Online Learning: Film Assignment Hilariously Captures Student Experience

Online Learning: Film Assignment Hilariously Captures Student Experience

With no access to the studios, equipment, and surroundings at WAB, Film Teacher EJ Callahan had to completely overhaul the approach to learning in Film Studies. Student filmmakers are exercising their creativity and imagination to maximize their course experience.

“For the most part,” she said, “students have responded positively and, in some ways, submitted even more innovative work than usual.”

Some learning activities, like drawing storyboards, lend themselves well to learning remotely. But in a highly collaborative, active, and hands-on subject, students faced a unique challenge. They had to re-strategize, adapt to changing lessons, and utilize any available technology and tools, EJ said.

A recent film assignment focused on cross-cutting, the art of cutting back and forth between two scenes as a way to build suspense and create tension.

 

Students got creative with their smartphones and computers to film their scenes and took advantage of free editing software to produce their cross-cutting scenes. One Grade 10 student, Jodi, produced a hilarious progression entitled, “The Struggles of Online Learning,” which you can watch at the top of this page.

“This assignment not only effectively developed their cinematography and editing skills, but it got the students up and moving around their homes, hotels, or other alternative locations,” EJ said. “The overall results of their final products were stunning. I was proud to see how far they had come with their technical skills and how creative they could get with fewer resources.

With film comes critique. Feedback and analysis are integral to the learning process in film. The classes have been engaging on VoiceThread. Students upload their films with a written reflection and receive a wide range of feedback.

For many teachers like EJ, remote learning has also been a force for professional growth. She plans to use several of these new engagement strategies even when learning on campus returns to “normal.”

While we all wish to be back on campus, the resilience and determination we have seen as a community is inspiring.

As EJ put it, “Limited resources sometime ignites more creativity from the students. My students are extraordinary. They really can do anything they put their mind to.”

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