Well, they love it. They LOVE to film, they love to BE FILMED, they love to share their ideas. I love watching them squeal with enthusiasm and delight!
The practical part of my brain (my ‘Type A’ side) knew that we needed to have a common language if we were going to communicate “on set”, and efficiently use the equipment in collaborative ways. Saying “can you twist the thing” wouldn’t do; we needed to develop a common language that enabled us to communicate in specifics. It’s funny because I thought the activity would be fast and functional and didn’t anticipate that they’d enjoy it so much.
The activity? Its pretty simple – watch the video, fill in the blanks. Truth be told, I thought the video would probably be too long and (relatively) boring for the kids, but they loved it. They watched and re-watched. They were so KEENLY interested in learning how the podcaster studio worked because THEY wanted to use it, not watch me use it. Ha! I love their enthusiasm and honesty. So, they were committed and they learned about the different parts of the studio.
And once we had a common language… we started filming. We practiced as a group at first, learning how to move the equipment, centre shots, adjust the microphone and light levels. They took turns filming, directing, and ‘set-managing’ and we shared a lot of laughs. They decided to practice using ‘powerful and emotive speaking voices’ by reading/speaking our recent #pinkshirtday poetry (see previous post HERE).
And THIS is were it got interesting…. they wanted to keep filming, they wanted to ‘make a movie,’ and they wanted to post this to our twitter account. So they did!