A2 Course Work Guide

Media Studies - A2 Course Layout

Documentaries

Below are some recommended documentaries that we will be viewing and discussing. By viewing them we hope to gain a clearer understanding of the medium on the documentary and how you can create an interesting and engaging story from a subject that from the outside may seem mundane.

The Boy Who's Skin Fell Off (2004)

A frank and moving film about Jonny Kennedy, an extraordinary man with a terrible condition - Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) - which means his skin literally falls off at the slightest touch.

Spellbound (2002)

"Spellbound" is one of those documentaries that isn't soaked with politics or social dilemmas, but it is touches on them indirectly. It's the story of 8 kids from all over the United States, their study habits, lives, relationships with parents and personal beliefs, views and opinions. And how they make it to the National Spelling Bee Contest.

An Inconvenient Truth (2006)

An Inconvenient Truth offers a passionate and inspirational look at one man's fervent crusade to halt global warming's deadly progress in its tracks by exposing the myths and misconceptions that surround it. That man is former Vice President Al Gore, who, in the wake of defeat in the 2000 election, re-set the course of his life to focus on a last-ditch, all-out effort to help save the planet from irrevocable change.

The Bridge (2004)

People suffer largely unnoticed while the rest of the world goes about its business. This is a documentary exploration of the mythic beauty of the Golden Gate Bridge, the most popular suicide destination in the world, and those drawn by its call.

Fahrenheit 911 (2004)

In this film, muckraker Michael Moore turns his eye on George W. Bush and his War on Terrorism agenda. He illustrates his argument about how this failed businessman with deep connections to the royal house of Saud of Saudia Arabia and the Bin Ladins got elected on fraudulent circumstances and proceeded to blunder through his duties while ignoring warnings of the looming betrayal by his foreign partners. When that treachery hits with the 9/11 attacks, Moore explains how Bush failed to take immediate action to defend his nation, only to later cynically manipulate it to serve his wealthy backers' corrupt ambitions.