Professional Practice: Research

As part of the pre-production process for my commission, I watched a couple of teacher training films to look at how it can be done, this will help me decide who I could do it.

RESEARCH

These are the three films I watched:

This is what I learnt from the film:

- They're not very interesting. I think if you really want someone to pay attention to and learn something from the film, you should make it interesting. I will try my best to make the story interesting.

- They're entirely made up of footage from lessons. This film will be the opposite of that, using interviews to tell the story, with the lessons footage as an overlay. I feel by allowing the teachers to tell the story, rather than the lesson footage, or a voice over, the teachers watching are more likely to understand. I also feel the teachers will explain their methods better than a voice over artist using a script written by me.

- Using a multi-cam setup for the lessons is the way to go. By using two cameras I can get twice the shots in a short space of time. I will need close ups and wides, so using two cameras is the best thing to do. I will probably use one handheld, and one static camera.

- The students play a part in the film too. The school would like me to feature and interview students too, which is clearly the right thing to do. The film is aimed at helping teachers improve their lessons, and I think by seeing the positive reactions of some students, they will be more likely to accept the methods being suggested in the film.

Along with all the information I have already learnt on this course about filming interviews and actuality, and this new information, I think I know everything I need to know to produce a good film for the school.