JRN 572DE - News Documentary

JRN 572 - Researching & Writing
the News Documentary
Rich Hanley, Associate Professor
Lecture Eight

JRN 572 - News Documentary
Review Week:
• This week is focused on a review of
materials to date.
• Students ought to review the posted
historical materials, Bernard’s book
and the lectures to deepen
understanding of the skills necessary
to develop ideas that matter to the
top pros in this realm.

Review Week:
• Now, let’s review ideas and the need
to conduct research from the start.
• Remember: ideas are all around us,
sometimes they emerge from what
we observe, other times they emerge
from what we hear and still other
times they emerge from what we
read.

Review Week:
• On the tactic to find ideas from what
we read, here are two ideas that
stem from recent news articles.
• The ideas emerged because
documentary writers are constantly
reading news in the context of how
the story would work as
documentary.

Review Week:
• Idea No. 1:
• Against the odds, the Orange Nine
tried to keep a season going
• The story by Greg Brownell of the
Post-Star of Glen Falls, New York, is
about a girls’ soccer team that
competes despite roster issues.

Review Week:
• The idea has character, conflict and
change.
• The idea is timely, has great visuals,
a hook, relevance, affordability, etc.

Review Week:
• Please note: ideas don’t all have to
be about global or national events.
• They just have to tell a story that
matters, visually.
• Follow the team as it prepares and
competes; it becomes a character
study.

Review Week:
• Idea No. 2:
• The Battle for the #SoulofOakland
• The story is about how Oakland
wants the poor and the homeless to
leave as it rapidly gentrifies.

Review Week:
• The idea stems from Joel Anderson’s
BuzzFeed article on the problem.
• It meets the requirements for a
documentary that is important, can
be told visually and contains all the
other required benchmarks.

Review Week:
• Back to the general approach for
ideas.
• The first question to ask is this:
• Does the subject you wish to pursue
reveal something important about
society that is otherwise unknown,
ignored or unseen?

Review Week:
• Does research into the idea confirm
its potential as a story that be
rendered visually that a funder would
want to support and that an audience
would want to see?

Review Week:
• The basic research includes a first
pass into story development and
visual assets.

Review Week:
• Story research includes:
- Primary research into the
subject through an exploration
into original documents,
studies, etc.
- Identification of characters or
people who can be interviewed
for a story.

Review Week:
• Visual asset research includes:
- An exploration of the material
available in public (e.g.,
government and private (e.g.,
news companies) archives,
museums, libraries, private
collections and similar
repositories.

Review Week:
• After that, think of the mechanical
aspects of the idea, as expressed by:
- The formulation of six modes
as developed by Bill Nichols
- The structural narrative
trajectory of documentaries
- Bernard’s formulation of 10
standards to test ideas
- The three C’s

Review Week:
• Nichols lineup of modes is important
because it sets in place the narrative
approach to a given subject.

Review Week:
• The modes are:
- Expository
- Poetic
- Observational
- Participatory
- Reflexive
- Performative

Review Week:
• If so, the next question that follows
is:
• Can the story be told visually to hold
an audience that wants to be both
informed and, to some extent,
enthralled by what appears on the
screen (mobile, TV or theater).

Review Week:
• From there, Bernard’s concept of 10
elements as posted in Chapter 3
provides a firm trajectory in
transforming the conceptual to the
point where an idea can be
represented textually as a treatment
or proposal.

Review Week:
• The10 are:
- Access and Feasibility
- Affordability
- Passion and Curiosity
- Audience
- Relevance
- Timeliness
- Visualization

Review Week:
• The 10 are (continued):
- Timeliness
- Visualization
- Hook
- Existing Projects
- Is This a Film You’d Want to
See

Review Week:
• It’s not necessary to perfectly align
all 10 as the definition for some such
as timeliness can be broadly
conceived, but it’s best to have all
working in your favor.

Review Week:
• Alongside Bernard’s formulation, the
concept of the three C’s as identified
by Trisha Das among others is also
of critical importance in determining
whether an idea is valid. (see
Lecture Four)
• The three C’s are:

Review Week:
• Character
• Conflict
• Change

Review Week:
• Thus, if an idea is plausible under
Bernard’s formulation and carries
with it character, conflict, change, is
empirically supported by research
elements and expertise, there is a
strong chance that it will get funded,
meaning it will get produced.

Review Week:
• If not, any weak point will have to be
addressed by either re-orienting the
idea or by simply dismissing it.
• Don’t stick with an idea that simply
does not fit the genre.
• And use the treatment format to
thoroughly test it.

Review Week:
• That treatment will include the first
phase of research into story
development and archival visual
materials to prove that the story has
an arc and the story can be rendered
visually.

Review Week:
• All the material covered in the first
half of the semester is essential to
understanding the process of pre-
production phase of a documentary
film.
• But the most important piece is your
first attempt at a treatment as it starts
your process toward success.

JRN 572DE - News Documentary

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