Lesson 8 - Napoleon: Hero or villain?
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In this activity, you are going to make your own short documentary film about the life of Napoleon Bonaparte. You will be producing a film that either portrays Napoleon in a positive light as a hero, or in a negative light as a villain.
This activity is designed to focus on one of the main characteristics of historical documentary films that distinguishes them from the study of history. History documentaries tend to present a simplified, one-sided interpretation of the past that does not allow for competing, alternative viewpoints. In contrast, history does not provide single stories about the past, but rather, recognises that the past can be interpreted in lots of different ways. In this activity you are not going to produce good history. You are not to produce a balanced account. You are going to produce an account that is deliberately one-sided.
This activity is designed to focus on one of the main characteristics of historical documentary films that distinguishes them from the study of history. History documentaries tend to present a simplified, one-sided interpretation of the past that does not allow for competing, alternative viewpoints. In contrast, history does not provide single stories about the past, but rather, recognises that the past can be interpreted in lots of different ways. In this activity you are not going to produce good history. You are not to produce a balanced account. You are going to produce an account that is deliberately one-sided.
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This is an old activity first developed more than 10 years ago. We have decided to revive it in 2023, because one of the great British film makers Ridley Scott released his new film Napoleon in autumn 2023. He has already courted a degree of controversy (=publicity) with interviews in which he compares Napoleon to other dictators like Hitler and Stalin.
www.bbc.com/culture/article/20230818-ridley-scotts-napoleon-was-the-french-leader-really-a-monster You can see some completed examples of student films from previous years on my old website. |
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Activity
1. You begin by planning the sections of your film. It will be broadly chronological and must contain the four events listed below. For each of these sections you must find good, accurate historical evidence that will support your positive or negative view of Napoleon. It is very important that your film is historically accurate; that nothing is made up or untrue.
2. Next, consider how the following four sources will be used in your film. You can use as many additional sources as you like, but you must use the following four: a painting and three short film clips. Between them they cover four historical events:
i) 13 Vendémiaire - Bonaparte crushes the royalist rebellion - 1795 - video (see lesson 3)
ii) Napoleon Crosses the Alps - 1801- painting (see lesson 4)
iii) Bonaparte crowned emperor - 1804 - video (see lesson 4)
iv) Bonaparte retreats from Russia - 1812 - video (see lesson 7)
1. You begin by planning the sections of your film. It will be broadly chronological and must contain the four events listed below. For each of these sections you must find good, accurate historical evidence that will support your positive or negative view of Napoleon. It is very important that your film is historically accurate; that nothing is made up or untrue.
2. Next, consider how the following four sources will be used in your film. You can use as many additional sources as you like, but you must use the following four: a painting and three short film clips. Between them they cover four historical events:
i) 13 Vendémiaire - Bonaparte crushes the royalist rebellion - 1795 - video (see lesson 3)
ii) Napoleon Crosses the Alps - 1801- painting (see lesson 4)
iii) Bonaparte crowned emperor - 1804 - video (see lesson 4)
iv) Bonaparte retreats from Russia - 1812 - video (see lesson 7)
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The first source is David's famous painting of Napoleon crossing the Alps that we analyzed in class. For the film you will need a bigger version so click on this link.
Below are the three video clips taken from different points of Napoleon's career. You must use at least three seconds of each of these three clips. You can download the clips here. |
3. Writing the narrative is the most important part of your film. It must be carefully timed so as not to exceed the four minute limit and it must also allow for silence as the audience considers the visual images.
4. Once the narrative is written and timed, the remaining images need to be researched and included. You may also consider including actuality footage of yourself or friends. This might include some dramatic reconstruction or talking head historians.
5. Once you have recorded your narration and combined all your images, then it is time to add some incidental music to help set the appropriate emotional tone. Pixabay is a good source of copyright free, downloadable music.
6. Finally, consider how you are going to introduce your film in the first 10-20 seconds, this is called the exposition. It should establish what the film is going to argue, but most importantly it should be interesting and encourage the viewer to watch the rest of the film.
Put the completed film on your One Drive and/or YouTube/Vimeo etc. You can make the film unlisted or password protected if you are not ready to share your talent with the whole word. Either way, put a link to your completed work on your OneNote so that your teachers can access it.
Looking for inspiration for other documentary film techniques?
4. Once the narrative is written and timed, the remaining images need to be researched and included. You may also consider including actuality footage of yourself or friends. This might include some dramatic reconstruction or talking head historians.
5. Once you have recorded your narration and combined all your images, then it is time to add some incidental music to help set the appropriate emotional tone. Pixabay is a good source of copyright free, downloadable music.
6. Finally, consider how you are going to introduce your film in the first 10-20 seconds, this is called the exposition. It should establish what the film is going to argue, but most importantly it should be interesting and encourage the viewer to watch the rest of the film.
Put the completed film on your One Drive and/or YouTube/Vimeo etc. You can make the film unlisted or password protected if you are not ready to share your talent with the whole word. Either way, put a link to your completed work on your OneNote so that your teachers can access it.
Looking for inspiration for other documentary film techniques?