Filmmaking: The Story Becomes a Film

This How-To offers tips and suggestions to sharpen the technical and organizational skills involved in filmmaking.

This overview of film production will help sharpen the technical and organizational skills of the students. These are some tips and resources to get you started.

Planning and pre-production – finding and organizing all your resources

1. Technical equipment– camera, sound, editing equipment. Many schools have digital media equipment but many don’t. There are online sites that link schools with companies that want to give away equipment (check the resource links included in this article).
2. Adult support – the school technology or media teacher; the art teacher; the principal; the parents. A film requires a lot of support. Let everyone know what a great project you are doing and see who might lend a hand.
3. Students – Many may already have digital media skills; some may even have equipment.

Organize the class into different production teams or crews and assign tasks.

• Writing and Directing – This group takes responsibility for the story. They work with the actors in rehearsal, developing the dialogue. They organize the script, dialogue and outline into a shooting schedule.
• Art Department – They responsible for the look and feel of the film. They find specific locations for scenes in the film. They must also prepare the locations so that they look right for the story. Costumes and props are also their responsibility.
• The Camera, Sound, and Lighting crews – They operate and care for the equipment. They need patience, a steady hand, and the ability to follow directions quickly and quietly. Filming is often a start and stop process that requires concentrated effort from everyone involved.
• Editors – They assemble the final film and decide on the transitions between scenes, sound and the final look and feel of the piece. Keep the editing team small.
• Actors – They are responsible for rehearsing the scenes and knowing their lines, the physical and vocal requirements of the character they are portraying, and their blocking in the scene (where they need to stand or move).

Camera, Sound, and Lighting

• Camera: Make sure you are familiar with the basic operating procedures of your digital camera. You can find out a lot about your camera from its manufacturer. All of the major camera companies have extensive online resources and 800 numbers. If you prefer in-person help, contact your local access cable television station.
• Audio: Every camera comes with a built-in microphone. If your camera’s sound quality is poor, you can easily create your own boom microphone by securely taping a hand-held microphone to a long pole. The goal is to hear all of the dialogue without too much extraneous sound.
• Lighting: Make sure that we can see everyone clearly – no one is lost in shadows or washed out by too much light.

Editing

Share your film

• Create a time when the whole school can see the film, either all together or broadcast through the schools in-house television network.
• Submit your film to local and national festivals.
• Contact the local access cable station, which may be interested in showing it.
• Share it with your PTA, the school board, and anyone else interested in education.

Throughout the process of creating the story, organizing the production, shooting and editing the film, students have been choosing and focusing ideas, energy, and skills. As they develop and refine their creative vision, they learn the importance of collaboration. They get hands-on experience with real tools, and when they see the final film they’ll know what they’ve achieved and where they might want to go next.

Resources

The Director in the Classroom
www.thedirectorintheclassroom.com/
Nikos Theodosakis has pioneered the field of classroom filmmaking. His website is full of ideas and links. He is also available for on-site workshops.

Make a Movie.Net
www.makeamovie.net
A great website for classroom filmmakers. Billy Field offers workshops, an excellent book, and some wonderful ideas for creating movies that tell a story.

Casablanca.tv
www.casablanca.tv/newindex.cfm?linkID=69&showcontent=true
Chet Davis, of Casablanca TV, offers a whole package of organizational tools, project ideas, and equipment for classroom filmmaking.

iLife
www.apple.com/education/ilife/
This is a great site to learn what Apple can offer classroom filmmakers – from imovie editing instruction to great ideas for integrating digital media into the classroom.

The Importance of Editing
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/moviemaker/learnmore/editing.asp
Movie making tips and software for Windows platform.

Elizabeth Pringle is an actress, playwright, director, and educator. She is the director of EAT (Education Arts Technology) and the creator of MHz Shortz Student Film Festival, both arts learning initiatives of MHz NETWORKS, a Washington, DC independent, intercultural, international public television broadcaster.