Channel 4

Channel 4 have some amazing documentaries on at the moment; if you miss them watch them on 4OD:

Cutting Edge: The Men Who Jump Off Buildings (Wednesday @ 9pm)

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/themes/cutting-edge

Dispatches:Britain's Witch Children (Monday @ 8pm) This looks really interesting but please don't watch it if you are afraid of things linked to the spirit world.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches

The Hospital (Mondays @ 9pm) Looks at teengers and the NHS

Amish: The World's Squarest Teenagers (Sunday @ 8pm)

The Unreported World series is also interesting:
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/unreported-world

Documentaries to Watch This Week...

As usual there are some great documentaries on this week including:

Fake Britain (BBC1 Monday)
Panorama (BBC 1 Monday)
My Child's Big Fat Birthday Party (BBC1 Monday)
Who Do You Think You Are? Bruce Forsyth (BBC1 Monday)
The Ugly Face of Beauty (Channel 4 Tuesday)
Mussolini: The Rise of Italian Fascism - Revealed (Channel 5 Tuesday)
Ladette to Lady (ITV Tuesday)
Mary, Queen of Shops (BBC2 Wednesday)
My Weird and Wonderful Family (Channel 4 Wednesday)
Escape from Colditz (Channel 5 Wednesday)
Traffic Cops (BBC1 Wednesday)
Undercover Boss (Channel 4 Thursday)
The Hotel Inspector (Channel 5 Thursday)
Victorian Pharmacy (BBC2 Thursday)
Cops with Cameras (ITV Thursday)
Superhuman: The World's Smallest People (ITV Thursday)
Nature Shock: Death Fog (Channel 5 Friday)

The ones in bold look more interesting - try to watch at least one of these.

This is not including the endless screenings of:
MTV shows (on MTV Shows channel)
Big Brother
Ice Road Truckers, Axe Men, The Deadliest Catch
DIY, antiques and property shows on daytime tv

You should try to watch sections of some of the documentaries above AND some that you have sourced.

When you watch you should be trying to identify mode and stylistics as well as getting inspiration for your own documentary sections.

Sample Student Timeline

The Rise of Documentary

Please complete the following work:

You need to research the rise and formation of documentary genre. Look at the following:
When it was formed
What were the first documentaries
How has it changed over the years
Key dates in documentary history
Important documantaries
Key documentary makers

You can produce this as a time-line or ANY other VISUAL way. Please do NOT copy and paste information into a document as it has no worth to you or I.

Use the websites I've already put onto the blog to help you.

Be creative - you can use the cameras, big paper and pens in Y5 BUT please respect the equipment.

Useful websites may include:

www.timerime.com

www.vertex42.com/ExcelArticles/create-a-timeline.html

www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/materials/timelines

Kerry Katona 'What's theProblem?' and 'What Katie did Next' Extracts

These clips contain some strong lanugage and adult content. You must ensure that if you watch these you are analysing the mode and conventions that are presented.

Do some of your own research and blog it.

Kerry is waiting for DNA test results.



Katie has just left the jungle. Look at the amount of shots and variety that is used.

Creating Word Clouds

Creating a work cloud is a great way to show the exam board that you have a broad range of knowledge. The best websites to experiment on are:

http://www.wordle.net/

http://worditout.com/

http://www.tocloud.com/

Modes of Documentary:Typical Conventions

Modes of Documentary: Conventions

View more presentations from amythechooch.

Screenonline Research Tool

Screen Online is an excellent website for you to explore when researching. It has information, articles and clips on a vast range of media topics including documentary.

There is great information on older documentaries that you might not have heard of; you should research these on screen online to broaden yourunderstanding of documentary modes and sub-genres.

The website is:

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/index.html

There is a great section on David Attenborough on the home page at the moment.

Other pages of interest:

TV Home page and search tool:
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/index.html

History of Doumentary Film:
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/446186/index.html

Drama Documentary - we haven't touched on this yet:
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1103146/index.html

Authored Documentary:
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/898488/index.html

'Fly on the Wall' Documentary:
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/698785/index.html

Nick Broomfield

Part 1: Nick gives advice on interviewing techniques.

Part 2: Nick talks about using research in the construction of documentaries; he discusses the process in creating 'The Battle for Haditha'

Part 3: Nick discusses his own influences on film-making and the creative process of using images over dialogue

Part 4: General information and his own tips on documentary making

Useful Websites for Research

Here are some websites that you might find useful:

Documentary Makers:
http://www.michaelmoore.com

http://www.nickbroomfield.com/home.html


Watch Documentaries Free:

(May be some age restricted content but documentaries have all been screened on TV)
http://documentaryheaven.com

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com

Obviously http://www.youtube.com/ but be very selective with what you watch and how it is used in your research

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/tags/documentaries

General:

http://www.documentaryfilms.net/ - a site that had current documentary releases, reviews and news from the Industry as well as documentary making tips and links.

http://www.freebase.com/ - a really useful website that is full of data and facts on thousands of topics

Research into Documentary Forms

To start with you need to ensure that you actually understand what a documentary is. You need to undertake to research in the following areas and put it onto your blogs:

• Research forms and modes of documentary
• Research and show understanding of each mode
• Nick Broomfield
• Michael Moore
• Louis Theroux

This research evidence must be a combination os text, images, hyperlinks and clips that are relevant; try to be creative and display your understanding in a variety of ways.

Research DIFFERENT documentaries and watch as many as you can to gain a better understanding of conventions and stylistics.

For each documentary you watch ensure that you blog about it; include images, clips and some analysis of target audience and conventions.

Put any PowerPoints on your blog by using screen shots or via www.slideshare.net