The document discusses digital natives, digital immigrants, and different types of documentary films. It defines digital natives as people born in the digital age who are familiar with technology from a young age, and digital immigrants as people born before widespread digital technology who have adapted to new technology. It then discusses three types of documentary films: observational films that simply observe life without interference, participatory films where the filmmaker participates and alters the situation, and performative films that are subjective and experimental. It also outlines three narrative styles for documentaries: voice-over narration, silent narration using title screens, and a hosted narrator who appears on camera and narrates.

1.  Consider the terms “digital native” and “digital
immigrant” – what do you think they mean?
 DIGITAL NATIVE = a person born or brought up
during the age of digital technology and
therefore familiar with computers and the
Internet from an early age.
 DIGITAL IMMIGRANT = a person born or brought
up before the widespread use of digital
technology.
 How do you define yourself in relation to these
terms?
DIGITAL NATIVES & IMMIGRANTS

2.  What is a “DOCUMENTARY FILM”?
 A documentary film is a nonfictional motion
picture intended to document some aspect of
reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction
or maintaining a historical record.
 Documentaries often explore effects of mass
media while also simultaneously being a form of
mass media themselves. A movie about
censoring movies for example, or a TV show
about how TV shows are important
DOCUMENTARY FILMS

3. Observational documentaries attempt to simply and spontaneously observe lived
life with a minimum of intervention. Often, this mode of film eschewed voice-
over commentary, post-synchronized dialogue and music, or re-enactments. The
films aimed for immediacy, intimacy, and revelation of individual human
character in ordinary life situations.
Participatory documentaries believe that it is impossible for the act of
filmmaking to not influence or alter the events being filmed. What these films do
is emulate the approach of the anthropologist: participant-observation. Not only
is the filmmaker part of the film, we also get a sense of how situations in the film
are affected or altered by their presence.
Performative documentaries stress subjective experience and emotional
response to the world. They are strongly personal, unconventional, perhaps
poetic and/or experimental, and might include hypothetical enactments of events
designed to make us experience what it might be like for us to possess a certain
specific perspective on the world that is not our own. Performative docs often
link up personal accounts or experiences with larger political or historical
realities.
TYPES OF DOCUMENTARY FILMS

4. Voice-over narrator
 The traditional style for narration is to have a dedicated narrator read a
script which is dubbed onto the audio track. The narrator never appears
on camera and may not necessarily have knowledge of the subject
matter or involvement in the writing of the script.
Silent narration
This style of narration uses title screens to visually narrate the
documentary. The screens are held for about 5–10 seconds to allow
adequate time for the viewer to read them. They are similar to the ones
shown at the end of movies based on true stories, but they are shown
throughout, typically between scenes.
Hosted narrator
In this style, there is a host who appears on camera, conducts
interviews, and who also does voice-overs.
TYPES OF DOCUMENTARY NARRATIVE
STYLES

5.  'Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected
World' (also available on Netflix, Amazon,
etc.)
 This documentary by Oscar-nominated
documentarian Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man,
Cave of Forgotten Dreams) chronicles the
virtual world. Herzog leads viewers on a
journey through a series of provocative
conversations that reveal the ways in which
the online world has transformed how
virtually everything in the real world works -
from business to education, space travel to
healthcare, and the very heart of how we
conduct our personal relationships.
IN-CLASS MEDIA PRESENTATION

6.  Basically full credit (100) or no credit (0)
 Designed to help you individually
absorb/process the in-class media material
and foster understanding
 Questions and discussion will be
referenced on the Final Exam
 IN-CLASS CREDIT ONLY – cannot be made
up for late credit
IN-CLASS MEDIA PRESENTATION
STUDY FOCUS QUESTIONS:

7. 1. View the presentation in class
2. Answer STUDY FOCUS questions during/after
the presentation
3. Class/Group Discussion (this may take place
directly after the presentation or the next
class session, depending on time constraints)
4. Submit STUDY FOCUS questions at end of
discussion
5. IN-CLASS CREDIT ONLY – cannot be made up
for late credit
IN-CLASS MEDIA PRESENTATION
STUDY FOCUS QUESTIONS:

8.  What do you think the overall
“message” of this documentary is? In
other words, what do you think the
documentarian wants you to think
and/or believe after watching this?
What, if anything, does he seem to
want you to do as a result of watching
this documentary?
IN-CLASS MEDIA PRESENTATION
STUDY FOCUS QUESTIONS:

9.  What do you typically expect out of a
documentary? Did this film deliver on
those expectations?
IN-CLASS MEDIA PRESENTATION
STUDY FOCUS QUESTIONS:

10.  What part(s) of the documentary did
you find most surprising? Convincing?
Upsetting? Exciting?
IN-CLASS MEDIA PRESENTATION
STUDY FOCUS QUESTIONS:

11.  Do you think it will change how you
think, believe, and/or act in the future?
If so, how? If not, why not?
IN-CLASS MEDIA PRESENTATION
STUDY FOCUS QUESTIONS:

12.  Using the terms discussed in class (and
also on this sheet) what type of
documentary is “Lo and Behold…” and
what Narrative Style does it employ?
IN-CLASS MEDIA PRESENTATION
STUDY FOCUS QUESTIONS: