104813 - CREATION DOCUMENTARY: SCREENPLAY AND DIRECTION

Subject type: Optional

Coordinator: Jorge Oter Gonzalez

Trimester: Second and third quarters

Credits: 12

Academic year: 2025

Teaching course: 4

• Spanish

Works and presentations in both co-official languages will be accepted.

Documentary creation: script and production is a subject in which you will learn to make an audiovisual work from the creative treatment of reality. Based on contemporary documentaries, you will understand the cinematic aspect of real cinema today and later you will gradually immerse yourself in great examples of inspiring documentaries in the history of cinema, to understand the aspects of its transformation in various contexts.

Documentary creation is a subject that combines a deep reflection on real cinema with an intense practice of this audiovisual genre. The method includes the creation of pieces such as camera editing and sound pieces, practical exercises for learning the different modalities, recording in the environment, script writing and approaching film festivals and other key spaces for the development and exhibition of documentary works.

As a final result, students will produce a more extensive and developed short documentary film in groups with the intention that it can be exhibited in university or independent environments. The subject combines reflection, practice and theory in an organic way, providing a professional approach to documentary and is aimed at students who have already acquired significant knowledge of audiovisuals over the previous three years of their GMA studies. The subject will be taught during the second and third trimesters.

The classroom (physical or virtual) is a safe space, free of sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic and discriminatory attitudes, either towards students or teachers. We trust that together we can create a safe space where we can make mistakes and learn without having to suffer the prejudices of others. 

BLOCK A: THE CREATION DOCUMENTARY

A1. Introduction to the creative documentary
1.1. A conceptual approach to creative documentary. The documentary universes.
1.2 The classic documentary. Origins. 
1.2. The question of realism, verisimilitude and authorial commitment.
1.3. Documentary classification and categories.
1.4. Principles of documentary creation: Rabiger, Segarra.

A2. Documentary and Modern Cinema: the limits of objectivity
2.1 Free Cinema.
2.2 American direct cinema.
2.3 The Canadian Candid eye.
2.4 Cinema Verité and direct questioning. The documentary filmmaker as a catalytic agent.  
2.5 Questions about direct cinema.

A3. The Documentary and postmodernity
3.1. Turns in the documentary.
3.2. The performative documentary.
3.3. The false documentary (mockumentary).
3.4 The autobiographical documentary/subjective turn.
3.5 Other geographies of the autobiographical documentary.

A4. Construction of memory, social and political documentary
4.1 The documentary in war and post/conflict contexts.
4.2 Transformations of the documentary during World War II.
4.3 Dictatorship and transition in Spain. 
4.4 Image and rhetoric after the Holocaust.
4.5 “Towards a third Latin American cinema”: Cuba, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia and Chile.

A5. New reflections through the documentary: archival material
5.1 Rediscovery of archives and the role of memory.
5.2 Foundfootage, techniques and explorations of the digital archive.
5.3 Collage in documentary cinema. 
5.4 Counter-files.

A6. New documentary images (and sounds)
6.1 Documentary essay/reflective turn: essayistic forms and methods.
6.2 Developments of Feminism.
6.3. Postcolonial documentary and cinema on the margins.
6.4 Territories-mutation, new documentary cartographies.
6.5 Immersive images. New documentary spaces.
6.6 The documentary and the avant-garde.

BLOCK B: DOCUMENTARY CREATION PROCESS
B1. The idea
1.1. Idea, story, synopsis.
1.2. Types, topos and re/search.
1.3. Documentation and sources.

B2. The documentary script
2.1 Characteristics of the documentary script.
2.2. Filming script.
2.3. Script in editing.

B3. The characters
3.1. Selection and preliminary work.
3.2. Visual and sound treatment.
3.3. Ethical issues in working with characters.

B4. Structures, narrative resources and staging
4.1. Narrative organization of documentary material.
4.2. Observe or provoke.
4.3. Sequence, duration and take.
4.4. Treatment and overall design.
4.5. Sound, words and music.
4.6. Narrator, interview and dialogue.

