The last two ILP days were really great.
It was great on the first day to have three others working with me and it certainly made difference as it meant each group was able to have someone overseeing them whilst I tried to float between the groups.
It was good to get the pupils actively creating early on in day one. I think they appreciated it made learning curve slightly less steep. Although it can have the feeling of fire fighting addressing problems as they arise it meant techniques are learnt as they are needed which to a greater degree of retention.
During the day four groups made films, three made them about knife crime whilst one group tackled smoking as part of the healthy living brief.
What was different from other days was allowing the groups to split into sub groups, in this case twos, for editing. I found this really exciting as it was great to see the different edits and therefore the differing emphasis given by each group. This approach also means more of the group get hands on edit experience and that can only be a good thing.
We did still have a few technical problems, importing pictures and music, in most cases we solved this and I am sure we can refine that part of the project. The difficulty of importing pictures did though lead to an unexpected benefit. It meant groups had to edit with the footage they’d shot, importing pictures can lead to the production being little more than a slideshow. All of the films showed a good understanding of the film process and for the first time all of the groups stuck to the brief regarding time.
For the first time we did find groups completely finishing their work before lunch on the second day. Why was this?
The most obvious reason is that one group had some experience of imovie and therefore found the editing process easier and quicker. One group had shot only the footage they needed and had done it in order. This superb piece of film making meant they were very quickly able to put the production together.
We had not previously faced this issue and we had to think on our feet in order to give those who had finished another task. I think for future days I will expand on this supplementary task and give it more definition. The task was to film some feedback on the days which is a good thing to get on film and giving the task more structure and definition will only improve the feedback we get from the pupils. I have being doing a lot of thinking lately of how we can find a creative way of getting feedback and this may prove to be the way in, not just for the video part of the project, but for other aspects as well.
These days have helped me reconnect with brevity in the film making process. I did labour the point with them the need to keep their production to 30-40 seconds. I asked them to tell a story in six pictures which they did.
Professionally it is so easy to get carried away with expanding a brief, not because it needs it, but because you can. Seeing these young people tell a story in 30 seconds, or six pictures, has really inspired or reminded me that less is more. (Obviously I have not yet applied this blog writing)
I have also realised that learning is best done through doing. Although wanting to teach the basics of video production I have discovered that allowing the pupils to get hands on experience leads to a greater learning experience, they learn what they need to know at that moment. Why teach them something, valuable in itself, but only valuable to the extent they need it during the two days.
Overall a really good two days and I think it would be possible to complete the task inside a day, a tight squeeze but possible based on the last two days.
