Begin the course with students generating ideas for their own documentary. The sooner they brainstorm ideas, the more quickly they can begin developing one into a documentary. One way to help get the creative juices flowing is to keep a journal. Mark Freeman of San Diego State University's Seminar in Documentary Filmmaking tells his students that journal entries "can consider the challenges and triumphs of the creative process."
Instruct students on the entire process of making a documentary, from preproduction through distribution. It is as important to know how fund documentaries as it is to know how to make them.
Watch classic and recent noteworthy documentaries. Use these films to discuss major trends and key documentarians so that students can bridge their current interests with the genre's history. Consult previous years' Sundance Film Festival or Academy Award winners to track changing trends and notable filmmakers.
Structure your class so that a large portion of student effort is devoted to production. The more work students can produce and learn from while in class, the fewer rookie mistakes they'll make in the professional world. For example, students in UCLA's Extension course, "Making the Short Documentary," are expected to apply 50 percent of their efforts towards their own documentaries.
Create assignments for students to work in teams so they will become accustomed to the collaborative nature of filmmaking. Students can step into crew positions for each other's projects, for example.
Screen works in-progress to engage students in constructive criticism of each other's work. Regular feedback from both students and instructor will help steer a student's work back on track if it veers off its intended course.
Address the ethical dilemmas that arise at various stages of making a documentary, such as the interview process, editing and the inclusion of any dramatic techniques like re-enactment.