Dirk Eitzen (D_Eitzen@ACAD.FANDM.EDU), Franklin and Marshall College, Department of Theatre, Dance, and Film, Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17604

DOCUMENTARY FILM & TELEVISION

Stager 105
TTh 12:00-1:20
Screenings, Wed 7:00-9:00 pm

Dirk Eitzen
Keiper 102 #4297
Office hours posted

"Documentaries...are just not my favorite kind of movie watching. The fact is I don't trust the little bastards. I don't trust the motives of those who think they are superior to fiction films, I don't trust their claim to have cornered the market on the truth, I don't trust their inordinately high, and entirely undeserved, status of bourgeois respectability."

Many contemporary film scholars and critics begin by distrusting documentaries. So do even noted makers of documentaries, like Marcel Ophuls. This is not a bad place to begin, given the illusory immediacy of movies and their well-known tendency to lull the critical powers of viewers to sleep. But docu men taries have potential benefits as well: to enlighten, inform, move, and inspire; to promote positive social change or to strengthen group identities; to give us glimpses of the world beyond our immediate ken, and so on. It is the belief in such benefits as these that inspires Marcel Ophuls to continue making documentaries, despite his professed mistrust of the form. It is also the belief in such benefits as these, by and large, that impels viewers to watch documentaries.

Put more broadly, the goal of the course is not so much to teach you things about documentaries as to help you think about them. This requires your whole-hearted (and whole-minded) participation in discussions, it requires not merely attendance but close attention during lectures and screenings, and it requires your best effort on assignments. In short, for the duration of the term at least, I expect you to really care about documen taries.

The course is not a historical survey, although it will expose you to a wide range of impulses and styles, from Nazi propaganda to ethnographic films to the evening news. The course is structured, instead, as four mini-courses, each of which takes on and explores one particular function of documentaries in society, beginning with "propaganda" and ending with "art." Each of these mini-courses will culmi nate with a brief research or position paper. There will be no exams, but there will be occasional pop quizzes on the readings.

Evaluation

Required Texts

Barnouw, Erik. Documentary: A History of the Non-Fiction Film, rev. ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983.

Nichols, Bill. Representing Reality: Issues and Concepts in Documentary. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1991.

Syllabus

Introduction

Tuesday, 9/6

Readings:

Hoberman, J. "'Shoah': Witness to Annihilation." Village Voice 30 (29 Oct. 1985): 46-7. (On reserve.)

Kael, Pauline. Rev. of Shoah. New Yorker 61 (30 Dec. 1985): 70-2. (On reserve.)

Hoberman, J. "Shoah Business." Village Voice 31 (29 Oct. 1985): 62-5. (On reserve.)

Barnouw, pp. 1-30.

Optional Reading:

Renov, Michael. "Toward a Poetics of Documentary." In Theorizing Documentary. Ed., Michael Renov. New York: Routledge, 1993. (On reserve.)

Persuasion

Screenings:

The Plow That Broke the Plains (Pare Lorentz, 1936)

Excerpt, Native Land (Paul Strand & Leo Hurwitz, 1942)

Excerpt, Divide and Conquer (Frank Capra, 1943)

Thursday, 9/8
The Tradition of Advocacy

Readings:

Selections from Grierson, John. Grierson on Documentary. Ed., Forsythe Hardy. London: Faber & Faber, 1966. (On reserve.)

Barnouw, pp. 85-139.

Short Assignment 1, due 9/13:
Commercials are the most pervasive and familiar form of audio-visual persuasion today (and perhaps the most pervasive and familiar form of "documentary" as well). While watching TV, make a list of a half-dozen or so of the most effective com mer cials you see. Beside or beneath each item, make a note of (1) what, specifically, the commercial seems intended to persuade you of and (2) how the commercial works (or fails to work) to persuade.

Look over your list when finished and, at the bottom, briefly but carefully formulate three general principles of persuasion. (The grade for this exercise will be based chiefly on these three principles.)

Tuesday, 9/13
The Propaganda Machine

Readings:

Selections from Hovland, Carl I., Arthur A. Lumsdaine, and Fred D. Sheffield. Experiments on Mass Communication, Studies in the Social Psychology in World War II, vol. 3. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1949. (On reserve.)

Barnouw, pp. 139-172.

Paper 1, due 9/27:
The objective of this assignment is to produce what social scientists call a "review of the literature": essentially, an annotated bibliography on a particular topic. Choose a particular aspect or dimension of persuasion or a particular persuasive "campaign" that interests you: subliminal advertising, the persuasive power of music, "brainwashing" and "deprogramming" of cult members, "spin doctoring" during the Clinton campaign, the effects of TV commercials on children, anti-smoking campaigns, the marketing of Adidas.... If you can't think of a topic you like, do some browsing in the library in books on persuasion, propaganda, marketing, social psychology, and related topics.