B5. Realization, look and documentary powder
5.1. Shooting models.
5.2. Point of view.
5.3. Filming permits and authorizations.

B6. Archive and document: visual and sound material
6.1. Archive material (photography, video, sounds).
6.2. Integration of materials and style.
6.3. Dynamization, post-production, animation.

B7. Documentary editing
7.1. Script and editing.
7.2. Rhythm and structure.
7.3. The editing of the word (interviews and voice-over).
7.4. Audiovisual editing and discourse.
7.5 Calibration, sound post-production and color correction.

B8. Production, distribution and exhibition: the documentary, the industry, the festival circuit.
8.1. Design of the financing and marketing strategy.
8.2. Production and exhibition circuits: documentary film festivals.
8.3. Documentary platforms and interactive documentary.
8.4. Trends in documentary production and distribution.
8.5. New circulations in documentary. Platforms.

Block A and Block B will be worked on simultaneously, they will not be consecutive.

a) Individual global final exam (25%) 

b) Individual Work (25%)

b1. Camera mounting part (5%)

b2. Observational/participative documentary piece: practical-theoretical activity. (10%)

b3. Performative documentary piece: practical-theoretical activity. (10%)

c) Collective work (50%)

c.1 Documentary short film (25%)

c.2 Soundtrack (5%)

c.3 Teaser (5%)

c.4 Trailer (5%)

c5. Group film presentation from the filmography (5%)

c6. Video review of proposed film festival according to schedule (5%)

The student must obtain a minimum grade of 5 in the final exam for the other assessment activities to be taken into consideration to calculate the grade.

Recovery

Only the theoretical exam can be retaken. 

In the retake exam, a minimum grade of 5 must be obtained so that the other assessable activities are taken into consideration to calculate the final grade for the subject.

Identification of plagiarism is considered a serious circumstance that may result in a failing grade for an activity. In case of detection of plagiarism, the coordination of the degree will be informed so that the corresponding disciplinary measures can be taken.

Any form of academic fraud will be sanctioned in accordance with the center's assessment regulations. If signs of fraud are detected, including the improper use of generative artificial intelligence tools, the subject's teaching staff may call the student for an individual interview with the aim of verifying their authorship.

Filmografia  (This filmography is worked on in class, therefore it is an assessment subject).

The rat agent (Maite Alberdi, 2020)
Correspondence (Carla Simón and Dominga Sotomayor, 2020)
The metamorphosis of the birds (Catarina Vasconcelos, 2021)
The story of looking (Mark Cousins, 2021)
Luz por todas partes- All light everywhere (Theo Anthony, 2021)
Six days in a row (Neus Ballús, 2021)
Fluid mechanics (Gala Martinez, 2022)
Knit Island (Ekiem Barbier, Quentin L'Helgouach, Guilhem Causse, 2023)
The mother of all lies (Asmae El Moudir, 2023)
Ghost Portraits (Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2023)
Riefenstahl (Andres Veiel, 2024)
The heroic minute (Monica Terribas, 2025)
Point of no return (Raúl Gallego Abellán, 2025)

Nostalgia for light (Guzman, 2010)
5 Broken Cameras (Burnat and Davidi, 2011)
Map (Elias Leon Siminiani, 2012)
The lost image (Rithy Panh, 2013)
Machine gun or Typewriter? (Travis Wilkerson, 2015)
No man movie (Chantal Akerman, 2015)
I am not your black (Raul Peck, 2016)
Many children, a monkey and a castle (Gustavo Salmerón, 2017)

The gleaners and the gleaner (Agnès Varda, 2000)
Under construction (Jose Luis Guerin, 2000)
Bright Leaves (Ross McElwee, 2002)
Cravan vs. Cravan (Isaki Lacuesta, 2002)
The blondes (Albertina Carri, 2003)
tarnation (Jonathan Caouette, 2003)
Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog, 2005)
Santiago (Joao Moreira-Salles, 2006)
wide awake (Alan Berliner, 2006)
Scene game (Eduardo Coutinho, 2007)
Waltz with Bashir (Ari Folman, 2008)
48 (Susana De Sousa Dias, 2009)

