Edinburgh College of Art

Introduction

• Scottish Documentary Institute (SDI) was started in Scottish Documentary Institute (SDI) was started in

2003 by Prof Noe Mendelle to inform 2003 by Prof Noe Mendelle to inform

and challenge documentary and challenge documentary

making practice at making practice at ecaeca and wider film community and wider film community

• Created vital links with international documentary Created vital links with international documentary

scenescene

• Intersections with most Intersections with most cutting edge practice

Research Context

test

• Practice based research: SDI encourages work which is not driven by agenda of tv but challenges forms of documentary

• When started there was little documentary making in Scotland outwith tight formats of TV and Scotland had no international profile

• Part of wider work – ‘Africadocs’

• Workshops in China, Czech republic

• Writing in academic journals

• Synergy of academia and industry

Case Study: Bridging the Gap

• Most tangible way students benefit

from SDI is through a scheme called

Bridging the Gap

• Started in 2003 to challenge the status

quo of documentary in Scotland,

provide outlet for those trying to break

into creative documentaries, to

produce short docs for cinema

• Training and production scheme for

short films based on themes. Funded

by BBC, Scottish Screen, Skillset and

supported by eca

Case Study: Bridging the Gap

• eca hosts masterclasses with most

innovative international filmmakers to

share process of how to enhance the

form including Philibert, Dvortsevoy,

Broomfield

• Vertical and horizontal integration

through sharing skills across generations

and levels of experience

• Culminates in a pitch training and forum

open internationally. Projects pitched to

funders and CE’s from all over world

Case Study: Bridging the Gap

• Learning is experiential and fresh: students’ notions of documentary are widened

• Add new terms to film language and pedagogy used on course

• Students mingle with film community and benefit e.g. from shared workshops on pitching, editing etc

• Expand film grammar: how to challenge own work and links directly with eca modules of Research, Studio and Professional Practice

Graduate Attributes

• Our methodologies grew together, questioning increased, international links developed

• Students could see link from cutting edge research through to selling film ideas at pitch

• Some students were selected to pitch their films at the closing Forum of international TV and film funders, placed the students’ work in a highly competitive and extremely prestigious professional context

• Develops storytelling ability across genre

Future Development Potential

• Important to find new learning/ teaching models from our research experience

• Knowledge transfer through shared learning: controlled yet self directed

• Next research step is to use new technological developments across platforms in a creative way: not just rely on commercial ways of distribution and production

• This will affect how we make work, how we teach, how we communicate as communities