Documentary
The Documentary Concentration
The Documentary curriculum, taught wholly in the specially equipped Michael Rabiger Center for documentary, is dedicated to a vision of documentary filmmaking that places people above product; exploration and discovery above pre-conception. We validate tolerance and understanding, and emphasize the power and responsibility documentary makers have in a world where communication is dominated by the moving image media. Students are encouraged “to grasp the lived reality of people, and to convey the quality of their experience.”
The curriculum prepares students for work in the many varieties of non-fictional filmmaking, and emphasizes the dynamic interplay between reality, experience and representation. Many fiction directors also find they benefit from exposure to the direct, improvisational training Documentary provides.
About the Michael Rabiger Center for Documentary Film
Purpose
The Documentary Center was founded by Michael Rabiger in 1988. It is a dedicated teaching and cultural focus for studying, discussing, screening, analyzing and advancing the documentary genre. The Center supports students in the production of documentary films and provides a diverse course of study designed to help students prepare for a career in documentary filmmaking.
Activities
The Center helps stimulate a supportive community for documentary students by offering an informal, centralized location for exchange of information, screenings of films and access to industry news and ideas.
Our bulletin boards and resource library are updated regularly, hosting information about filmmakers, screenings, documentary filmmaking, film festivals, television broadcasts and video technology.
Our video and DVD library features classic, contemporary and student documentaries. We also host screenings, guest speakers, and open houses and organize documentary outings.
Resources
The Center's classrooms host documentary courses and the equipment cage houses the latest in video technology; offering students hands-on experience with excellent cameras, sound equipment, lighting kits and related tools of documentary production. Our two dub racks feature multiple formats for tape transfers. Avid Express software is employed in the documentary post-production lab.
Contact Information
If you would like to receive updates about Doc Center events, call us to sign up for our email list. Or drop by for a chat and a cup of coffee. Our address is 1104 S. Wabash, Suite 407 and our phone number is 312-344-6729, or by email doccenter@colum.edu.
Documentary Courses
Our courses encourage the analysis of documentary’s place in society, as well as theoretical, aesthetic, ethical and practical considerations to do with documentary filmmaking and culture.
For more information about requirements, see Documentary Concentration.
Staff
Area Coordinator Jeff Spitz, Faculty Member Russell Porter, Technical Coordinator Dave Korda, and a group of student workers staff the Documentary Center.
The Documentary curriculum, taught wholly in the specially equipped Michael Rabiger Center for documentary, is dedicated to a vision of documentary filmmaking that places people above product; exploration and discovery above pre-conception. We validate tolerance and understanding, and emphasize the power and responsibility documentary makers have in a world where communication is dominated by the moving image media. Students are encouraged “to grasp the lived reality of people, and to convey the quality of their experience.”
The curriculum prepares students for work in the many varieties of non-fictional filmmaking, and emphasizes the dynamic interplay between reality, experience and representation. Many fiction directors also find they benefit from exposure to the direct, improvisational training Documentary provides.
About the Michael Rabiger Center for Documentary Film
Purpose
The Documentary Center was founded by Michael Rabiger in 1988. It is a dedicated teaching and cultural focus for studying, discussing, screening, analyzing and advancing the documentary genre. The Center supports students in the production of documentary films and provides a diverse course of study designed to help students prepare for a career in documentary filmmaking.
Activities
The Center helps stimulate a supportive community for documentary students by offering an informal, centralized location for exchange of information, screenings of films and access to industry news and ideas.
Our bulletin boards and resource library are updated regularly, hosting information about filmmakers, screenings, documentary filmmaking, film festivals, television broadcasts and video technology.
Our video and DVD library features classic, contemporary and student documentaries. We also host screenings, guest speakers, and open houses and organize documentary outings.
Resources
The Center's classrooms host documentary courses and the equipment cage houses the latest in video technology; offering students hands-on experience with excellent cameras, sound equipment, lighting kits and related tools of documentary production. Our two dub racks feature multiple formats for tape transfers. Avid Express software is employed in the documentary post-production lab.
Contact Information
If you would like to receive updates about Doc Center events, call us to sign up for our email list. Or drop by for a chat and a cup of coffee. Our address is 1104 S. Wabash, Suite 407 and our phone number is 312-344-6729, or by email doccenter@colum.edu.
Documentary Courses
Our courses encourage the analysis of documentary’s place in society, as well as theoretical, aesthetic, ethical and practical considerations to do with documentary filmmaking and culture.
For more information about requirements, see Documentary Concentration.
Staff
Area Coordinator Jeff Spitz, Faculty Member Russell Porter, Technical Coordinator Dave Korda, and a group of student workers staff the Documentary Center.