Subtitles

image from www.freeimages.co.uk

After trying to make out what the girls are saying in their talking heads section...
it was decided that subtitles would be a better option to help an audience not trained in linguistics!!!!

That came from the group ..... in our regular film slot........

why not use English subtitles!

What a group....:-)

Sharing music

image from Baptiste Pons, 2005 @ flickr.com

The girls are giggling as they writhe and move to the tinny bassless beats coming from a mobile phone. It sits on the desk spitting out its lyrics and high frequencies. It’s a sort of RnB come hip hop mix…by someone I don’t recognise. But then again I don’t recognise much stuff that’s out these days. Anicka politely tells me the name of the group, without prompting. I haven’t heard of them, I guess they are from the states or here.

More often than not I have to get the students to use headphones in the IT sessions, as this music disrupts others. On the positive side I am getting to hear some new music. Before, when we had a weekly radio slot we could share this music, but now the station is down the only way we share music is online or through mobiles. Both ways have a nasty bass to the sound.

Video sites

image by HH-Michael, 2008 @ flickr.com

Video sites are featuring more in my classes. This is due to a timetabled session in an IT suite. We are able to use listening sites and video. It's interesting to see which students like using video sites.They turn on their machines and plug in the headphones. Within minutes Marcin is logged onto a music video site and is singing the words out of tune. “At least it is in English”, I reassure myself. Pavel is watching a short film which has been sent him from his country. He calls me over to watch it with him. I am drawn to it, but know I must attend to the class. He is immersed in it. He keeps playing the film over and over again. It seems he is day dreaming, but at the same time attached to the screen by an invisible cord.

IT Session 2

image from www.freeimages.co.uk

Just taken on a couple of volunteers to help in the IT sessions.

This leaves me to free up some time to give one to one support to some of the boys who really need it.

I am not sure how it will work out on Windows Movie Maker. We will see!

The thing is I am giving them the help they need. A couple of students in the class are on fire! They seem to lap up everything that they are asked to take on. These are the ones I think will be useful to have as a core editing group.

Praxis

Many of the reflections have taken place immediately and resulting in a change of practice. This praxis has initially been experimental within the video making concept. Ideas have been brought to light then squashed immediately. The ditching comes from an awareness that the task has no further use. This was particularly noticeable in the collection of mobile phone images.

The lighting was ideal on this summers day. Lots of the guys were wearing T-shirts. Not everyone was feeling comfortable with each other. I could sense an unease. Not from the activity, but how some of the students were going about the activity. I knew it was an experiment. Just see where it goes. Suddenly two of the girls start yelping. One of them seems genuinely distressed. “leave me alone” shouts Micaela. I walk over with a confident manner. I ask what is going on. Pushtar has his phone incredibly close to Micaela’s face. It is disturbingly close. I tell Pushtar to leave her alone. Take some other shots…. “Maybe of the scenery”

5 minutes later and Micaela’s calling again. This time it’s Markuse who has his phone pointed at her. I’ve had enough. It’s meant to be a bit of fun, but I think some of the guys have become too personal. A way of attacking another student. “OK that’s it. We’re going back to college”

For the most part the activity worked. Students managed to collect images to be used in a digital story.

At other times the reflection has taken place after the event in a separate location.

JesseB

image by technochick, 2007 @ flickr.com

Stroke of luck to meet this guy! Sometimes that's how it works though.

He leaves the stage with rapturous applause. I grab him and tell him the nature of the project, and ask if he would like to be a part of it. In his New Orleans/New York twang he responds with delight. I arrange to pick up the recordings a few days later. I play them to the class. They ask where they come from. They love the tracks.

They seem to fit with the youthfulness of the film. NICE!!!!

Neo culturalism

The gang are putting their ideas together faster than I thought. They want to mix it up a bit.....one group are experimenting with one context (environmental work) the other outdoor sports....

Everyone has a role ..... a role that is seen as an active member of the group...

