The following documentaries are intended to showcase a range of possibilities you can pursue as you make your own.

One of the documentaries below is part of the acclaimed PBS Point of View Documentary series. Just as the series presents “documentaries with a point of view,” so too your films are intended to convey a point of view—your point of view—on a topic of research.

As you watch these documentaries, pay attention to how these films convey a specific point of view on its subject matter. Keep these questions in mind as you view the films.

1. What is the main message of the film? Whose point of view are we invited to see?

2. Films are composed of different elements. What kinds of visual elements, for e.g. street scenes, maps, archival images, interviews etc.,were used in the films? What kinds of audio elements, for e.g. musical scores, voiceover narration, etc?

3. In each of the films below, is there one element that drives the narration and perspective? Which one?

4. Is there anything that you saw that you liked and thought, “I want to know how to do that!”? If so, send me an email (fiona.lee [at] macaulay.cuny.edu) and let me know!

The Hole: A Border Between Brooklyn and Queens
A documentary by Macaulay students, Danilo Rojas, Richard Lee, Vincent Xue, Joanne Cheung, Patricia Paredes, and Angela Hum.

The Hole: A Border Between Brooklyn and Queens from Vincent Xue on Vimeo.

A High School Behind Bars

A short film that is part of the American Promise series by PBS POV

Stop Telling Women to Smile

A short film on the artist, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, and her efforts in using street art as a response to street harrassment against women.
http://stoptellingwomentosmile.com/