Film Education | CP3 2008 Critical Workshops

Delegates had the opportunity to attend two Critical Workshops. These hands-on workshops enabled delegates to explore critical 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

Evaluating Collaborative Video Projects

David Baugh

This workshop explored the use of media wikis, blogging and podcasting as a tool for collaborative creativity in the classroom.

During this workshop participants were encouraged to contribute to a collaborative environment by wiki entries, making blog entries. Participants created podcasts and posted them to the collaborative environment.

Biography

David Baugh is a primary trained teacher with classroom experience of teaching students aged 5 - 18 latterly LA Advisor with responsibility for ICT in 65 schools. He is now an independent trainer, author and adviser for ICT working for a wide range of organisations. He has been an Apple Distinguished Educator for 9 years and is an Apple Certified Trainer. He was the winner of the Teaching Awards Creative use of ICT in 2000 and Becta's ICT in Practice awards in 2001. Most recently he has authored and developed the Digital Cre8or Award which is a Level 1 and 2 qualification equivalent to the ECDL that allows students and teachers to get accreditation for the creative use of digital media (www.bcs.org/cre8or).

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Losing the Edit: Shots in Sequence

Emma Bull

Do we need editing software to make films that work, or is it possible to create quality filmed outcomes without the footage leaving the camera?

In-camera editing enforces discipline into filmmaking as students decide in advance which shots are essential in conveying meaning. Valuable as a stand-alone technique, it can also function as a starting point for learning about the editing process. This workshop begun with a critical exploration of short filmed sequences and moved on to explore the possible applications of in-camera editing techniques across a range of subjects.

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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Archive & Documentary

Jane Dickson

Documentaries and archive materials are not just from and about the ancient past.

We are creating and participating in documentaries and archives all the time and perhaps never more so than in the digital age with the pervasive nature of sound and image recording and playback devices. How are we to make sense of this world and navigate this sea of information? This workshop considered what critical skills teachers and learners might need to deploy in negotiating these assets and applying them to make successful documentaries. In considering these questions, delegates researched, planned and created a short documentary, exploring how editing, sound and image can affect textual meaning through an exercise using a range of archive film, music and sound effects in a simple editing interface.

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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Critical Transformations

Martin Phillips

This workshop explored various conceptual frameworks for textual study, including semiotics, Media Studies and Art and Design references.

This theoretical base was applied to a range of text types to indicate inventive ways of approaching critical analysis in the secondary curriculum. The session concluded with some textual transformation exercises to consolidate the ideas visited during the workshop.

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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Picturacy®: Film Narrative and The Primary Framework

Matt Poyton

Film is embedded in the renewed Primary Framework for Literacy where emphasis is placed on visual literacy and on-screen texts.

Film Educationís Picturacy® series takes the 'word, sentence, text' approach to literacy further by exploring the relationship between shot, sequence and text on film. In this workshop key concepts such as sound, light, colour and editing were explored showing how film can help children develop a greater understanding of narrative structure and representation of character. All this leading to raised standards in reading and writing. Delegates worked on laptops to interactively analyse film extracts and their own still photography.

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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The Moving Image: Asking the Right Questions

Ian Wall

One of the earliest questions asked by children is "why?" And this is the very question that we need to ask about moving images texts. Why is a particular camera angle chosen? Why are particular objects placed within a frame?

And why are they placed where they are? Why is the camera placed in a certain position? Why does a particular character wear what they are wearing? In constructed reality of moving image texts, when approached from a critical viewpoint, "why?" is our key question as a starting point to developing our students' critical and creative potentials. Through viewings of a number of moving image texts delegates built up their own series of questions which can be applied to any text that they use in the classroom. Delegates also looked at the creative ways in which we can ask these questions.

Biography

Before founding Film Education in 1985, Ian taught English & Media at Holland Park comprehensive where he was a head of department. Over the last 23 years he has worked on a wide range of projects, including educational resources on hundreds of feature films. Ian is the winner of two BAFTAs and speaks on issues relating to education, media literacy and film all over the world.

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