Assignment

1. The Cold War:
“After Stalin” 1953-1985
Digital Documentary Case Studies of Cold War
Topics in the Years After Stalin´s Death
Until the Fall of the
Soviet Union

2. What are the main objectives?
• Create a “digital documentary” that explains how your topic
played a major part in the Cold War “after Stalin” 1953-
1985
• Present your information in an creative, yet organized
manner, which is intended to instruct (as well as entertain)
the audience
• Present your information in a way that meets the technical,
aesthetic, content and analysis requirements of the
assignment
• Create a final product that exhibits quality research,
analysis, synthesis, writing, technical and presentation skills
• Teach and learn about the many aspects of the Cold War
“after Stalin” 1953-1985 and create a bank of review
documentaries that can be used later to study for IB exams

3. What are the content/analysis
requirements I need to include?
 Explain the context/origins of your topic in the overall Cold
War “after Stalin” period—was it part of a broader trend?
 Identify the major events, people, policies, organizations,
etc by name, emphasizing them for the viewers in your
video
 Explain the cause and effect aspect of your topic within the
broader context of the Cold War “after Stalin”—what were
the underlying issues driving the decisions or events?
 Explain how your event impacted the Cold War “after
Stalin”—did it increase or reduce tension, which side
gained from it, lost from it, how long did it last, what
changes did it lead to, etc?

4. What are the technical requirements?
 Your presentation must use a narrator, common in most
documentaries, flowing nicely through a thoughtfully constructed
outline that meets the content requirements—this does NOT
mean “going narrative”—you need to design a thoughtful
screenplay that addresses the requirements
 Your documentary must include a wide variety of media
tools/techniques: photos, video, music, audio, clipart, text, maps,
graphs/charts, animation, Power Point slides, transitional/topic
pages and other techniques used to enhance the presentation
quality of your documentary narrative techniqu
 You can include “bits” of interviews from other documentaries
 Your documentary must include an original script that is narrated
by a member or members of your group
 Above ALL—the audio must be crystal clear and important items
highlighted with text
 Your documentary must be between 5 and 10 minutes long and
contain a list of credits and sources

5. What else should I know?
 These will be conducted in groups of one, two or three
(only one group of three allowed, if necessary)
 An explanation included of who did what parts of the
project must be included as part of the credits that roll
at the end (does not count in time limit)
 You must document and demonstrate the use of
multiple sources, including historical websites, other
historical documentaries, and both primary and
secondary sources for your information
 You must devise an outline, then a storyboard/script
as pre-assignments for review by Hennessy
 They will be due/presented on February

6. Topics for “After Stalin” Dig Doc
 Germany
 Cuba
 Arms/Space Race
 Vietnam
 Latin American Containment
 United Nations/Non-Aligned Movement
 Détente
 CIA and Espionage
 Challenges to Soviet Power

7. Resources for Research