Our voice of earth, memory and future (Marta Rodríguez and Jorge Silva, 1982)
Reassemblage (Trihn T. Minha, 1982)
Sans Soleil (Chris Marker, 1983)
Tokio Ga, Cuaderno de ciudades y de ropa (Wim Wenders, 1985)
The thin blue line (Errol Morris, 1988)
The country of the deaf (Nicolas Philibert, 1992)
London (Patrick Keiller, 1994)
Monkeys like Becky (Joaquim Jordan, 1999)

Primary (Robert Drew, 1960)
The human pyramid (Jean Rouch, 1961)
Chronicle of a summer (Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin, 1961)
The war game (Peter Watkins, 1965)
Titicut Follies (Frederick Wiseman, 1967)
salesman (Brothers Albert and David Maysles, 1968)
the hour of the horns (Octavio Getino and Pino Solanas, 1973)
The disenchantment (Jaime Chávarri, 1976)
Grabbing people (Luis Ospina and Carlos Mayolo, 1977)
Dear executioners (Basilio Martin Patino, 1977)

Crazy masters (Jean Rouch, 1955)
Night and fog (Alain Resnais, 1955)
Letters from Siberia (Chris Marker, 1957)
Me, a black (Jean Rouch, 1958)

Nanook the Eskimo (Robert and Francis Flaherty, 1922)
Berlin, symphony of a great city (Walter Ruttmann, 1928)
The camera man (Dziga Vertov, 1929)
Rain (Joris Ivens, 1929) - short film
Land without bread 'Las Hurdes' (Luis Buñuel, 1933)
Night mail (Harry Watt, Basil Wright, 1936)
The triumph of the will (Leni Riefenstahl, 1936-37)

Nichols, Bill. (2013). Introduction to the documentary. Autonomous University of Mexico.

Rabiger, Michael. (2006). Treatise on directing documentaries. Editions Omega.

Sellés, Magdalena. (2008). The documentary. UOC.

Balló, Jordi and Oliva, Mercé. (2024). The incessant image. Anatomy of audiovisual forms. Anagram.

Barnow, Erik. (1998). The documentary History and style. Gedisa

Barreiro, Maria Soliña. (2013). De madera y niebla: Critical sketch of Spanish documentary cinema. Iconic 6, 20-25. https://www.academia.edu/10631637/_De_madera_y_niebla_Esbozo_crítico_del_cine_documental_español_Icónica_no_6_otoño_2013_Cineteca_Mexicana

Breschand, Jean. (2004). The documentary, the other side of cinema. "Los pequeños cuadernos de Cahiers du Cinema". paid

Bruzzi, Stella. (2000). New Documentary. A critical introduction. Indiana University.

Carrero, Pilar, Talens, Jenaro. (2018). The documentary story (2nd ed.). chair

Català, Josep María and Cerdán, Josetxo. (2008). After the real thing. Thinking about the forms of the documentary, today. Archives of the Valencian Film Library, vol. 1 (57-58), 6-25.

Catalan, Josep María. (2010). The necessary impurity of the documentary. Líbero, Revista do Programa de Pósgraduaçao da Facultade Cásper, Sao Paulo, 13 (25), 45-56.

Cerdán, Josetxo and Torreiro, Casimiro. (2007). On the other side of fiction. Thirteen contemporary Spanish documentary filmmakers. chair

Cuevas, Efrén (2012). "Autobiographical cinema in Spain: an overview", RILCE 28 (1), 106-125.

Cuevas, Efrén. (2008). From domestic cinema to autobiography: I go back and forth. In Martín, Gregorio (ed.), Cineastas frente al espejo (p. 101-120). T&B Publishers.

Feldman, Simon. (2005). Plot script, documentary script. Gedisa

Frisón Fernández, Carlota. (2021). Four steps towards the words of silence in cinema. Journal of Sound, Silence, Image and Technology, 4, p 65-81.

Gómez Segarra, Manuel. (2016). I want to make a documentary (2nd ed.). Editions Rialp.

García López, Sonia and Gómez Vaquero Laura. (2009). Stone, paper and scissors. Collage in documentary cinema. Eight and a half. 

Guardiola, Juan (2016). America Colony Notes for a (post)colonial cinema in Spanish. sequences Cinema History Magazine. 43-44. https://revistas.uam.es/secuencias/article/view/7301

Guzmán, Patricio. (1998). The script in documentary cinema. Viridian Magazine Madrid

Guzmán, Patricio. (2023). Film what is not seen. Film the invisible. A way to do it. Lom Editions

Kellen, Sarah. (2014). Maya Deren. Incomplete Control. Columbia University Press.

Ledo, Margarita (2004). From cine ojo to Dogma 95. Walk through the love and death of the documentary cinematographer. paid

Luna, Maria. (2018). Mapping heterotopias in Colombian documentary films. In Iván Villarmea and Filippa Rosario (Eds.). New approaches to cinematic spaces. Routledge. pp. 166-178

Moon, Maria (2022). "All light everywhere: Cuando una imagen habla. ¿Qué dice?" Nanook's nightmare magazine. Colombian Corporation of Documentaries. WINGED https://lapesadilladenanook.org/en-breve-resenas/cuando-una-imagen-habla-que-dice-maria-luna/

Moon, Maria (2024). "Ghost portraits: Fiction films are the best documentaries". Nanook's nightmare magazine. Colombian Corporation of Documentaries. WINGED https://lapesadilladenanook.org/en-breve-resenas/retratos-fantasmas-las-peliculas-de-ficcion-son-los-mejores-documentales-maria-luna-rassa

Minguez, Noberto (ed.). (2019). Itineraries and forms of the audiovisual essay. Gedisa.

Mora, Pablo, Luna Maria and Samper, Daniela (Eds.) (2021). Territory and memory without borders. New strategies to think about reality. Alados, Editorial PUJ, Uniminuto.

Nichols, Bill. (1997). The representation of reality. Questions and concepts about the documentary. paid

Ortega, Maria Luisa. (2005). Nothing is what it seems. False documentaries, hybridizations and mestizajes of documentaries in Spain. Editorial 8 and ½.

Ortega, Maria Luisa. (2024). Documentary film cultures. From Republican Spain to the 60s. Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca.

Puche, Carmen. (2007). Guide for the preparation of project files. UOC

Rascaroli, Laura (2008) The Essay Film: Problems, Definitions, Textual Commitments. Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media, 49(2), 24-47.

Renov, Michael. (1993). Theorizing Documentary. Routledge.

Rouch, Jean. (2003). Cinema Ethnography. University of Minnesota Press.

Sophie Mayer and Elena Oroz. (2018). The staff is political. Feminism in documentary film. Fund of publications. Government of Navarre.

Stara, Daniela. (2016). For a critical reconstruction of Glauber Rocha. Cinemas of Latin America magazine. 24, 40-53. https://doi.org/10.4000/cinelatino.2504

Sucari, Jacobo. (2017). From Espacio Público, to La Ciudad Como organic Hypertext. Kult-Ur 4 (7), 199-214. 

T. Minha. Trin. (2019). Woman native other. Writing postcoloniality and feminism. Indiana University Press.

Torreiro, Casimiro. (2010). Reality and creation in non-fiction cinema. chair

Weinrichter, Antonio (2005). Non-fiction cinema: deviations from the real. T&B Publishers.

Weinrichter, Antonio. (2007). The way he thinks. Attempts to return to cinema essay. Fund of publications. Government of Navarre.

Weinrichter, Antonio. (2009) Found footage. Appropriation in documentary and experimental cinema. Fund of publications. Government of Navarre.