Yes, not simply watching a film, but making a film from scratch, starring my pupils!
The first time this thought of mine came true was during the school year 2013-2014, at the 2nd EPA.L. (Vocational High School) of Amaliada.
My goal was to give my learners a motive to use the English language and, most importantly, to boost some of my weak and introvert pupils’ self-confidence. As Mark Andrews, a teacher trainer, says: “Treat your students as people first, learners second and learners of English third, and then maybe some English might get learnt”.
Having the support of my principal, Mr Konstantoulas, I introduced the idea to my pupils, who were initially reluctant to use English in a video that would be uploaded on the internet. Their attitude soon changed, though, as they found the procedure fun and interesting. Weaker pupils found their lines difficult, but they insisted on repeating them until we had a good ‘take’. This would not have happened during a common grammar exercise.
At first, I was planning to make only one short film in English, but my pupils got so excited that asked for more. In the first film, I just picked 4 pupils and asked them if they are interested in taking part in such an activity. After we had finished, though, many pupils approached me, asking to take part in another film. Would auditions solve the problem? Probably, but rejecting a pupil in such cases is something I am against. Everyone is capable of saying a couple of lines. As a result, I made 2 more films, so that everybody would get a role.
In such endeavors, the script is of great importance; an interesting plot, adapted to the learners’ linguistic level. Although scripts can be found on the internet, my decision was to create original material in cooperation with my pupils. The result was a short film against school bullying called “Dilemma”, an alternative crime drama, “Guilty”, and a short film in Greek against racism in schools, “Ταλέντο” (Talent). The last one was made in Greek, as it took part in a competition for short films made by schools. It is about a newcomer, who is discriminated against because of her skin colour. Her classmates change their mind, though, when they realise that she was the one who did the beautiful drawing on the blackboard. All 3 short films can be found at the youtube channel of the 2nd EPA.L of Amaliada (Δεύτερο ΕΠΑΛ Αμαλιάδας).
“Dilemma”
“Guilty”
“Ταλέντο”
Using a camera and capturing the scenes is not enough, though. Certain editing tools will turn the video into a short film. In our case, I used Windows Live Movie Maker for Windows 7(if not already included in Windows 7, download “Windows Essentials” for Windows 7), which adds a title, subtitles, music and credits to a video. Sound effects can be freely downloaded from www.freesfx.co.uk and Freemake Video Converter can be used to cut scenes and convert a video in another form, such as mp4, wmv and flv.
This was one of the most creative activities that I have done in class and if I have the chance, I will definitely do it again, as it was fun for me as well. . .
