Media Arts & Culture

Documentary Projects

Documentaries including human subjects are sensitive matters.

Participants are not fictional characters, but people whose rights to privacy, informed consent, and fair representation are in your hands as a media maker. It is your responsibility to think through the potential risks associated with participation in and public exhibition of your documentary and to communicate these to subjects prior to recording.

All documentary projects should have a customized Informed Consent and Release Form in all languages you may encounter in your documentary’s specific setting/context. Contact the Keck Language and Culture Studio for assistance finding a campus translator.

Projects involving protected categories of subjects (minors or any subjects unable to provide informed consent prior to shooting) or approaches/topics raising confidentiality issues need to be submitted to the Occidental Human Subjects Research and Review Committee for approval prior to shooting. Please read the Guidelines for Media Projects Involving Human Subjects guide thoroughly and consult with your faculty adviser to determine if your project topic or approach will require HSRRC Review.

The full committee meets only four times a semester, and all application materials – reviewed and signed by your faculty advisor – are due two weeks before each meeting date in order to be revaluated. This means you will either need to plan well in advance of shooting, or pick a less sensitive topic or population for your documentary.

  • Phone: 323-259-2749
  • Email: bdillon@oxy.edu
  • Location: Weingart 109