Overview
Your seminar research project in this course, which will culminate a paper of 7-10 pages, will be to design a program of research to illuminate a particular aspect of documentary film, TV, photography or Internet content, engage it critically, and embark on a thesis-driven process of critical questioning about it that will result in an understanding of it for you and your audience that will far exceed shallow familiarity. You can approach this in several ways. You might look into the documentaries devoted to a particular activity or subculture: surfing, hot rods, Appalachian quilting. You could investigate a particular filmmaker or documentary artist whose work intrigued you as you encountered it (or didn’t encounter enough of it) this term. You could investigate the current state of documentaries as box office attractions, and how this is may be affecting changes to the ever-mutable “definition” of documentary film. You are welcome to use film, video, photographs, artifacts, art items, found objects, interviews, testimonials, models, drawings, renderings, rubbings, and anything else that is relevant to advance your argument and embellish your evidentiary record of your chosen documentary subject.
Include a thesis statement.
- A list of relevant supporting documents
- A brief paragraph on why you’ve chosen this project.
I can apply a rubric for it if needed. Has to be 7 pages long.
Any questions please let me know.