Five College Consortium

"If anthropology is fundamentally, in the words of Margaret Mead, "a discipline of words," then documentary, is, most fundamentally, a discipline of visual representation.it calls for an ethics of responsibility, an aesthetics of film form, and a politics of representation."--Bill Nichols, "Documenting the Documentary." "What 'truth' does a 'documentary' reveal? The answer is far simpler than it might seem. The "truth" revealed is that someone or something turned on a camera somewhere and light was inscribed in an electronic or digital signal or on nitrate. These marks in light may resemble something familiar -- but it is always a new space made by the light so imprinted or registered on its new plane. Once this light, this so-called "image" has been ripped out of time by the camera, it exists only as an abstract etching, imitating the light of its source. " "Toward the Essay Film," by Joan B. Reading about non-fiction, analyzing and comparing fiction with non-fiction works and making films and videos, we will explore the above ideas and others, especially those related to the specific filmmaking processes and stages of production when working on location. Students must have some background in film or videomaking in the context of a course and will be expected to produce original works in these mediums.