Begin with a search of our library catalog (making note of useful subject headings, along the way) and with careful perusal of the footnotes or bibliography of the most recent scholarly work you can find on your topic. Proceed with a search of the holdings of a major research library, via Internet, and a search of appropriate reference guides and recent periodical indexes. You might also find useful information in newspapers like New York Times and trade journals such as Advertising Age. Then prepare a selective (ca. two page) bibliography of interesting or useful looking materials on the topic, using any of the standard formats (MLA, Chicago, etc.). After each entry, make a parenthetical note of the source of the citation-e.g., (Psych. Abstracts) or (Footnote in Barnouw) or (F&M libcat, subject heading "Leaflets Dropped from Airplane"). This list of sources ought to provide evidence of a broad and creative search. Finally, browse through the materials in your bibliography that are available in our library. Write a two-page recommendation of those that seem to you to be most interesting, provocative, or useful for the study of the power of persuasion in film and TV.

Wednesday, 9/14

Screenings:

Excerpt, Triumph of the Will (Leni Riefenstahl, 1935)

The Eternal Jew (Fritz Hippler, 1940)

Night and Fog (Alain Resnais, 1955)

Thursday, 9/15

Readings:

Selections from Kracauer, Siegfried. "Propaganda and the Nazi War Film." In From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of the German Film. (New York: Noonday Press, 1959 [1947]). (On reserve.)

Sontag, Susan. "Fascinating Fascism." In A Susan Sontag Reader. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1982. (On reserve.)

Also on Reserve:

Riefenstahl, Leni. The Last of the Nuba. New York: Harper & Row, 1974.

Tuesday, 9/20

Reading:

Nichols, pp. 107-133.

Wednesday, 9/21

Screenings:

The Atomic Cafe (Kevin Rafferty, Jayne Loader, Pierce Rafferty, 1982)

Excerpt, Roger & Me (Michael Moore, 1989)

Thursday, 9/22
On the Question of "Oughts"

Readings:

Nichols, pp. 76-103.

Eitzen, Dirk. "Against the Ivory Tower." Film Historia, forthcoming. (On reserve.)

Exploration

Readings:

Barnouw, pp. 33-51, 253-262.

Weinberger, Eliot. "The Camera People." In Visualizing Theory: Selected Essays from V.A.R., 1990-1994. Ed., Lucien Taylor. New York: Routledge, 1994. (On reserve.)

Asch, Timothy. "Collaboration in Ethnographic Filmmaking: A Personal View." In Anthropological Filmmaking: Anthropological Perspectives on the Production of Film and Video for General Public Audiences. Ed., Jack R. Rollwagen. Chur: Harwood Academic Publ., 1988. (On reserve.)

Optional Reading:

Lutz, Catherine and Jane Collins. "The Photograph as an Intersection of Gazes: The Example of National Geographic." In Visualizing Theory, op. cit. (On reserve.)

Short Assignment 2, due 10/4:
Pick a place on campus or around town where you think an interesting film might be made: the farmer's market, a city bus, a construction site, Sunday afternoon at a friend's house, the football stadium during a game.... Go there with a notepad and pencil and, for a half-hour or so, wander around jotting down everything you see and hear that would lend itself to filming and recording. Don't worry about being selective.

When you get back, read through your list. Pick out the three things that seem most interesting to you-the three items that would be most likely to wind up in a finished documentary about the place you visited-and, with a brief paragraph about each, explain why you singled out these items.

Wednesday, 9/28

Screenings:

Excerpt, Nanook of the North (Robert Flaherty, 1922)

The Ax Fight (Timothy Asch & Napoleon Chagnon, 1971)

Short films by Les Blank and Tom Palazzolo

Evil Wind, Evil Air (Lauris McKee)

Thursday, 9/29

Readings:

Nichols, pp. 201-228.

Peter Loizos. "Nichols on Pornography and Ethnography." In Innovation in Ethnographic Film: From Innocence to Self-Consciousness, 1955-1985. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993. (Handout.)

Tuesday, 10/4
The Domestic

Readings:

Barnouw, 231-253

Ward, Melinda. "Pat Loud, An Interview" and "The Making of An American Family." Film Comment 9.6 (Nov./Dec. 1973): 20-31. (On reserve.)

Gilbert, Craig. "Reflections on An American Family, II." In New Challenges for Documentary. Ed., Alan Rosenthal. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988. (On reserve.)

