Swept Away, Fugleflick by 4th graders
I've been entering my students' videos (Fugleflicks) into film festivals for 6 years now and I'm only just beginning to realize what they've been lacking all along.... PROOF.
I remember being in the audience of a international film fest a few years ago watching all movies in my students' category before the judges announced the winner. I was thinking,
I remember being in the audience of a international film fest a few years ago watching all movies in my students' category before the judges announced the winner. I was thinking,
I know I'm biased, but my students' video is so much cleaner, communicates better, is oozing with creativity, and the audience loves it. How could there be any question as to who would win?
Swept Away screening at festival
But they didn't. The audience even gasped with surprise when the other filmmakers were announced as the winner. This particular festival gave the teachers feedback forms from the judges showing comments and scores from their rubric. I read many encouraging comments, but one stood out to me: "Too good. Did the teacher make it?"
Students filming Swept Away
That was very frustrating to read. My students had spent two months of their lunch recesses participating in every aspect of the movie-making experience from storyboarding to editing. They did take after take to get it right doing the best they could with our consumer grade tech in our little art room.
Singing her heart out
They were so warm and supportive of each other during the filming that they all felt comfortable enough to sing their little hearts out as if they had just stepped off broadway.
(See their video, Swept Away.)
My objective as an art teacher is to help my students approach movie-making as an art form while learning to collaborate, be creative, and problem-solve. I want them to strive for artistry and try their best in all they do. So, the final product may look "too good" for what one might expect of a group of 10 year olds.
(See their video, Swept Away.)
My objective as an art teacher is to help my students approach movie-making as an art form while learning to collaborate, be creative, and problem-solve. I want them to strive for artistry and try their best in all they do. So, the final product may look "too good" for what one might expect of a group of 10 year olds.
What I'm trying to do now is add a bit of proof to the video before I submit it to a film festival. This is not what I do for Fugleflicks in general. I like to keep them short and to the point so that teachers can interject them into a lesson to introduce or teach art concepts. But the FULL VERSION of a video needs to have a bit of behind the scenes to help erase any doubts from the minds of judges that it truly was made by children.
Here is our FULL VERSION of Elementary Musical (less than 4 mins)
Here is our FULL VERSION of Elementary Musical (less than 4 mins)
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