 Low, 3 Average, 4 High, 5 Highest
