ABSTRACT
Students will learn specific, practical strategies for how to employ the following assets in a documentary: music, archival material, stock shots, re-enactments, graphics and animations, lower thirds, location cards, and subtitles. In the music section, composer Ted Reichman discusses how to communicate effectively with a film music composer. In the archival section, specific examples are offered of films that use creative strategies in employing archival material. In the graphics and animations section, analyses of four animated segments from the film Super Size Me break down the various ways animated segments can add visceral emotional content as well as supplementary facts to a documentary. Specific guidelines are offered on how and when to use lower thirds and location cards, including how to achieve the most effective results with the fewest words and how to use them to differentiate between main characters and secondary characters. Readers also learn the basic guidelines on the use of subtitles, as well as how to use them to improve the poetic qualities of a film's language.
