THE INTERRUPTERS

In preparation for next week's class guest Zak Piper, please watch The Interrupters on Netflix Instant. Zak was both a co-producer and the sound recordist for the film (which just won the 2013 Emmy Award for Best Documentary), and he'll explore in-depth some of the sound recording challenges he encountered during production. Additionally, Zak is currently producing and recording sound for Steve James's latest documentary about Roger Ebert titled Life Itself, and I'm sure he'll have some stories to share about this experience as well.

Feel free to comment thoughtfully about The Interrupters, letting me know what in particular you most liked about it. And as always, please support your assertions with direct references to the material.

Finally, be sure include in your response at least one question you want to ask Zak about the film, about the sound in the film and/or about its making in general. I'm interested to know what you want to ask.

I hope you enjoy the film, and please remember to post your comments - and question(s) for Zak - here and on Moodle by no later than 9am next Wednesday, November 20th.

WHERE SOLDIERS COME FROM

I'm excited to be welcoming Austin-based filmmaker Heather Courtney to our class next Thursday. In preparation for her visit, please watch her Emmy-winning documentary Where Soldiers Come From on Netflix Instant and comment thoughtfully about it below. What aspect of the work did you most appreciate and respect? What was its biggest strength? Please support your assertions with direct references to the material.

Also, please include in your response at least one question you want to ask Heather about the film and/or its making. I'm interested to know what you'd ask.

I hope you enjoy the film, and please remember to post your comments (and question for Heather) here and on Moodle by no later than 9am next Wednesday, November 13th!

SCRAPPERS

Adrian, Otis and Loretta at Otis' 77th birthday party

My friend and fellow documentary maker Brian Ashby will be visiting us next Thursday, and I'm psyched!

In preparation for Brian's visit, please watch the film he co-directed titled Scrappers, which he has has kindly uploaded to Vimeo for us for the next six days. Here's the password-protected link. The password is rybicky (all lower case).

Brian and his two co-directors were students when they started making Scrappers. Roger Ebert went on to name it one of his 10 favorite documentaries of 2010. You can read his review here, check out the film's sweetly-designed website (at least I think so) here, and read more about its successes here.

The directors of this film also make short documentaries for the popular Chicago-based website Gaper's Block. Feel free to check out some of that work here. Brian is also working on a web series for WTTW/PBS and will hopefully share a preview of that with us as well.

Although you're not required to comment this week, please watch the film and be prepared to ask Brian some questions when they visit on Thursday.

You are of course more than welcome to leave comments about the film. Just remember, if you're going to be critical, at least be constructive and respectful, as the filmmakers might read what you have to say. But comment away if you'd like. What did you think of the camerawork? You could also let us know what you want to ask Brian when you meet him.

Enjoy the film, comment if you'd like and see you Thursday!