Sharing Good Practice
clue’s in the name after all – movement
creates action, creates drama and
creates energy. All a tripod does is
give you a nice level shot. Don’t use
one.
Get in Close
Often times when kids first shoot film
– they want to be miles away from the
subject. This is perhaps a result of the
innate shooting distance drilled into
them by posing for family photos. The
beauty of cinema is the closeness you
can attain to your characters. The cast
can emote more powerfully up close
and emotions feel more intense. Seek
to vary the depth of shots to suit the
scene but don’t film the whole scene
from a mile away.
Watch for their general framing of
shots, as they will often centre an
actor’s head in frame, leaving the top
third of the shot empty.
Experiment with Angles
As with the depth of the shots, get kids
used to varying the angle of a shot for
effect. Let them lower the angle to
make a bully seem imposing or raise
it to make a character seem small and
weak. Have them go and re-watch a
favourite film and try to identify the
reason behind some of the shots. Kids
Students from JESS in
production on their 2015 film
“The Good side of Bad”.
- Photo Credit: Steve Bambury
tend to pick this up quite quickly and
it will help shade the characterisation,
moods and themes of their film.
Raise Their Expectations
You may find that some kids have a
lower expectation for what they can
accomplish than you know that they are
capable of. Be the guide on the side. If
they try to wrap a shot after two weak
takes, challenge them on it rather than
let them accept mediocrity. A classic
example that you can use is of Tom
Cruise enduring 97 takes of walking
through a door by Stanley Kubrick.
Look for potential ways to vary the
takes too. Can the actors change their
delivery or blocking? Can the angle
be changed? Often a small tweak can
make a huge difference.
Music Makes the Movie
Another pivotal aspect of any great
film is the music. Elevating the mood
of a scene through a complementary
soundscape can really push emotional
buttons in a viewer. For the last two
years, I have had students use the
Pond5 website to obtain royalty free
tracks at a minimal cost. There are
many alternatives out there. If you
have a strong musical programme at
your school, there’s even potential for
an original score!
Editing Is an Art Form
When you are looking to get kids
editing, choose your platform wisely.
Simple options like Windows Movie
Maker or iMovie can accommodate
most student-made films. Complex
professional platforms such as Adobe
Premiere or Avid could confuse them. A
nice compromise is Corel VideoStudio
that affords more tracks and options
but provides banks of text effects and
transitions for them to test out.
When students first begin to edit, they
tend to leave shots too long (most
noticeable during intercut dialogue).
So, focus on keeping the editing tight.
Look for the natural edit point. They’ll
soon get a feel for it!
Celebrate Their Success
The cast and crew of “The Good
Side of Bad” sit down for the
first table read of the script. Photo Credit: Steve Bambury
Films were made to be watched by
an audience. Make the most of this
fantastic opportunity to involve the
entire school community by screening
the film, as widely as possible to staff,
pupils and parents. You could even
charge a nominal fee for screening
and raise some money for charity at
the same time!
In Dubai, we are fortunate to have
the Children’s International Film
Festival on our doorstep. Films that
are shortlisted are actually screened
at the cinemas in some of the larger
malls. Trust me, this makes for quite
the memorable school trip!
Steve Bambury is Head of Computing
and the Curriculum Innovation Leader at
Jumeirah English Speaking School, Dubai.
The founder of the iPad Educators website,
he is also an Apple Distinguished Educator
and has presented at institutions and
conferences internationally.
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