1. EXERCISES
EXERCISE 1
Choose between option 1 and 2. If the class is divided into different groups, each group can choose the option it prefers.
Option 1:
Film the work, in 1 free sequence shot, still or moving, paying particular attention to the sound.
Based on the Lumière views and the Labour in a single shot series.
Suggestions: the same work in different countries (bakery, post office, etc).
Work that we don’t usually see, that is surprising.
Work in different places: city centres, suburbs, villages, etc.
No more than 2’ (sequence shot)
Individual exercise (preferably in horizontal format if filmed with a smartphone) or in small groups
Option 2:
Portrait of an animal, not in the familiar, close way, but by highlighting its difference, its uniqueness: its animal species, and what makes it different from other animals of its species… Pay attention to sound, details, sensations.
It could be an outdoor/a wild animal, or a « pet » animal (cat, dog, etc.).
No more than 2′ (1 to 5 shots maximum)
Individual exercise (preferably in horizontal format if filmed with a smartphone) or in small groups
EXERCISE 2
Film someone and decide how you will relate to them in the film-making:
– Remain totally external, with no relationship.
– Have a conversation with them (imagine how you will do this).
– Record a voice-over after the filming (their own voice, or a « comment » or an « address »).
No more than 2′ (5 shots maximum)
Group exercise
EXERCISE 3
Spotting and filming in small groups: each group chooses an element within the place.
Teachers and filmmakers, if they wish so, can ask their students to compose the soundtrack first (sounds of the place, a voice-over and music if required) and then edit the filmed images.
Presentation of a place that could be filmed over the seasons for the end-of-year essay film, identifying people (or groups of people) who are there and who could also become characters in the documentary film.
No more than 3′
Group exercise
II. THE END-OF-YEAR DOCUMENTARY FILM
This year, the film will be made in a fairly free way, but over the course of the whole school year. The film may be inspired by the research and location scouting in the various exercises.
The central theme of the film could be: exploring a place / one or more protagonists / following an event that is being prepared over time, etc.
Methodology: alternating moments of filming and editing over the months of the workshop.
This method means that the workshop participants have to decide quite early on, at the beginning of the year, which « others » they want to approach through film, and in which space.
For instance: a class chooses to film the people who frequent a nearby public garden, filming some of the protagonists in exercise 3 (for example: a gardener whose work could be followed throughout the seasons; people who clean up in the evening; someone who has to cross the garden every day to get to work; a baby sitter who often comes to take a baby around; a man who often walks there with his dogs; a homeless person who has made it his temporary territory, etc.).
It is preferable to avoid filming inside schools.
No more than 10 minutes (including credits)