What we are seeing is an amalgamation of cultures interspersed with their contribution. It;s a sort of neo culturalism. Where a mix of cultures is combined using the home culture as the bond

Mini movies

Some of the quicker students have got to grips with the basics of movie maker...

It's a nice little practice for the bigger project....It doesn't need a lot of work on it.

I really like it when some of them say..."I want to do it at home!" Where do you ever hear that....looks like a good option for them.

Let's keep them all coming...hopefully we can get some of the IT illiterates onto Movie Maker pronto!

IT Session

image from www.freeimages.co.uk

The idea behind the IT sessions is to see which students are capable of working with digital media, and to train those who are not up to a level where they can carry out basic editing functions.

The European students are really flying along. It is easy to see that they have been educated in this area for considerable time.

Some of the Kurdish and Afghan students are finding it difficult fulfilling basic tasks. These along with the African students need alot more time with individual support.

Submission

image from www.freeimages.co.uk

We had decided to see if we could show the finished piece on the BBC Big Screen in Plymouth Piazza. Well why not?

After receiving details from the BBC as to what is needed for form a valid submission, the group and I discussed how to go about the mission.

1. Music that we can obtain copyright release without a fee!
2. No obscenities
3. Not a marketing tool
4. Decent quality

We needed to get to work

Title Markers 2

image from www.freeimages.co.uk


The adoption of several different fonts proved to be fun, but problematic for the observers (me and the core group). Varying stles did not seem easy on the eye. Decision time for a standard font. This was important as it was going to have an impact of how the video would be seen from an outsiders point of view. It was interesting that the reworking of a standard font seemed to take a long time to achieve. I think this may have been the playing around with the fonts/colours which were available.

Aligning and sizing o fthe text was proving to take a long long time.....to be continued!

Hi Def work

image from www.freeimages.co.uk

This has taken a bit more skill in terms of editing....as they have needed to synch the audio and video files.

With my guidance they have come up with some nice work....

Slick frame transitions and keeping the important stuff in!

There was a small rift in the core group here as they were editing their own interviews...conflict between those who thought they deserved more airplay, and the most committed members of the team....led to decisions being finalised in a diplomatic way...with a fair amount of time being contributed by each person.

One problem....cant really hear what the girls are saying!

Title Markers

image from www.freeimages.co.uk

This was a new area of the editing process. Adding captions....

The group decided that I should be the secretary. They were getting me to write down what they wanted to say at each part of the film. I was scripting the ideas they had.

This was probably the most straight forward part of the editing/production process. My relationship with the students was developing further, in a different dimension/area. Exploring their own attitudes to themselves and the film which was gradually making its own narrative, was part of the process here.

Media Crew

image from www.freeimages.co.uk

What is so nice at the moment is the fact that we have got a core crew....

Their input has been really crucial....

They have been able to play with the editing and produce something which is OK...
seeing as it is the first time they have utilsed this software...and the first time
they have carried out such a task.

What came out of the first stages of editing was that there needed to be something in the film to break up.....the imagery and the monotone feeling that it had around....the footage the students have shot.

ENTER THE MEDIA CREW.......

This group of people have been happy to help shoot some footage using HiDef Cameras and decent quality audio.

The core group...were there...to answer interview questions...they are stars in the making.....

They responded really well to the whole experience of a crew working with them...

Lets see how they are able to work with this media.

Editing

image from www.freeimages.co.uk

This was a difficult first task. I was just getting into learning how to use some of the basic functions in Adobe Premiere.

Then I had to coach the students how to use it. It proved even more difficult as, only one computer at one time could be used. Therefore a core group of 4 students were able to participate. I would be able to give advice from the sidelines...seeing how their ideas developed.

Anicka and Sonya....were into using the equipment...although they were not used to working with a mac. This was a small hurdle, as once they had learned how to cut material things started to progress quicker.

