Make A Documentary Project
There is so much to learn and so many skills to develop from this project. You can work with a group (at most 3 members) or on your own. Choose one of the topics from the What Can We Learn From The Data lesson, Unit 2 Activity 5. If there is another topic you are very interested in, let Mr. H know. The topic should be based on a pressing global issue. Research this topic further and make your own iMovie documentary. There must be an emphasis on statistics. You can interview your peers and teachers on campus. Watch some documentaries on Netflix or YouTube to get an idea of the elements that a quality documentary consists of. The documentary should be at least 8 minutes minutes long. Make sure to cite your sources in the credits and the end of the film. If you don't know how to use iMovie, then look up tutorials on YouTube. Save your iMovie to iCloud if you have an account. If you don't have an account, put a piece of blue tape on the side of the iPad to make it easy to identify. Write "Do not take off" on the tape. You can use another movie. When you are done, post the film as private on YouTube or Google. Send Mr. H the film link and code. Check out the great examples of past student documentaries below.
Important: This is a group project. You are to work together for every component of the documentary. If one member knows how to use iMovie, then the other members should be learning from them. You must work on editing in class. If you have a software you want to use, then bring a laptop. Every member should be engaged in the process from start to finish.
Due Date: For the next month you will have 2 days per week to work on your documentary. A due date will be established the last week. Mr. H will routinely check your progress and deduct points if time has been wasted.
Documentary Grading Components:
1) STATISTICS - Very Important!
2) GRAPHS (Pie chart, bar graph, etc.) - Very important!
3) Interviews with people outside of your group and classroom( Include name and title of those interviewed) Make sure to ask for consent to film!!! The interview should be a video, not audio.
4) You can use the Screen Recording function on the iPad to add YouTube film clips.
5) Conclude with interviews of each group member and how the documentary has changed them. Being in the film is preferred, but not required since some may be uncomfortable being on film.
6) Be creative and add anything else you feel will enrich the documentary
7) Audio must be clear and volume consistent throughout documentary
8) Audience must have sufficient amount of time to read any text or graphs. Don’t keep them up too long though.
9) Video quality must be clean
10) The documentary should clearly conveys the problem and solutions for it
11) At least 8 minutes long
12) All text is clearly legible from a distance
13) Audio must be aligned with video
14) At the end of the film you should cite all of your resources and have credits for all of those involved in the film.
15) You are not done until Mr. H gives your documentary the stamp of approval.
16) Take pride in your work. Don't waste Mr. H's time as well as the time of your peers
Typical Problems and Solutions:
Problem 1: Poor audio quality for interviews
Solution: Make sure you phone or iPad is very close to the person being recorded OR Mr. H has a microphone and cable that you can borrow for interviews to ensure your audio is clear and there is no background noise.
Problem 2: Images on iMovie get cut off and movie around when playing the film
Solution: Google search “ How to turn off Ken Burns effect on iMovie”
Big Question: If you clicked on your documentary on Netflix, would you continue watching it after the first 2 minutes? Don’t waste the time of your peers and teacher. Take pride in your work.
Great Examples from Past Documentaries
Animal Abuse 13 minutes long