Horowitz, Craig. Rev. of An American Family. People Weekly 39 (22 Mar. 1993): 61-2+.

Optional Reading:

Loud, Pat, with Nora Johnson. "Living with a Camera Crew." In Pat Loud: A Woman's Story. New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1974. (On reserve.)

Wednesday, 10/5

Screenings:

Excerpt, An American Family (Alan & Susan Raymond, 1973)

Real Life (Albert Brooks, 1979)

Thursday, 10/6

Reading:

Nichols, 32-75.

Paper 2, due 10/20:
I will put a copy of an episode of MTV's Real World on reserve in ATS. Write a three-page (ca. 750-word) essay evaluating the piece. Before writing, consider the question, What are documentary filmmakers' responsibilities-to themselves, their subjects, their audiences, and their medium? How does Real World measure up? In what ways does it fall short? How might it be made better?

I will evaluate this essay in part according to how well you seem to have assimilated ideas and arguments posed in class and in the readings. As always, the care and quality of your prose and your arguments will also weigh heavily in the grade, so don't be satisfied with your first draft.

Tuesday, 10/12
The Personal

Reading:

Ruby, Jay. "The Image Mirrored: Reflexivity and the Documentary Film." In New Challenges for Documentary, op. cit. (On reserve.)

Wednesday, 10/13

Screenings:

Daughter Rite (Michelle Citron, 1978)

Smothering Dreams (Daniel Reeves)

Excerpt, Family Gathering (Lise Yasui, 1986)

Excerpt, Sherman's March (Ross McElwee, 1985)

Thursday, 10/14

Readings:

Erens, Patricia. "Women's Documentary Filmmaking: The Personal is Political." In New Challenges for Documentary, op. cit. (On reserve.)

Mekas, Jonas. "The Diary Film." In The Avant-Garde Film: A Reader of Theory and Criticism, edited by P. Adams Sitney. New York: Anthology Film Archives, 1987. (On reserve.)

Explanation

Screenings:

A Current Affair

The CBS Evening News

60 Minutes

Short Assignment 3, due 10/25:
What are the most important factors that distinguish A Current Affair, The CBS Evening News, and 60 Minutes? What makes these factors significant? What are the most important factors that the three programs have in common? Why are these significant?

On the basis of your screening notes from W. 10/19, prepare a typewritten, one-page itemization of your answers to these questions.

Thursday, 10/20

Readings:

Arlen, Michael. "The Prosecutor." In New Challenges for Documentary, op. cit. (On reserve.)

Fielding, Raymond. "The Widing Credibility Gap." Ch. 15 in The American Newsreel, 1911-1967. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1972. (On reserve.)

Paper 3, due 11/8:
For this assignment, you may choose from two paper topics. Either paper ought to be around five pages (1250 words) in length.

Option 1: Examine the press coverage around one journalistic crisis or scandal. Examples are General Westmoreland's libel suit against 60 Minutes, about a decade ago (still one of the most famous libel cases), the ethical questions raised by Janet Malcolm in The Journalist and the Murderer and the subsequent charges that she herself was guilty of inventing quotes, the government's tight control of the press during the Gulf War, and last year's brouhaha over Dateline's rigged exploding gas tank. Write a paper about the public attitudes toward "the fourth estate" that this response suggests: attitudes about ethical standards, freedom of the press, objectivity, bias, and so on.

Option 2: Do your own careful analysis of the ideological slant of a particular journalistic documentary, like an episode of Frontline. Besides looking at alternative coverage of the issue or news story presented in the documentary, you should do some additional reading about how the news, in general, is ideologically imbued. One good (albeit controversial) place to start would be with the Herman and Chomsky essay listed as an optional reading for 10/27.

Tuesday, 10/25

Readings:

Miller, Mark Crispin. "How TV Covers War." In New Challenges for Documentary, op. cit. (On reserve.)

Schechter, Danny. "The Gulf War and the Death of TV News." The Independent 15.1 (Jan./Feb. 1992): 28-31.

Wednesday, 10/26

Screenings:

Excerpt, Desert Storm: The Victory (CNN)

Excerpt, A Line in the Sand (ABC)

Gulf Crisis TV Project (Deep Dish TV)

Thursday, 10/27

Reading:

Parenti, Michael. "Who Controls the News? The Myths of Independence and Objectivity." In Inventing Reality: The Politics of the Mass Media. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1986. (On reserve.)

Optional Reading:

Herman, Edward S. and Noam Chomsky. "A Propaganda Model." In Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. New York: Pantheon Books, 1988. (On reserve.)

Tuesday, 11/1
"Bringing the Past to Life"

Readings:

Watt, Donald, "History on the Public Screen, I," and Jerry Kuehl, "History on the Public Screen, II." Both in New Challenges for Documentary, op. cit. (On reserve.)

