Filmmaking for Social Change: Building a Documentary from Start to Finish

Description

Teenagers have strong opinions about justice and social issues but need guidance about how to get their voices heard.

Instead of complaining or feeling anxious about the state of the world, why not try to do something positive to improve it?

This course is designed to give teenagers a voice and inspire them to participate in democratic change. It also provides teachers with the skills and tools to help them reach their goals.

Over five days participants will make their own short documentary, learning by doing.

First, they will analyze effective audio-visual examples to understand what makes content persuasive and effective.

Then, step-by-step, they will be guided to make a movie (using mobile phones and free software) and finally encouraged to send it to those with influence to make change happen.

The cause could be something local and simple, like removing single-use plastic from school lunches, or it could be a more ambitious social project, such as fighting discrimination or injustice.

Participants can choose a theme that is important to their context or area.

Through effective classroom management, roles are assigned: script writers, actors, producers, editors, audio and lighting, publicists, and distributors all have their responsibilities made clear, and a short movie is made.

Then participants will be engaged in the process of distribution, sharing, and sending it to those in a position to make a difference and evaluate the results.

By the end of the course, participants will have the skills to design and carry out a complete project, from concept to distribution, that can be immediately implemented in their school.

Learning outcomes

The course will help participants to:

• Become confident in enabling movie-making in a school setting;
• Use simple digital tools to make, edit, and share a film;
• Gain insight into content creation and distribution,
• Design a project that can be instantly implemented in their school.

Tentative schedule

Day 1 – Course introduction

• Introduction to the course, the school, and the external week activities;
• Icebreaker activities;
• Presentations of the participants’ schools;
• Key information for working with young people and video production.

Day 2 – Pre-production

• Analysis of case studies: what makes clear and captivating media pieces?;
• Classroom management: role definition and distribution;
• Subject investigation – how to talk about change with teens.
• Make your own Storyboards and write an interview.

Day 3 – Production

• Cameras and sound;
• Filming and media collection;
• Theory into practice: make your footage.

Day 4: Post-production

• Simple video editing on phones using free software (In Shot, CutCap..);
• Sound, image, and subtitles.

Day 5 – Dissemination and distribution

• The Premieres and The Oscars!;
• Forms of distribution. Social media, YouTube, local news, and school Web Page;
• Dissemination and results analysis.

Day 6 – Course closure and cultural activities

• Course evaluation: round-up of acquired competencies, feedback, and discussion;
• Awarding of the course Certificate of Attendance;
• Excursion and other external cultural activities.