We have left each session as though we had not really achieved much in the way of final material, but more of how we overcame the problems of the software and hardware.

Have really got to do back up copies of everything......as soon as!

How to start editing?

It's the time to get the group together to see where the project is going. Anicka and Sonya as always adopt their couldn’t care less attitude. Anicka shrugs her shoulders to say she doesn’t mind. Sonya hardly speaks. Mik, Norddin, Serban and Aito all have their own ideas. Mik is clearly telling me that he doesn’t want to be in the film. “I never signed the authorisation paper”. That means his picture is not in the film.

It is up to me to question the group with yes/no answers.
Do you want to include beach cleaning?
Maybe
Do you want to include rock climbing
Yes
Do you want to include working in the woods?
Yes
Do you want to…….and so it goes on

It looks like we are gonna have to get a few core members onto this one.

Camera work

image by gruntzuki, 2008 @ flickr.com

Shad looks as though he is in charge. In a sense he is. He delves into the close proximity of others through the zoom function. He walks around suddenly surprising people with his guerrilla tactics. One minute he is hiding behind a rock, the next he is in your face. The camera is his veil of protection. He is more confident to approach others with this machine at his side.

Michel holds the camera and starts giggling. She is recording but she is aiming it all over the place. “I don’t know what to film!” she cries. Raquel comes over and tells her to point it at some of her class mates. She aims it at them for a bit, but them hands it over to another member of the group. She shrugs her shoulders and tells me she doesn’t like it.

Camera 3

image from www.freeimages.co.uk


The camera has been round the whole class now. Some of the students are asking for it and can't wait to get their hands on it. There seems to be alot of footage where students are covering themselves as they don't like to be filmed. Unfortunately there is some decent footage where this is happening. Maybe it can be edited later.

There is also a bit of a problem with the sound on this wonderfully portable camera....
Portability has left one issue sound quality...and also image quality...

When the camera is still the images are ok....there still is lots of movement even with image stabilising.

Group Meeting

image from www.freeimages.co.uk


The plan was hatched. Some students thought it was a good idea to make a film about their experiences on their course. Others couldnt see the point. "To let new students know exactly what the course is like!" I said

Some had never even thought of such an idea. My job was to get them involved!

Tough but worthwhile....if the vision developed

The IT divide

image by unfurled, 2008 @ flickr.com

I walk into the class, which is being held in a computer suite, with banks of computers in rows. Sonya, Serban, Anicka and Tia are already experimenting with editing. It is clear that these students have spent some time using computers. I remember the conversations we had previously. Anicka said that she spent most of her free time chatting, as did Sonya. Chatting online!

Tomako and Mena are becoming angry. I don’t know if it is me or something else. Then I notice that they needed help using the IT. They start saying that they want to learn how to operate the machines. Ema looks blankly at me and then starts in her familiar way of sort of half shouting half speaking that she doesn’t know how to use the computer. “I told you before”, she says. Surely all 17 year olds know how to use a computer. Not if they have come from war torn Iraq or Congo they don’t. Then I ask her to pair up with someone who does know.

Camera 2

image from www.freeimages.co.uk

Shad seems to enjoy using the camera.... he wants to take shots of everything that we do....I am letting him as it keeps him quiet.

SO of the other guys: Adan and Moryl have enjoyed using the camera...they seem to get a sense of power, or a sense of directorship, asking other students to complete tasks, pose and get into shot.

Looking at some of the footage. There is lots of flitting between distance and close up shots. The shots move quickly and there is not much thought gone into planning a shot, panning and zooming slowly.

I have tried to get them to experiment with some shots but I can't push them.

They aren't film students they are students who want to be citizens!!!!

Camera

image from www.freeimages.co.uk

Finally my department have agreed to me buying a digital video camera.

This is going to make filming clips so much easier than booking out the equipment every time we need to. We have free reign. Learning how to use it will be part of the project. I am sure that many of the students will pick it up and really get to grips with it quickly.