Undergraduate Course: Documentary Film, c.1920 to the present (HIAR10219)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course examines the history and key examples of documentary film from Britain, North America and Europe. Topics vary from year to year but are likely to include the city film of the 1920s, the documentary film about art as developed across Europe in the 1930s and 1940s, the development of the short subject film in France during the 1950s, and the rise of the essay film in contemporary art. |
| Course description |
This course investigates the development of documentary film from the early twentieth century to the present day, focusing mainly on works from America, Britain and Europe. Case studies will vary from year to year but may include early city films such as Walter Ruttmann's 'Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis' (1927), the documentary film about art as pioneered in the 1940s by Luciano Emmer in Italy and Paul Delvaux in Belgium, the natural history films of Jean Painlevé, early treatments of ecological devastation, for example in Pare Lorentz's 'The Plow That Broke the Plains' (1936), the works of the GPO Film Unit in Britain before and during the war, as well as postwar documentary films in France such as Alain Resnais's 'Guernica' (1950) and 'Night and Fog' (1955). The course will also examine the ways in which these practices have helped to shape examples of later twentieth-century and contemporary artists' film-making, for example, in the works of Black Audio Film collective, Elizabeth Price and John Akomfrah.
The course is taught through a series of ten, weekly 2-hour seminars, alongside weekly film-screenings. Students are expected to prepare for class by attending the film-screening and completing the required reading (typically 2-4 articles or book chapters). They are also encouraged and supported to attend weekly 1-hour peer study groups, to discuss a key question set by the teacher. In class, students present their study group findings and participate in general discussion of the readings and the films.
|
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | This Course does not require any additional costs to be met by the Student.
|
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 10,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 10,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Revision Session Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
162 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
This course has 2 assessment components.
1) Presentation, 50%, slides and notes due Week 11. The Presentation relates to all Learning Outcomes and in particular LO2.
2) Essay, 2,000 words, 50%, due in exam diet. The Essay relates to all Learning Outcomes and in particular LO1.
Further Information
1) Presentation: Presentations are 15 minutes and will be supported by slides and notes. Presentations are given in-class, on a rolling basis. Slides and notes for all presentations are submitted in Week 11.
|
| Feedback |
Formative tasks and feedback:
Presentation: Students will be invited to meet with the CO to plan their presentation, in a 1:1 meeting, the week before the presentation is given. Students will receive feedback from the CO and their peers at the time of their Presentation. Feedback will focus on your skills of visual analysis, your skills of communication and presentation, the level of your understanding of the material, and how you can use what you have learned to further develop your slides and notes for summative submission in week 11 and improve your performance in the Essay. You will be given the opportunity of a 1:1 meeting with the Course Organiser to discuss the feedback if requested.
Essay: Students will be asked to bring and discuss an essay plan in a 1:1 meeting with the CO, in office hours, at a time of their choosing before the end of Week 11. Feedback will be given in the meeting.
Summative feedback:
Written feedback on the presentation and essay will be provided within three weeks of submission and you will be given the opportunity of a 1:1 meeting with the Course Organiser to discuss the feedback if requested.
Summative feedback will be provided according to University regulations.
|
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the history of documentary film through critical and appropriately referenced discussion
- Analyse key examples of documentary film in relation to their historical context and relevant critical debates
- Examine, differentiate and critically discuss diverse forms of documentary film and the different purposes they have served for artists, audiences and critics at various times.
- Analyse and outline how the history of documentary film has shaped key examples of contemporary artists' practice in film and video
|
Reading List
Alter, Nora. The Essay Film After Fact and Fiction. Columbia University Press, 2018.
Alter, Nora, and Timothy Corrigan. Essays on the Essay Film. Columbia University Press, 2017.
Anthony, Scott, and James Mansell, eds. The Projection of Britain: A History of the GPO Film Unit. BFI Publishing, 2011.
Barnouw, Eric. Documentary: A History of the Non-Fiction Film. Oxford University Press, 1974; 1993.
Winston, Brian, ed. The Documentary Film Book. BFI Publishing, 2013. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Critical and reflective thinking: This course will help students to develop their abilities as critical and reflective thinkers by asking them to analyse and evaluate arguments put forward in a variety of texts in relation to documentary film.
Creative problem-solving and research: The course will help students develop their abilities as creative problem-solvers and researchers by asking them to explore the application of ideas and arguments to specific examples of documentary films, and to develop convincing interpretations and arguments in relation to those examples.
Effective communication: The course will help students develop their skills as effective communicators, in written form, through the essay, as well as in spoken form, through the individual spoken presentation. The emphasis on seminar class discussion will help students develop their skills as effective communicators, through listening to and engaging with others' ideas and working constructively through group discussion to develop new understanding. |
| Keywords | Documentary Film,Essay Film,Archive,Contemporary art |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Tamara Trodd
Tel: (0131 6)51 3120
Email: Tamara.Trodd@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
|
|
University Homepage