Filmmaking and Animation in the Classroom My MOOC Experience.
WHY THIS COURSE?
INTRODUCTION The reason why I have selected this MOOC course in specific is due to the fact that I always liked to make videos and short movies, as it is fun and effective in promoting creativity and transmitting our ways of viewing the world into visuals that can be shared and viewed by everyone. Moreover, it is worth mentioning that my last experience with pupils from the school where I teach, made me realize that filming a play or a song or any activity, would make my students more engaged and excited without any exception as well as the learning conditions which was also fun and interesting. Hence, I was keen to look for a course where I can treasure more information and ideas to develop my movie making skills and to take my English classes to another level, a more fun one. by integrating this effective educational tool in my classroom with my students, learning English become easier. MY EXPERIENCE On the November the 20th, I have signed to this interesting course called “Filmmaking and animating in the classroom”.The course is a three weeks course; in each week there are fifteen tasks to be accomplished, Signing up was very easy: Name, email address and a password, no cost, off we go. Future learn is very simple, we had Estimated work 3-6 hours per week. The course was introduced in sections, each section had general goals and contained different examples that supports the learning process. The course had been one of the best experiences for sure,at least for me, and had provided me with many ideas to use in my classes and the school in general. Let us see how it was. WEEK 2
Five-shot filming and making In Week 1 we looked at how simple and easy it can be to introduce film and filmmaking into your lessons. We explored the principles of Shoot and Screen: Think, Plan, Create and Evaluate, we recorded a one-shot film and we examined how to screen short films for evaluation in class. The second week was very fun and helped me to add a lot of techniques to my humble knowledge in video making. In week 2 were had the chance to learn how to do make a Five shot video following the same structure of shoot, screen, think, plan, create, and evaluate.in addition to camera movement and angles, and multi-shot curricular filmmaking and associated skills. Five shot video 5,4,3,2,1 is a five-shot film activity which uses an editable brief as the basis of the task, allowing teachers to tie it into a key area of curricular focus. It is simple as it allow us to use ‘in-camera editing’ (which is simply filming the shots in the order that they’re required to play), so that external editing is not required. Films should be short and snappy, usually no more than one to two minutes. The idea here is to progress pupils’ skills beyond simple one-shot films, so they don’t need to be hugely complex productions, just a simple way of putting across an idea. Some students may require a structured brief, while others can respond to a simple one or two-line brief and break down the problem themselves.
Like this the video will be more attractive and easy to follow, we got to see an example of five-shot video created by a student about spider-man, it was very impressive and fun to watch and the five-shot technique helped in the illustration and the transmission of the message. Had tried this technique and made a short video about my brother’s hypothetical story. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKgUC7N49DE On the second week we had been presented with different examples of students-teachers five-shots, we had also seen how to move with a camera professionally in addition to camera positioning which was new to me as I had learned how different positions can create different effects; some examples of camera positioning are; top shot, low angle, face angle. Film Essay 1. Film essays demonstrate and develop visual thinking 2. The reiteration of an idea through filmmaking helps students to retain topical learning 3. Film essays grow ideas through images and sound 4. Film essays enable young people to take control of, and responsibility for, their own learning 5. A film essay can demonstrate how clearly a pupil has understood and reconceived an idea 6. The public nature of screening pupils’ work is exciting and encourages commitment to, and pride in, their work 7. Student voice is at the heart of the essay film. The narrative film Another way in which you can extend your pupils’ skills is through the creation of narrative films. Narrative films tell a story and most films that you’ll see in the cinema are narrative-based. Within the curriculum, narrative filmmaking can be used to develop a wide range of literacy and transferable skills such as idea generation, creative writing, planning skills, scriptwriting, storyboarding, working with others and many more. Writing stories helps pupils to increase their creativity, improve their literacy skills and imagination, and develop proficiency in representation and interpretation. The creation of a narrative film is usually divided into three areas: · Pre-production, which includes planning such as scriptwriting and development, storyboarding, casting, costumes, location scouting, etc. · Production which is the creation period including filming · Post-production which includes editing, sound work and color grading etc. Ideas to generate a film story Through the course we had been introduced to many suggestions and ideas and examples of how to make, generate, and create films. The following structure helps us to generate a film story. I am keen to try with students as long as I have a chance to do it. The following steps are to be taken into consideration. 