I love love love documentaries.
For my money, there’s nothing more engrossing than a well-crafted film about a true-to-life tale. The documentary genre is as rich as it is varied, encompassing everything from breathtaking nature docs to soul-searching personal narratives. And it’s all true! (to a point).
You know how some folks go gaga over the latest superhero flick? I do the same, but for documentaries. I love docs so much, in fact, I even tried making one once. (Please excuse the shameless plug.)
Anyhow, I bring this all up because, in honor of Education Month, I thought I’d share a few of my all-time favorite documentaries on the topic of—you guessed it—education.
Schools and school kids from around the world have starred in some really
Now, I never really engage myself with documentaries as they have the tendency to be monotonous and put me to sleep rather than capture any sort of my
For me, no matter how well one describes something I can never picture it the way it actually looks. To be able to see these statues and artifacts makes it more interesting to me- it makes it real. Something that videos are able to do that authors cannot is add music to the background. The documentary I watched did this quite often and, I feel, that it made me want to watch more because it became more
A documentary is an expository text that informs its audience about an issue person or event using visual and auditory conventions to convey a message. Documentaries are often used to reveal an unusual, interesting or unknown angle. Topics are limited only by one's imagination. The documentary Blackfish is the story of Tilikum, a captive killer whale that has taken the lives of several people, it underscores problems within the sea-park industry, man's relationship to nature, and how little has been learned about these highly intelligent mammals. This documentary was directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. The ideas that orcas are wild and unpredictable, Seaworld’s treatment of orcas are inhumane and Seaworld’s was negligent in their training of their trainers. These ideas are shown throughout the documentary as visual techniques of Celebrity figure, expert opinion, audio codes, the documentary technique of interviews, archival footage and written codes. I think these ideas in the documentary are quite true and are well proven throughout the documentary.
Firstly, it is important to understand how the documentary form is best suited to illustrate the film’s theme. In order to do this, one must have an overview of the documentary style of filmmaking. Documentaries concern themselves with the “exploration of
After reading through some documents from Eric Foner's Voices of Freedom: A Documentary History, Volume 1, Fifth Edition, I found two documentaries that really grabbed my attention. Ones that I can actually say I learned something from them. The first document would be from Giovanni da Verrazano when he encountered Native Americans in 1524 on page 4-8. The second document can be found on page 8-11 which is from Bartolome de las Casas on Spanish treatment of the Indians, from History of the Indies back in 1528. Both these documents brought some attention to me that I did not know.
The documentary "Before Stonewall" was very educational and interesting because it shows a retail group that fought for the right to integrate into the society and was where the homosexual revolution occurred. Also, through this fight, the "LGBT" was born. The documentary shows how homosexual people enjoyed and shared with each other. Also, the documentary shows their participation in World War II and how the government discriminated and oppressed them even denying the right to federal
The documentary “Fed Up” provides some important and disturbing details of the food industry. The 1977 heart disease and diet study known as the McGovern Report warned that the obesity rate was increasing rapidly due to American diets in fatty meats, saturated fats, cholesterol, and sugar. The food industry vehemently denied these claims, but the American people still demanded lower fat food products. The food manufacturers found that the fat removal made the food bland and unpalatable so to address this they replaced the fat content with sugar. Both the documentary and the Harvard Nutrition Source discuss the role sugar has in health conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. They both link the consumption of sugar as the causality for
1. The documentary that I choose was Lost Angels: Skid Row Is My Home. I choose this documentary not only because it is based right here in LA just a city away but also my interest in the mentally ill. The mentally ill take up 2/3rds of skid row. Skid row is not only home to low income residential community but also home to the homeless.
Although most of the material was that in the movie related to something we have learned previously in the course, it still offered new insight to certain aspects. One of the things I liked most about the documentary was as stated before was its ability to incorporate relatively everything we learned in the class. Such as having people from other documentaries, books and articles. Another thing I liked about the documentary was how despite reviewing a lot of material, it also gave real-life accounts of what was going on during that time. Overall the documentary sparked the interest in me to understanding more about how minorities, homosexuals, and hemophiliacs were treated before after and during the AIDS
What makes documentary filmmaking distinct to narrative filmmaking? There are a few contrasting objectives for both types of filmmaking that distinguishes them from each other. Simply put, narrative filmmaking is a movie with a pre-written script, actors and a story which is already crafted before they start shooting. while documentaries are filmmaking where real life events are captured, and a script is usually written afterwards. Narrative films rely on the three-act structure which goes Setup, Confrontation and Resolution or in other words, a beginning, middle and end. The main aim for the three-act structure is for the story to develop while the stakes get risker for our characters, so they evolve as the movie goes on. Narrative film
A few of the many highlights Spielberg will be showcasing in the documentary are the updated textbooks, clean bathrooms and how academics are just as if not more important than sports!
Stephanie Soechtig, is an award-winning film-maker, and director and producer of the nonfiction documentary Fed Up. She began producing documentaries for network news programs such as Primetime Live and 20/20, while also working for Good Morning America during the 2000 presidential elections and the O’Reilly Factor. In 2008, Soechtig partnered with Michael and Michelle Walrath to start Atlas Films, which provided inspiration and education to consumers on the most controversial topics. So far, Soechtig has been awarded the “Best Documentary Feature” for Tapped (2009), “People’s Choice Award” for Under the Gun (2016), and Fortune Magazine named Soechtig as being one of the “Most Innovative Women in Food and Drink” (Biography). In 2014, Soechtig’s “Grand Jury Prize” nominated film Fed Up (2014), narrated by TV Journalist Katie Couric, was created in hopes of unveiling the hidden secrets of the food industry by using statistical analysis and research expert’s testimonies to inform viewers of the direct impact that the food industry has on the health of our nation’s most vulnerable population—children. Soechtig and Couric present the argument that the roles of our government along with the interests and processing methods of food industries are ultimately responsible for the increasing rates of childhood obesity in the United States.
The documentary Forks Over Knives is one of the most interesting yet informational films I have seen regarding health and society today and I was intrigued since the second I turned it on. It made it so much easier to understand and conceptualize because the film followed patients and documented their success stories; you were forced to believe in its truth. I found it to be inspirational and motivational.
The Hunting Ground Initially when I was planning to watch this documentary, I did not realize the national scope it was going to cover with universities across the nation, but also start so close to home at UNC. The Hunting Ground is a documentary about college campuses and how they deal or in this case, did not deal with sexual assault. Two girls who were both sexually assaulted on campus went to tell some of the school faulty which they assumed would help them, but were instead were placed at fault themselves. Annie Clark was told specifically that “Rape is like football,” so if she was to look back what would she do differently to change the outcome (The Hunting Ground). By telling her that she was to blame for this happening, and not the guy’s fault was truly shocking.
When flipping through the thousands of documentaries on the many streaming services there are three main criteria come to mind; one looks for the entertainment factor, credentials of the information the and lasting affect it leaves on the viewer. The documentary Soul Food Junkies directed and produced by the filmmaker Byron Hunt defiantly has an interesting take on these main criteria. The documentary holds ones attention with comedy and relatability with a family aspect, though interesting there’s plenty of experts and hard facts even though personal option is projected from the producer. The documentary does leave he viewer with questions about their own habits and that of the ones around them. Soul Food Junkies hits and misses the criteria