Teaching Film Production and Theory ... to Kids

A

ASchear

Well-known member
I got hired at a new job recently as a film teacher at a summer camp. Sounds pretty easy, but there's a catch - the camp is for children ages 4 through 12.

I'm really excited about the job, which starts a week from tomorrow and runs for 6 weeks (2x three week sessions) up to late July, but it's a little daunting and I need to submit my lesson plans this week. Naturally I had to move this weekend, so I wasn't able to get much besides thinking done on the lesson plans. I know that I can't just go in there and teach them like I'd teach college freshman or even high school students. The class periods at the camp run 50 minutes, and I've been told my objectives are, in order: 1. The kids are safe. 2. The kids have fun. 3. The kids learn. At the end of each 3 week session, the families come in, and I'm responsible for showing a 30 to 60 second short with each of 5 age groups.

Does anyone have any experience teaching film production and theory? Teaching kids? A combination of both? Advice would be appreciated!!!
 
No experience teaching kids, but I'd say make them do an in-camera edit. That way, you stay away from the computer and they just shoot. With the older bracket, they could probably write a script themselves.
 
I used to do film teaching stuff a few years ago for the kids' section at a film festival.
Me and a bunch of other people were hired to teach kids to make films. We'd have a cheap camchorder each and a laptop with Pinacle Studio, and would work in groups. We'd get a group of around 5 kids (ages 7-12) and in two or three hours our job was to go from coming up with an idea to having a finished 1 or 2 minute film that they'd get to bring home on DVD.

What you do in situations like that is, you sit down with the kids and ask them what they want the film to be about.
The first kid that answers, that's what you do.
You NEVER ask the others if they agree. If they don't, they will tell you.
Then, ask them what they want to play based on the idea, and what happens in the film. Then take the camera and just shoot it and let them watch you edit it together while you explain what you do.
That's the only way to do it in 2-3 hours.

I once made a film called STAR WARS AND THE PRINCESSES with an unusually large group of small kids. That was my favorite.
All the disney princesses and Leia were at the castle playing, and Darth Maul sent off Jango Fett to give snow white a poisoned apple. She ate the apple and died, so Jango went back to Darth Maul, but as it turned out, she was only faking it so Darth Maul got angry with Jango and killed him instead. The End.
 
Keep it simple. Have them focus on capturing the story and not get bogged down too much on the theory. 4-12 is a young age, so keep it FUN and SIMPLE, and don't expose them to the drudgery and really tough aspects of film-making...you will lose them forever. There is time for them to learn about that later, when they can understand it better and the reasons behind it.

LOL, it's summer camp. Not NYFA. Give them fun memories to think about when they are adults reminiscing about how they got interested in film. You have a awesome responsibility and opportunity to shape future film-makers. Kind of jealous.
 
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I worked at a camp about 7 years ago, and they had a film production program, and at the time I was Program Director of "Secret Agent Camp". I worked hand in hand with the Production Program. Trust me, the action genre was huge with them......

Dude, YOU are going to have fun too.
 
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