1. Take a newspaper and pick two human interest stories. Combine them to create your own short script. 2. Take a family myth (e.g Uncle John once ate 12 Scotch eggs in five minutes) or funny story and re-write it as a script. 4. Watch a short film and stop it at one minute into the film. Ask yourself what you think happens next. Write three different scenarios that feature different outcomes. 5. Play a short film but switch off the visuals, listening only to the soundtrack. Write where you think the film is set, who the characters are, and what you think the storyline is. Create a script based on your scenario. 6. Use sound as a starting point: church bells, factory noise, a school playground. Ask yourself, for example, who is ringing the bells and who are they being rung for? Develop your story and cast of characters from there. 7. Take a postcard or painting and ask yourself what happened just before the image was captured or what happens next. I had tried to make a multi shots video about an activity that had been doing with my kids in the school where I teach I have used some of the techniques above such as five-shot, screening, and tried different camera angles. Here is the link to the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ghcw5ilLGUo CONCLUSION
In conclusion, all I can say about this course is that it was a remarkable, interesting, beneficial journey that has changed the way I see things and opened for me many doors to another dimension of movies creations and animation world. It had definitely left a great impact on me as it made me realize how much I admire film and video making and even gave me insights on different future plans to be considered, in which I will be investing the knowledges I gained from this MOOC course, this experience made me eager and keen to learn more about this field and made me want to dig deep in this domain to nourish my skills and strengthen my knowledge. As an English teacher I will be able to transfer my work and achievement through videos that are a visual evidence of my hard work and dedication to teaching. It is of a great pleasure to take the animation and filmmaking course in specific and the educational technology course in general. I started the course with almost empty hands, and now I reached the end of this magnificent course with filled hands, as I have learned how to shoot, screen, create, plan for videos, use videos as an assessment tool, engage students in the learning process, invest in project-based approach, animate characters and finally how to bring joy and cheerful smiles to my students as well as to myself. One thing that am sure of, which is that I will be looking forward to create more films and animations in the future with my dear students and for my personal experiences as well as learn more about this it. At last I had discovered that this has been my passion and I have to work on making it my professional career no matter what it takes. PS: Massive Thanks to Dr BRAHIM MCHAAL for suggesting taking such courses. |
WEEK 1 Why filmmaking ? The first week of the MOOC course was very informative and beneficial, we were introduced to filmmaking and its different aspects and techniques as well as its major benefits.The first question that may come to your mind is why Filmmaking and animation and how it is going to help in the learning -teaching process, well, one answer may be that is one of the projects that support the development of essential transferable skills among our pupils. As it’s not only a fun and engaging activity but can also make a real difference to a young person’s learning journey. Here is a range of ways that filmmaking can have a positive effect on our class:
In the next step, we had a look at the Shoot and Screen curricular framework, which assists teachers in developing thinking, planning, creative and evaluation skills for filmmaking projects in addition to how films can be used as a tool for assessment. This framework is cyclical in nature. Once students have evaluated their films and consulted with their peers, they are ready to return to thinking again – either by improving their film or by beginning a new film enriched by the feedback, skills and experience developed. This framework can be applied in our daily life with any activity or project we come across. As it is structured to well guide and manage projects. 1. Think: Focuses on the topic, problem or area of study, including reflection on any connections with prior learning and thinking of creative solutions. 2. Plan: Research of ideas. Planning responses through film or animation. Creation of a script or storyboard of ideas. 3. Create: Creation of a filmic, animated or audio response to the problem, question or area of study. 