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Realities of Life The Television Documentary

REALITIES OF LIFE: THE TELEVISION DOCUMENTARY

An intensive three-day course over three Saturdays for anyone wanting to break into the world of documentaries. The course will provide participants with a solid grounding in the essentials of documentary filmmaking. Topics covered will include: what the broadcasters are looking for; writing proposals; pitching; the commissioning process; contracts and legal issues; scheduling and budgeting; the production team; and the grammar and ethics of documentary filmmaking. The course will incorporate practical exercises, viewings and discussion. Students will be encouraged to bring along ideas they may have for a documentary and these will be developed over the three sessions in class discussions.

The tutor, Sarah Carr, works as a visiting lecturer at City University, St Martins, Le Femis (French Film School) and has also taught at the National Film School and Irish Broadcaster R.T.E. Sarah has worked as a Series Producer/Director for the BBC and produced 'Service with a Smile' for the Channel 4 Critical Eye series and the Royal Television Society Award-winning 'Who Stole the Soul' for non-Aligned Films for BBC2. Sarah has also produced award-winning shorts for her company Indica Film Ltd and has most recently directed a series of documentary films for BBC/Discovery.
The course will also include sessions with visiting documentary filmmakers talking about their work.

Dates: The next course dates are to be confirmed
Time: 10am ? 5pm
Cost: ?190 / ?160 concession


Session One
INTRODUCTION ? What is documentary?
MARKETPLACE ? Introduction to the broadcasters.
STORIES AND RESEARCH ? Choosing a documentary subject. How to research a story.
THE PROPOSAL ? How to write and pitch your proposal.
THE COMMISSIONING PROCESS ? how to get your idea made.

Session Two
BEHIND THE CAMERA ? Who makes up the documentary film-making team?
Guest speaker (Camera)
ROLE OF THE INDEPENDENT PRODUCER ? The Producer's role in the team.
PLANNING THE MAKING ? How to plan the making of your documentary. Budgeting and scheduling. Clearances and contracts.
GROUP WORK ? Class discussion of student ideas in progress.

Session Three
DOCUMENTARY APPROACHES ? The grammar of film-making.
Guest speaker (Director)
INTERVIEW TECHNIQUES ? to involve practical exercises on mini dv.
ETHICS ? Question of ethics in documentary film-making
GROUP WORK ? Presentation of the Students' documentary proposals.

Tutor: Sarah Carr
Sarah works as a visiting lecturer and tutor at City University, St Martins, Le Femis (French Film School) and Four Courners. Sarah has also taught at The National Film School and R.T.E (Broadcaster). Sarah worked as a Series Producer/Director for the BBC between February 2000 to June 2003 where she managed a range of broadcast programmes for BBC/Open University. Sarah produced 'Service with a Smile' for Channel 4 Critical Eye Series and 'Who Stole the Soul' for non-Aligned Films for BBC Two which won The Royal Television Society Award for Best Educational Television Documentary. Sarah also produced award winning shorts for her company Indica Film Ltd and has most recently directed a series of documentary films for BBC/Discovery.