Film Education | CP3 2008 Creative Workshops

Delegates had the opportunity to attend two Creative Workshops. These hands-on workshops enabled delegates to explore creative ideas and practices associated with digital media in education, producing and analysing materials and concepts that they can take back to the classroom.

"The most valuable course I have attended in my teaching career."

Lucy Milner, The Dukeries College, Nottinghamshire

"Tremendously valuable, as I've built a bank of resources and will leave with a huge list of the ways I want to incorporate them to drive my department forward."

Emma Norbury, Hessle High School, Hull

"I feel everything I have learnt at CP3 can be taken back to school and be used with my children. This is a valuable opportunity and I have learnt so much!"

Paul Singleton, Boston CE Primary School, Lincolnshire

Image to Sound to Image

Tom Barrance

This workshop was based on Media Education Wales' projects with Year 6 and 7 children and with adults.

Delegates looked at different relationships between sound and image; how you can use moving images to stimulate poetry writing and performance; using digital cameras to explore metaphor; the process of planning a soundtrack; and using Final Cut Express semi-professional editing software to add movement and effects to still images.

Biography

Tom is Director of Media Education Wales, www.mediaedwales.org.uk, a Cardiff-based non-profit which supports media and moving image education and filmmaking with children, young people and adults. He has run projects and workshops and delivered training in all four countries of the UK and beyond. Tom is particularly interested in ensuring that children's filmmaking is informed by an understanding of film language, and using non-mainstream and non-traditional film forms to encourage creativity and extend children's awareness of moving image culture and heritage. Recently Tom has led several projects in areas of social deprivation which have linked filmmaking to creative writing, music-making and poetry.

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In-Camera Editing

Emma Bull

DV production can provide great learning opportunities across a range of subjects, but filmed outcomes can lack focus and pressures on resources can make organising whole-class activities difficult.

If we remove post-production from the equation and film shots sequentially, constructing the edit in-camera, outcomes can be accomplished in less time and without the need for editing software. With the emphasis on preparation and rehearsal, filming necessarily becomes tighter and more focused. This workshop explored the effectiveness of different shot types, demonstrated the use of the IWB as a shared viewfinder and asked groups to use this sequential approach to construct their own short films by the end of the session.

Biography

Emma Bull works at Film Education as an Adviser for Secondary Education. She began her teaching career at a specialist Media Arts College where her extra responsibilities included running an animation project in regional Primary schools. Emma widened her experience to include AS and A2 teaching in a further two schools before joining Film Education in 2007. In her current role she authors content for educational resources in a variety of formats, as well as delivering training. She also has special responsibility for a project on intellectual property protection for which she has produced a series of resources.

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Creating A Scene

Jane Dickson

When we ask students to create a narrative we are in effect asking them to create a series of scenes that link with both what comes before and what comes after the event that they are filming.

This workshop asked delegates to edit a short scene from given material, followed by a discussion of outcomes. They then created their own short scenes based on a brief and a series of given questions. The workshop developed ideas and asked questions about why we film scenes in a certain way and suggested ways to build effective scenes that create compelling narratives.

Biography

Jane is Director of Digital Media at Film Education, responsible for developing and producing many of the company's award-winning multimedia resources, often in collaboration with partner organisations. She has directed and produced television series for Channel Four and the BBC and also works as a trainer and workshop leader with particular reference to the moving image and media literacy. As a freelancer, Jane has worked on video projects with Ken Loach and for Carlton Television. Prior to this, she worked in the music industry. Jane recently completed an MA Digital Media at University of Sussex, producing a dissertation on creativity and the Creative Industries. She is currently interested in developing projects on digital literacies.

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Sound & Light

Martin Phillips

Many promising student video productions are marred by poor (or no!) lighting and indifferent sound.

This workshop considered these two important elements of the creative process, focusing on the expressive effects that can be achieved even with the simplest equipment. Participants worked in groups to devise their own son et lumiere.

Biography

Martin Phillips was Director of the DCS Digital Media Education Team; He has also been Chief Moderator for A/AS Level Media Studies and is currently an Assistant Principal Moderator for AQA GCSE English. He has written a variety of books and articles on English and Media Studies teaching, most recently GCSE Media Studies for Heinemann (2004). Martin has directed more than forty video/DVD resources for secondary schools on Media Studies and Art.

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Persuasive Narrative: Reading and Making Trailers

Matt Poyton

The Primary Framework for Literacy recommends the analysis of film trailers as persuasive texts. Trailers are designed with a particular purpose, to excite a chosen audience about seeing a film at the cinema.

Trailers are also a form of condensed storytelling. In a short space of time a trailer can establish genre, mood and atmosphere and give suggestion of character, plot and key themes. After a short introduction to trailer analysis and film narrative techniques, delegates were given a synopsis, storyboard and limited time to film key shots with DV cameras. The rest of the workshop involved working on laptops editing footage into an engaging, persuasive trailer using music, sound, text and voiceover.

Biography

Before joining Film Education, Matt was a primary teacher at a school in Essex where, in addition to his classroom teaching, he was ICT Coordinator and founded after school filmmaking clubs. Before teaching he obtained a degree in Film Studies and English Literature. Matt is the Primary Education Officer at Film Education where he delivers teacher training and creates a wide range of print, digital and online educational resources. He is currently overseeing the production of Film Education’s Picturacy® series.

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Supporting Literacy with Animation

Oscar Stringer

Animation is an effective way of engaging students in literacy and topic based projects, using ICT creatively and is a fun cross-curricular activity suited to the classroom environment.

This hands-on workshop introduced delegates to tips and tricks to get started quickly and easily. They then looked at examples of work, approaches to ideas that will engage and motivate students and then make a short 45 second animation in small groups. Animation is being used in schools wanting to work with a more creative curriculum.

Biography

Oscar Stringer has been working in schools all over the UK teaching animation to students of all ages and abilities for 12 years. During this time he has developed methods of approaching and using animation to suit the educational environment, supporting key areas of the curriculum. He works for the BBC as a freelance trainer and facilitator, using ICT as a creative tool to empower people of all ages. Oscar has also worked with the British Council, Institute of Education, eTwinning and Apple Computers. When not teaching and training Oscar makes his own short films, which have had screenings on TV and film festivals all over the world. To watch his short films and animation projects made in schools visit www.oscarstringer.co.uk.

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