4. Evaluate: Screening of work for peers and discussion of the approach. Comparison of the selected approach to the work of others. Self and peer evaluation. The create phase is where a film has a unique ability to unlock learning for young people in the classroom. As it will engage them in subjects that they may not otherwise have been engaged in and the filmmaking for them, the creative side is the real output, the real hook for them to do it. once a student has had to create a short film about a given subject, whether they are interested in that subject or not by the end of that production process they will be relatively expert in that subject. Screening what we have filmed in class creates a delightful atmosphere, students enjoy watching themselves on the screen as they feel engaged and it gets them more interested in learning the subject. In my case my students started to favor English over the other subjects because of multimedia integration. At last comes the phase of evaluation, if you can give a child some pride in their work, if you can display their work, whether that be a story put up on the wall for everybody else to read, or a film for everybody else to see, having that pride in their work means the world to that child. Filmmaking and animation as an assessment tool As to my experience with my students I can say that filming through assessment helped a lot, because often some of the best things that are said in a lesson are oral things. And these are things that are then not written down on paper. So a child might have said something amazing about a certain topic but when they write it down in the conclusion it is all lost. Whereas if it is filmed, it is there as a piece of an assessment which I've got there and I can use as concrete evidence of their achievement and progress. The course suggested some idea and grids to be used I while assessing filmmaking in the classroom, some of which are; planning, analysis, writing and filmmaking, WEEK 3
Animation in the classroom In week 3 we were presented to the Shoot and Screen framework to create a curricular-themed animation for use in class. Within the Think, Plan, Create and Evaluate framework we had learned how to basically Understand frames and how animations trick the eye into perceiving movement and of course Become familiar with a range of animation techniques and their application in the classroom in addition to Recognizing different types of animation, including silhouette, paper cut out and Claymation and finally how to create a short animation that will be linked to the curriculum. The animation part is more demanding and requires a lot of work. Yet, it is very interesting for kids and young learners. From what have learned in the course it is obvious that to create an animation, we will need to develop one or more characters and create their ‘world’ in the form of a set. To be honest I wasn’t excited about this part because it is not easy to do and it is kind of difficult to come with all of the package of generating ideas and making plans and creating characters as well as bringing them to life, animate them and finally make a film. In a brief, the third week the course provided us with suggestions of how to create characters and its different types such as Armatures; These are the ‘bones’ of the character - they help to make them more sturdy and allow more realistic movements when animating. Paper cut out characters which are drawn on a paper, Attached to this step we were provided with a Cut out Character Template. Silhouette animation character, this character is very similar to the process for paper cut outs. After all, both animations use 2D. The main difference is in ensuring details, such as eyes, face features and mouth… We were also provided with ideas on how to create a setting for our characters Using recycled packaging, repurposing materials.For this step, we were presented with several ideas such as the following materials available.
The last step In the animation course was about how to bring these characters to life. But before we do so were given tips of how to frame the and light our animation setting. Then were given different softwares that can be used to make a STOP-MOTION animation film. There's a range of great software to use, when creating stop-motion animation. And iMotion. Is one of them in order to use this software the following steps are to be followed, first you will have to download it and install it then Tap the iMotion icon and tap the new movie option. Before pressing on the start button ensure that you click on the manual button this will give you greater control over your animation. Press start, but before you start shooting your animation, click the square on the top left of the screen, this initiates the onion skinning option which helps you judge the character movements better. Onion skinning shows the previous frame and your current frame at the same time. For every shot that you wish to take you should press capture four times, this is in case you need to delete any frames. It gives you an insurance policy so you won't have to redo the entire shoot. If you want to delete any frames or if you want to see how things are progressing, press stop twice. Here you can watch what you created, adjust the speed and importantly, edit your animation. In case u were interested , I recommend this animated film showing how to use Onion Skin to make an animated film: https://youtu.be/eq4kIWE4rjc And that was the end to this MOOC course, which covered different aspects of filmmaking-animation and classroom learning and organization |