Wednesday, 11/2

Screenings:

Episode of You Are There (CBS, 1953-57)

Excerpt, Nightmare in Red (NBC, 1955)

Excerpt, Alistaire Cooke's America (1972)

Excerpt, The Civil War (Ken Burns, 1990)

Thursday, 11/3

Reading:

Rosenstone, Robert A. "What You Think About When You Think About Writing a Book on History and Film. Public Culture 3.1 (Fall 1990): 49-66. (On reserve.)

Tuesday, 11/8

Short Assignment 4, due 11/15:
The final quarter of this course deals with the "art" of documentary, and the last several assignments are all designed to help you develop your own ideas about how filmmakers can go beyond the usual and conventional to make more inter est ing, challenging, and/or revealing documentaries. The first step in producing an original documentary is, of course, to come up with and interesting and worth while topic or a novel approach to a familiar topic.

Come up with ten interesting and original topics or ideas for documentaries. This may seem daunting at first, but once you start foraging for ideas, you will be surprised by how quickly they come to you. It would help to look in a variety of places for ideas: talk to your parents and professors, "Gopher" through the Internet, browse through the Yellow Pages, thumb through back issues of the local paper, look at grant directories in the college development office to see what kind of "hot-button" issues philanthropies are funding these days.... Be creative.

Expression

Screenings:

Excerpt, Berlin: Symphonie of a City (Walter Ruttman, 1927)

Excerpt, Ballet Mechanique (Fernand Leger, 1925)

Excerpt, Night Mail (Harry Watt & Basil Wright, 1936)

Window Water Baby Moving (Stan Brakhage, 1959)

Excerpt, Powaqqatsi (Godfrey Reggio, 1988)

Thursday, 11/10
The Poetic Documentary

Reading:

Peterson, James. "The Poetic Strain of the Avant-garde." In Dreams of Chaos, Visions of Order: Understanding the American Avant-Garde Cinema. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1994. (On reserve.)

Tuesday, 11/15
8:00 pm Screening (in Stahr auditorium):

Notebook on Cities and Clothes (Wim Wenders, 1989)

Short Assignment 5, due 11/17:
For each of what you feel to be the best three of your ten documentary ideas, write one paragraph on how you think the topic can be handled to make for an especially creative, compelling, and/or challenging documentary.

Wednesday, 11/16

Screenings:

Excerpt, Far from Poland (Jill Godmilow, 1984)

Excerpt, The Ties That Bind (Su Friedrich, 1984)

Parisian Blinds (Barbara Hammer)

Rassemblange (Trinh Minh-Ha, 1982)

Research Paper, due 12/6:
Write a proposal, as though for grant funding, for the best, most worthwhile, or most interesting of your documentary ideas. The aim, in writing such a propo sal, is to describe the piece in concrete terms, as though it is already finished. If the documentary is exploratory or process-oriented, this may not be possible. In that case, describe the process by which the documentary will be produced so that the reader can imagine what the finished piece will look like. Avoid vagueness and abstractions. Film records things, not ideas. If your proposed film is about ideas, be sure to explain how you plan to translate those ideas into filmable terms. Be sure also to explain why your proposed project is interesting, worth while, and original.

Although there is no set formula to follow in writing a proposal, you might find it easiest to divide your proposal into three sections: a brief summary, a state ment of your purpose or goals, and a description or "treatment" of the planned film. I have put a couple of sample proposals on reserve in the library. You will find more examples and more detailed suggestions for grant proposal writing in Bruce Jackson and Diane Christian, Get the Money and Shoot: The DRI Guide to Funding Documentary Film, rev. ed. (Buffalo, NY: Documentary Research, Inc., 1987), which is also on reserve.

Thursday, 11/17
Between Poetry and Theory

Tuesday, 11/22

Readings:

Trinh T. Minh-Ha, interview with Scott MacDonald. "Film as Translation: A Net with No Fisherman." In Framer Framed. NY: Routledge, 1992. (On reserve.)

MacDonald, Scott. "Su Friedrich: The Ties That Bind." In Avant-Garde Film: Motion Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. (On reserve.)

Tuesday, 11/29

Reading:

Trinh T. Minh-Ha, "Questions of Images and Politics," The Independent 10.4 (May 1987): 21-23. (On reserve.)

Synthesis

Screenings:

Adonis XIV

The Pascones of Third Avenue

Cane Toads: An Unnatural History (Mark Lewis, 1987)

Thursday, 12/1

Reading:

Nichols, pp. 165-198.

Tuesday, 12/6

Thursday, 12/8