That's A Wrap - Film making in Year 6

Normally my blog reflects on many things in my trainee teaching process however today I want to shout out about how impressed I am yet again with my Yr 6's. 

As most of you who read this blog will know, last week I taught the two classes how to make a storyboard for a suspense film,, delegate tasks in their groups of 6 and then film footage in their chosen locations across the school. This week the editing teams have been hard at work learning how to use the ULead Video editing software, and from what I have seen so far has proven that despite any ability in the so-called academic subjects, there are a lot of children who have the technical and creative minds to use a computer and assemble a 2-3 min film that all professional film makers would be chuffed with.

The lesson was very different from the usual IT learning because it is a new programme for the pupils to use. I hadn’t used it before so had to research into it and ensure I was confident in my own learning.

This work was done in small groups and based around Suspense story films. At the end of the lesson they could edit film footage by selecting scenes to crop or cut, crop and paste scenes to make it flow chronologically,

I asked a series of questions based around the technical vocab used in the lesson starter. Most were able to respond accordingly whilst the others gave vague responses which were improved on during the lesson. All children were completely on task and engaged in their work.

This was an overall good lesson and one that I will remember for many reasons. I used lots of vocabulary and ensured it was only relevant to that particular lesson. The children used the terms appropriately and this is key because cut and crop are used for ‘delete and keep only the parts needed’.

I linked to other subjects and made links clear to the children so that they were able to see they were learning transferable skills. This is important because otherwise some children may feel – why bother.

Modelling was essential in this lesson because of the new programme being used although rather than patronise the children by showing them how to do it, I gave them a set of instructions that were easy to follow. Previous IT subject knowledge was used with the simple command keys.

For the next lesson I would refer to the LO at least 3x in the lesson and teach against the SC. Although I could tick off which ones the pupils has achieved, I didn’t explicitly talk about it and check with the children that they could do what was listed.

An assessment opportunity is to use more of the key vocabulary knowledge.

I can't wait to be invited back to the school (whilst on my second placement) to come and watch the final products at the Oscar's event. There is still some minor adjustments to do including the need to add sound effects but I am confident that even if this doesn't get completed until I leave the school, the children in each group can use their skills to finish the job.

Setting the scene: Using the children’s imagination to film suspense stories

Taking part in a filming unit is something I didn’t encounter until I was in College studying for my BTEC and even then I only used the Media Studies students to film a play that I directed. However over the next few weeks I will be teaching every year 6 student how to take a story of their own collaborative imagination, shoot it on school grounds, and edit it using software that is usually only brought in at GCSE or A-Level. This will certainly be a challenge to create 10 films but I am confident after this week’s filming schedule, that there will be 10 short films made that highlight the children’s wonderful work.

Last term the children were asked to work in selected groups of 6 and these were based on mixed ability and also how well they should be able to work together. Everyone had their say and this was managed by choosing one person to be the scribe, one to ensure everyone spoke and everyone’s ideas were written down for consideration.

During the lesson I took for English last week, I taught a lesson on how to put the film ideas on to a storyboard and this was to form the base of their filming. A director from each group was decided and at least one or two camera operators as well. The rest acted in the film.

This was a good opportunity to use my previous career subject knowledge from when I worked in the TV and film industry. I picked up tips and advice on; how to act in front of camera, where to stand for specific camera angles, ensure the continuity was the same when filming from a different angle but same scene, how to direct a scene and get the best out the location and props, which camera angles to choose for specific suspense purpose.

On top of this I introduced them to the correct terms; camera rolling, action, cut, 1^st positions, etc. By giving commands/instructions to the director and camera operators, it made filming a lot easier because the actors soon realised they could only commence acting when told to do so.

Over the 10 films I realised a few were starting to have the same start/ending, so I mentioned this to the groups and recommended they change some of the scenes. The main stories were based on someone going back to find something they left behind, being grabbed by a mysterious something/one, finding themselves locked inside a room with no way out. Although a few of the groups really wanted to stick to their original plans, I was able to highlight the reasons behind changing the story and explained that a different ending will be more suspenseful because the audience won’t see it coming.

During the week I saw a lot of natural talent in both the acting and directing. There were some good moments from those who are normally shy or don’t always have a chance to put their view across – yet in this situation they managed to speak up and show a lot of creativity. This is why this project is a great idea as it allows children from all abilities of learning to showcase different talents and develop new ones.

Hopefully I will be able to see this progress into the end of year production in which the whole year group put on a play that involves not just acting but singing and dancing. Teaching Math’s English and the other written subjects may be a big part of school life and I certainly kept up with doing my best until I went to University but there needs to be a change in emphasis on children only concentrating on these areas. Often getting the best out of a child isn’t through reading and writing but through the use of art. At our school we have an excellent arts programme and there are many workshops, clubs and other opportunities for the children to express themselves creatively.

Next week it is the turn of those who wanted to be film editors to turn the footage into a finished article with sound effects, cut and paste scenes into each other, and select other effects to make a truly suspenseful film.  

Stepping up into 60% Teaching

First week back and it was a full on action packed timetable. I have been asked to use my filming background to assist both Year 6 classes with planning, directing and editing their group suspense films. There are 10 films to be made and the teachers have to come up with a plan that enables everyone to film their scenes and have a slot available on the PC’s to use a software programme called ULead. I spent a few days researching YouTube clips on ways to edit their films. At the end of the week they are expected to have come up with a story, bullet points breaking down the scenes, and finally a storyboard in which the director of each group can use when overseeing the filming.

My first observed lesson of the term did not go to plan. Its objective was to focus on the countries in South America but in order to do so I had to introduce an atlas, the 7 continents and what countries were to be found in each. I spent too much time on the initial tasks which were to label a map of the world and a map of South America. The time spent on the carpet was too long and I think I am used to seeing this classroom on it during a lot of other lessons. My mentor who is next door, hardly uses a carpet because it’s uncomfortable and a lot of the children are starting to get taller and it’s unfair for them to be on the floor too long. I did however have eye contact with all and there was a lot of interaction when I asked them to discuss the continents and countries in question.

When they did eventually progress to their tables, the tasks took much longer than anticipated and I didn’t introduce the atlas early enough. Had I done so, I feel the class could have labelled the continents sooner and there would have been time for the final task which was to find 5 fascinating facts about South America. My mentor told me during the meeting we had afterwards, that after asking different children what they thought they were learning, a few said; to label a map or learning about countries and continents, but not that they were learning about countries in South America. I need to be more explicit when teaching a lesson.

On Thursday I encountered a teaching first. I took my mentor's class for the entire day and this helped to establish myself with the children, and also prove that I can work through the entire day. My favourite part was teaching what to include when drawing and detailing film storyboards. I gave them a little insight into my past and let them know I used to work in the filming industry but kept out my acting secrets. The 5 groups busily discussed their ideas and split into smaller groups to make A3 storyboards. Each had 8 scenes or parts to the film and I asked them to include locations, camera angles, characters needed in each scene, and length to be shown.

Next week I will be going out with each film group and assist them with the editing process.