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Student Reflection

Reflection on "The Devil Came on Horseback."

The power that this documentary presents through its images, plot, and personal connection is immeasurable. Brian first identified himself as a solider who had attained many battle scars, yet he was undoubtedly stricken with grief by the end of the film because of his inability to help. This type of personal connection along with the fact that he gained publicity and became active in the fight for Sudan makes me doubt the effectiveness of our classes' documentaries; for even he admits that his influence seem ineffective. My greatest frustration, however, is wondering how we will sufficiently provide information that will engage the audience to act. It cannot be something that merely evokes emotion (for emotion can easily fade in those not directly affected), but instills something that they cannot ignore. Through this I hope that the people's voice will become so intolerable that it will force the government to push towards an active, positive, AND successful rescue of Sudan. Justin Giles

About the Course

In conjunction with documentary filmmaker, Karin Muller, this course is part of an international project to document the current crisis in the Sudan through hands-on, post-production documentary filmmaking.  For details, please see our Course Overview.

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At the conclusion of the fall semester, our students were asked to make documentary shorts on a local social justice topic as their final projects.  The specific assignment guidelines are below.  To view the mini-documentaries that our students produced, click here.  Please note that the quality of some of the mini-docs was degraded when we rendered them for streaming on the internet.

 

 

Mini-Documentary Project

 

Final Due Date: Friday, December 12th

 

Assignment: In your group create a mini-documentary on a local social justice topic. Your video should follow the guidelines of documentaries we have studied in class as well as taking into consideration the ethical implications of your process and your topic.

 

Requirements:

1.      Final film should be a minimum of 4 minutes and a maximum of 10 minutes, rendered to a QuickTime movie.

2.      Pre-production, production and post-production notes should be provided when film is submitted.

3.      All members of the group should clearly participate in all aspects of the production of the film.

4.      Intermediate deadlines must be met as listed below.

5.      All rules of copyright are followed.

 

 

Process:

 

Pre-production (due November 15th)

ü  Topic is selected

ü  Topic is researched, premise for focus of documentary is determined

ü  Mode of documentary is chosen

ü  Audio, visual, text track is designed

ü  Shot list / storyboard is designed

ü  Filming schedule is determined.

 

Production (due December 1st)

ü  Interviews are conducted

ü  Film is shot

ü  Archival footage and still images secured

 

Post-Production (due December 12th)

ü  Rough cut is moved to a fine cut

ü  Text track is added

ü  Audio track is added

 

 

 

 

 

Possible topics: