Writing in Digital Spaces

Documentary Project

In the winter term, students in Helen Lepp Friesen’s Writing in Digital Spaces RHET 2350(3)-001, created documentaries on topics of their choice. The objective was to research and digitally document an event, process, or story. The documentary aimed to engage, inspire, and educate the viewer on a specific topic. Some documentaries take years to make. The students in RHET 2350 completed their short documentaries (around 5 minutes) in only a few months. As part of the assignment, the students completed the online course on Human Ethics, completed the University Human Ethics Research Board checklist, recruited participants for their documentary, collected data and B-roll footage, and finally composed their documentary. Stylistic categories included public affairs, personal/memoirs, narrative history/biography, Cinema verité (observational cinema), poetic, and mockumentary. Please find the links to some student documentaries here.

Sara Calnek

Title: Oceana, featuring the work of Joanne Sullivan (5:00)

Anna Schaible-Schur

Title: Winnipeg Artist Spotlight- Danny Schur (5:09)

Benjamin Boyko

Title: Can You Focus? (7:00 minutes)

Carla Danielle Switzer

Title: Win the Morning, Win the Day (6:23)

David Macdougall

Title: Slow Shutter - Photography in the Midst of a Pandemic (5:29)

Maddy Nowasad

Title: The Making of The Other Skaters Zine (4:24)