June 22nd - Journal: How will I teach film/editing techniques in classroom?

How do I plan to teach film/editing techniques in my classroom?

Thankfully, I have a background in photography, so many of the lesson plans I have already developed regarding use of composition, color, lighting apply directly to filmmaking.

In a lesson on film and editing techniques, I would show a short video clip to my students, a section of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy clip would work great for this project, and have everyone watch the clip at least three time, the first time just taking notes on everything they take in the first time through, and then I would present them with a list of other things to consider, the sound and lighting, camera angles, use of dialogue, costumes, and effects. I expect that they will be surprised on how much more they will pick up on the second and third time through. Then we could have a discussion on how what different options the director might have used for that same scene and how they might have affected the story or our perception of what was happening. Another activity, time provided, would be to take a school camcorder and recreate a scene from a book or a movie in several different formats, using different props, angles, sound effects, and lighting for different effects, discussing the various implications each decision makes on that version.