This Thursday evening marks the 10th anniversary
of the Student Film Festival at the Compass School, where I teach high school
humanities. I vividly recall the moment I conceived of the film-making
course. I had been at the school
for a couple years, and it was near the end of the year. The school was immersed in a week of independent student-chosen projects, and I watched a group of several 11th and 12th graders work on
a short film based on one of the popular TV shows of the time, Survivor. I was struck by how much fun they were having. They
cast their science teacher as the leader, filming themselves as characters challenged to make it out of school
alive. The final product was fun, and it got lots of laughs at the
end-of-year presentation.
I wanted to harness that excitement, but I also wanted to challenge my students to make something non-derivative. I also love movies.
The next spring, the science/technology teacher
and I launched a six-week elective. Knowing nothing about film-making myself, I
had easily convinced my tech-savy colleague that if he taught the technical end, I could
teach the writing and film analysis part. I would help students generate
ideas for screenplays and analyze films in order to inform their own. With his experience as a photographer and tech-guy, he would teach them
how to shoot wisely and efficiently, how to frame good shots, and how to edit
(we use Premiere Pro). So, an interdisciplinary course for 11/12th graders was
born at Compass.
Since then, I have watched the popular course
challenge students like perhaps nothing else I teach. One of the challenges is
that the whole course takes place in six or seven weeks, and they make two
short films in that time. I provide a few lessons on what makes a good
story (including the theory that there are only two stories in the whole
world) and the screenplay format, and then we work on generating ideas for their
scripts (see my earlier post, SnowGlobe for some of the prompts). We discuss scenes and short films in class, and they watch and write
about films as homework.
As they're in the midst of the screenplay writing process,
they're simultaneously thrown into camera work, including the creation of a
short silent film to try out the idea of telling a story visually. Three
weeks into the course, they pitch their original scripts, and then quickly
began to cast and seek locations with their four-member production crews. Finally, one
of the keys to the success of the course is the public exhibition of the films
in a evening event. The public venue, even if it's just at our little school, raises the stakes. I even invite a few local
film-makers to act as judges. The students' pride and gratification at seeing their stories come to
fruition on screen, with a rapt audience, is powerful.
Like any course, different things challenge
different students, but in their final reflections, most students point to
the hardest thing of all--organization. To produce a film, they need to
constantly think ahead, create (and revise) a schedule, communicate with outside
community members (for acting and locations), and deal with forces beyond their
control (weather, sick actors, etc). If they don't have someone in their
group who naturally keeps track of costumes, props, and details like mic
batteries, they learn quickly the need to keep a list and a storage place. They
also need to immerse themselves in the messy creative process with peers who they didn't
necessarily choose to work with (though we choose groups carefully). I've watched this assignment of creating
a film throw some of my brightest, most motivated students. I've also watched many diverse groups pull together their different skills, and create some powerful,
beautifully shot films.
The beauty of the course is that students are at
the center of the work, and they take complete ownership. In the end, I
just stand behind them (or sometimes in front of the camera), push a little, and provide some guidance as needed; my
role is the coach rather than the teacher. They are the leaders/artists/teachers. (see the Coalition of Essential Schools Principles: http://www.essentialschools.org/items/4)
A senior in the course last year, who had been
at Compass since 7th grade, spoke eloquently at the film festival Q and A
session about how he saw the film-making course as the ideal culminating
project for his secondary education, for it involved all the skills he'd been
honing for years: communication, creativity, technology, problem solving,
collaboration and organization. (see his group's film below)
So, I encourage teachers to look around and
watch what students are excited by. Then harness that energy. Create a course that will require them to take ownership of a
challenging, interdisciplinary, creative task. Then step back and watch the
learning happen.
Here's a good article about the importance of the arts in schools. The author posits that companies need people who can problem solve, collaborate, and tell a story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-tarnoff/stem-to-steam-recognizing_b_756519.html
Here's a good article about the importance of the arts in schools. The author posits that companies need people who can problem solve, collaborate, and tell a story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-tarnoff/stem-to-steam-recognizing_b_756519.html
Finally, here is a 13 minute film created (in about 2.5 weeks) by a group of four 11/12th grade students in 2013 (warning: some car violence)
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