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Video Storytelling

J-Term students learn how to create short films, all in one week

Por Harvard Education

30 de January de 2015

DON’T KNOW HOW TO MAKE A MOVIE? LET’S MAKE THREE. IN ONE WEEK.

January Term at the Harvard Graduate School of Education is a special time of year. Most of the students have just nine months to learn as much as they can, before heading out to make differences in the field of education. J-Term gives those who opt in the chance to pack in an extra bit more learning during their time on Appian Way; in particular, offering opportunities to get hands-on experience in skills not covered elsewhere.

STS-43: Video Storytelling epitomized this kind of opportunity, giving students with no filmmaking experience an immersive introduction to video production, editing, and storytelling theory, ending with a project showcase — all in 12 hours of class time, spread out over four days.

Instructor Iman Rastegari gives editing pointers to Ana Medina (Ed.M. Candidate, Special Studies)

MOVIE PRODUCTION, IN ONE DAY

These students weren’t just learning about making videos for the first time — they were experiencing a true hands-on crash course on the filmmaking process. After covering the basics of visual storytelling theory and outlining their short films, the students were given just one class period to film the footage.

One of the student crews plans their next shot

Divya Somasundaram and Author Anderson create a makeshift dolly to film a moving shot

Filming a flashback scene from "Ripple Effects"

Participants were given access to camera equipment from HGSE’s IT department, and many chose to film with their smartphone cameras using special tripod mounts. This was directly aligned with the aim of the seminar: empowering students to use the tools they already have to tell video stories.

Author Anderson (Ed.M. candidate, School Leadership) uses a smartphone tripod mount to film a scene

Assembling the pieces

After they finished filming, the students brought their videos into Final Cut Pro for editing. Working to craft their stories with intention, they pared down excess footage, arranged and re-timed cuts, and added transitions, titles, music, and sound effects.

To maximize time and hands-on editing experience, teams often edited multiple sections simultaneously

Headphone splitters allowed multiple team members to hear project audio from each computer

Team members took turns at the editing stations, and worked together to give feedback

The Big Premiere

After an intense week of planning, filming, and editing, the week of learning was capped off by a screening of the three student groups’ short films. Open to family, friends, and classmates, the screening included Q&As with the newly-minted filmmakers and a group debrief of the week’s experience.