What Happens in DV Lab?
In DV Lab, we believe that learning to think critically about documentary media cannot be separated from knowing how video and other media are made. As a result, this course teaches both documentary media analysis and production in a single class embodying MIT’s mens et manus or “mind and hand” approach.
Students Practice Lighting
Each week, students watch and discuss important documentary films. We consider how the documentary styles and techniques found in those films shape how subjects are portrayed, the ability of media makers to tackle particular topics, and the ideas that audiences take away from such media. Students then explore these documentary techniques during the video production labs. For example, if the class watches films featuring cinema verite camera styles or video interview techniques, we’ll explore making media with those techniques in that week’s lab.
Final Project Screening and Dinner
While DV Lab students watch a wide range of classic documentary films, we focus most closely on those relating to science and technology. The films screened include influential classics as well as contemporary films on topics like climate change, political conflict, and social media.
DV Lab also considers newer forms of media-making, including i-docs and virtual reality, as well as key contemporary topics including AI, media disinformation, and “deep fakes.”
Each student creates a final documentary project. These projects have explored MIT student life, the various worlds of science and technology-making found on campus, as well as a variety of off-campus topics (including Romanian puppet theater, oyster farming on Cape Cod, “citizen science” water sampling, and arboretum garden design as everyday forms of science and technology).
DV Lab screening and panel discussion at MIT Museum
Our grounding academic disciplines of Anthropology and STS emphasize the importance of process – or making and doing – as a way to understand science and technology. DV Lab brings this same attention to bear on how we understand, experience, and create documentary media.
No prior experience is required. We work with seasoned media makers as well as those who have never picked up a camera. Both graduate and undergraduate students are welcome. There are three class instructors, including a teaching assistant who works closely with individual students on mastering equipment and editing.
Collaborative Class Projects
Boston March for Science, 2017 (MIT DV Lab)
Living Climate Futures Introduction, 2022 (MIT DV Lab)
MIT Baker House Piano Drop, 2013 (MIT DV Lab)