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 – Introduction

Thursday 8/20 – Introduction to Course

IN CLASS

  • 1. Introductions – ourselves, the course
  • 2. Intro to documentary. What is documentary? Some short answers
  • How to look at the world like a filmmaker – watch clips from students
  • Hands on – shooting exercise
  • 3. Assignment for next week – Your documentary pitch
  • Any questions?
  • (A brief class as I have to leave at 3pm for an administrative responsibility)

CLASS LINKS

  • Lumière le cinéma, 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 – Documentary & Pitch & Shooting

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

  • First things: Class photos; Questions about syllabus and course; Questions about Thursday’s Assignment?
  • 1. Documentary
    • What makes for successful documentary?
    • What did you watch?
  • 2. Story
    • What are we looking for in a story?
  • 3. Shooting
    • How do we make our documentaries visually interesting?
    • Composition, lighting, shots, coverage
  • 4. Class photo exercise

LINKS FOR COMPOSITION – CAMERA – LIGHTING

Thursday 8/27 – Documentary Pitches & Shooting

PREPARATION

  • Spend some time thinking like a documentary filmmaker. Look at and listen to the world around you 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
  • If you have time you can watch some of the short videos on composition above

IN CLASS

  • 1. Documentary
    • What did we watch? Discuss
    • What makes for strong docs?
    • Talk documentary process: pre-production, production, post
  • 2. Documentary pitches
    • Let’s share our pitches and talk practical questions and more
  • 3. Shooting

SOME RESOURCES

  • Faces/Places, dir. Agnes Varda, 2017 – on Kanopy
  • Roger and Me, dir. Michael Moore, 1989 – on YouTube

Week of 8/31 – Week 3 – Editing & Shooting & Interview

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 (DVR) from Blackmagic Design to your computer and make sure you can open it
  • Watch ONE of the following introductions to editing with DaVinci Resolve
    • DVR Beginner Tutorial (15 min.) – Kevin Stratvert on YouTube
    • DVR Tutorial for Beginners (2026) (37 min.) – Justin Brown on YouTube
    • DVR Beginner’s Tutorial (12 min.) – Ben Claremont on YouTube
  • Note: DVR is our preferred, professional editing suite. If you are already working in Adobe Premiere, you can use it for this course. If your computer cannot run DVR, I’ll let you use Canva’s online video editor, but we’ll talk about some of the tools you don’t have access to
  • Make sure you have some video footage on your computer that you can drop into your video editor
  • Review 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

  • First, followup on Documentary Pitch
  • 1. Shooting
    • Questions about Thursday’s Assignment?
    • Composition – coverage – and shooting to edit – see Artis
    • Creative work – and the Ira Glass principle
  • 2. Introduction to Editing
    • Editing process
    • DaVinci Resolve – getting started
    • Importing and organizing media
    • Working with timelines
    • Exporting timelines

Some Links

  • Ira Glass on the Creative Process – here on YouTube
  • Faces/Places. Dir. Agnes Varda and JR, 2017 – on Kanopy
  • Into the Abyss. Dir. Werner Herzog, 2011 – on YouTube
  • Fog of War. Dir. Errol Morris, 2003 – on Prime
  • My Octopus Teacher. Dir. Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed, 2020 – trailer on YouTube – Roger Horrocks, cinematographer on YouTube on the making of the film – on YouTube – Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed on the making of the film – on YouTube

Thursday 9/3 – Shooting & The Interview

PREPARATION

IN CLASS

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

SOME EXAMPLES

  • Three Souls in Search of an Embrace, dir. Tom Donohue and Greg Shaya, 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 – Interview & Soundscape & Images

Tuesday 9/8 – The Interview continued

PREPARATION

  • Review Interview Assignment for Thursday
  • Read Artis, Shut Up, “Interview,” pp. 182-213 – at Moodle Additional Readings. Don’t get bogged down in detail, but take away main idea and key examples
  • Shoot some video of… anything – practice composition, headroom, nose room, lighting, coverage

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?
  • 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 – Soundscapes & Editing

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

PREPARATION

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 #1: 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
  • The Sequence / Story, Scenes, Chapters
  • Assignment for next week – a sequence of your film
  • Check in on final projects – one-on-one

Clips

  • Faces/Places (2017) – on Kanopy – see open 2:18 – 2:46
  • Hoop Dreams (1994) – on Kanopy – see 1:28 – 2:06
  • The Act of Killing (2012) – on Kanopy – see 45:50 – 49:25

Week of 9/21 – Week 6 – History and Variety of Documentary

Tuesday 9/22 – The Variety of Documentary

PREPARATION

  • Review Editing Assignment #2 for Thursday
  • Read Rabiger, Chap. 5, Documentary Language, pp. 67-98
    • Don’t get bogged down in the details, but read through 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
  • Talk final projects and work in class

Thursday 9/24 – Sequences – and History of Documentary

PREPARATION

  • Complete Editing Assignment #2: 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
  • Share final exam study guide

Week of 9/28 – Week 7 – Legal/Ethical & Final Exam

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
  • Bring footage and material for in-class work

IN CLASS

  • Talk legal and ethical issues
  • Workshop on our projects – or practice in DaVinci Resolve

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)
  • After exam we’ll have visit from local filmmaker, Rick Storck
  • And note: tonight there is an extra credit opportunity – documentary films at the Lyric Theater of Wooster

FALL BREAK – Week of 10/5

No classes – enjoy!

Week of 10/12 – Week 8 – Class Screening

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