In Documentary Filmmaking, the students learn how to make their own movies that tell the stories of Cambridge and its residents. The students work in groups to create short documentary films about subjects of interest, learning the entire process of creating a movie—from pre-production (including pitching and developing interview questions), to production (including filming and directing), to post-production (including editing and sound design). In this increasingly visual world where videos are an ever-greater presence in daily life, and where making movies is more accessible than ever before, learning how to craft a compelling video with an engaging story is vital.

In How A Creator Is Made, we have a variety of creatives discussing their challenges, influences, and inspirations for pursuing art as a career. There is a lot of preconceived notions about self-sustaining as an artist, and we wanted to show how those thoughts affect people considering becoming a full-time artist. Originally we were focusing the documentary on current students who are interested in an art career, but when scheduling didn't work out, we switched to street art, and eventually broadened our criteria to all types of artists. It was really interesting to interview people with such a diverse set of backgrounds and compare how their experiences had shaped them to be who they are now.

A documentary film that explores the issue of homelessness in Cambridge and Boston. 

This film gives the viewer insight into the experience of homelessness through personal stories and expert analysis of the factors that cause and perpetuate housing instability. We sought out experts and individuals engaged in the field in order to depict a comprehensive image of the societal structures that lead towards housing instability. Substance abuse, unaffordability in housing, lack of sufficient programs, and the stigma that surrounds homelessness are just a few topics that are brought up in this film. So often individuals experiencing homelessness are pushed to the outskirts of societies creating an isolated population. We wanted to create a film that gives some perspective into how it really feels to be a person experiencing homelessness while engaging the viewer in a way that no other film would. The editing software we used to create this documentary is Adobe Premiere.

Food is the universal way of bringing people together. This documentary film explores how Cambridge represents its diversity through food. We explored two vastly different restaurants, Mr. Bartley's Burger Cottage in Harvard Square and La Fabrica Central in Central Square. We interviewed the staff at these restaurants and learned about their businesses and got in depth into what makes each restaurant special and unique. We explored the challenges of being a minority owned business, as well as how the longer-running restaurants has impacted the area. We created a documentary to depict how diverse the cit of Cambridge is and how the food can bring two different restaurants together. 

A documentary film that explores Cambridge's restaurants and food cultures through the success of two of the city's best places to eat.

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In groups, we were tasked to create a short documentary film about topics of interest in the Boston area, learning the entire process of creating a movie—from pre-production(including pitching and developing interview questions), to production (including filming and directing), to post-production (including editing and sound design). In this increasingly visual world where videos are an ever-greater presence in daily life, and where making movies is more accessible than ever before, learning how to craft a compelling video with an engaging story is vital. 

In the Documentary Film Studio, we created a documentary film about how Cambridge represents its diversity through food. We followed two different restaurants that were diverse in food and culture: Mr. Bartley's Burger Cottage in Harvard Square and La Fabrica Central in Central Square. Mr. Bartley's is over 60 years old and La Fabrica has been open for a couple months. We interviewed a variety of staff at these restaurants and learned about their businesses from their perspective. We got in-depth into what makes each restaurant special and unique, especially being in Cambridge. We explored the challenges of being a minority-owned business, as well as how a longer-running business has impacted the area. Although these two restaurants are polar opposites, they came together in the film by covering diverse topics.