Home - Animation - Video - Projects - Image Manipulation - IWBs - Interactive - Presentations - Multimedia Tutorials - Other Tutorials - Art Links - Gallery - About

The London Architecture Biennale 2004 (video stills).

Top

• Document art department events like exhibitions of work with digital video - this is far more immediate and dynamic than using digital photos in a PowerPoint presentation - for induction of new students and open evenings. Include snippets of exhibiting pupils talking about their work.
• Record educational visits to sculpture parks or any school journeys to cultural hot spots like Paris, Florence or Barcelona - add a soundtrack/voiceover to the footage to create virtual visits for future use. Galleries may not allow you to film their permanent collections or temporary exhibitions, but you can take exterior shots and film vox pop interviews with pupils or other visitors on location, then insert still images of the artwork into the movie during editing. It's worth noting that European museums and galleries are much more relaxed about visitors taking photos and using camcorders than British ones.
• Produce a documentary-style 'interview' of a famous artist, with students role-playing. Question the artist about a specific work, their life and times, an exhibition they showed in, a major event in their lives, or a key commission. For example, they could interview Michelangelo about getting a commission to decorate the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel; ask Matisse for his reaction to headline-grabbing reviews of the first Fauves' exhibition in 1905; talk to Van Gogh impatiently awaiting Gaugin on the eve of his fateful visit to the Yellow House in Arles; find out how Tracey Emin feels about the destruction of her tent titled Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963-1995 in a warehouse fire. Interviews or commentaries could be given a youth treatment or feature a more traditional art critic such as Brian Sewell, Tim Marlow, Waldemar Januszczak, or Channel 4'sTurner Prize presenter Matthew Collings.
• Film your demonstrations of new processes such as mono-printing, clay slabbing, plaster casting. Either recruit another teacher to do the filming or organise a small crew of older pupils (great for their Records of Achievement). The videos can be used to recap during a project, for absentees, for cover lessons and for future demonstrations.
• Make a Health and Safety video to illustrate the main safety issues to consider when using equipment in the art department, and involve pupils in identifying these, as well as in planning the most effective way to communicate them to their peers. 
• Film reactions to a largish artwork or domestic object like an old armchair sited temporarily in a series of unexpected public locations such as a park, beach, pavement.

• Create paper costumes or masks to make a painting come to life - one of William Hogarth's Rake's Progress series, Mr and Mrs Andrews by Thomas Gainsborough, Edouard Manet's The Execution of Maximilian, Picasso's Guernica.
•  
• Make a series of short movies on the theme of 'Erasure' and play them in a loop, so that the action is constantly replayed. Film a chalk or pastel pavement drawing during its creation, then as people walk over it, or as it is washed away by rain (use a watering can/hosepipe in dry weather); messages being written on a steamed up window and wiped clear; sand drawings or sculptures washed away by the tide; graffiti on a dirty vehicle wiped away; a pencil drawing in a sketchbook being drawn and rubbed out; writing in foam; make up being applied and removed.  
• A similar series of mini movies could explore the theme of 'Shadows' or 'Time' using projection and mood music. Project the finished video onto white cloth e.g. draped curtains, stirred by an electric fan; white painted or draped objects; white plaster casts of bodies or parts of bodies. Experiment by using editing features that allow you to manipulate time by speeding it up or slowing it down. Try playing other sequences in real time with no cuts.
• Develop ideas on the theme of one of the four elements - earth, air, fire and water. The movies could be linked by a common visual thread - for example, an item of clothing, an old photograph, a discarded toy, or an ephemeral sculpture constructed from found local materials such as leaves - could 'star' in each movie and undergo a different elemental transformation.
• Make a stop-frame animation either with your camcorder's still picture function or by taking photos with a digital camera and importing them into the timeline of your video editing software in sequence.
• Visually interpret a piece of text like a poem or a single word. Focus on a specific colour to evoke the mood of the piece. Or ask students to find ways of filming some of the text integrally within their movie e.g. words in street signs, graffiti, newspaper headlines. In collaboration with the music department this could also be extended to interpreting a piece of music composed by pupils.

Top

Investigate the work of video artists on the first three sites, as a starting point for a class discussion into how and why artists' films/videos differ from mainstream movies.  For a brief history and a checklist of video art characteristics, click on the Video Art button below .The checklist could serve as a guide when pupils are planning their own artists' video, and could help them develop criteria to assess their own performance. They could also use it to construct a short glossary definition of the genre as a whole class activity at the end of the project: "Video art is ...".

As an invaluable reference work on artists' video with almost 400 illustrations , I recommend ''Video Art' by Michael Rush, published by Thames and Hudson, 2003, at approximately £28  if your school or departmental library has the fund: www.thamesandhudson.com

Click the button for a mini history of video art and a checklist to help structure writing or discussion. 

A Century of Artists' Film in Britain
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/artistsfilm/ 
This festival organised by Tate Britain ran from May 2003 - April 2004. 170 works by 130 artists from early pioneers to contemporary were shown. Click on the four programmes listed to link to descriptions of each with a still from the film. A great source of inspirational ideas.

Twenty-one years of the Turner Prize
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/turnerprize/20years/artists.htm
The main medium for many of the artists shortlisted for the Turner Prize, including several winners, from the mid-90s to the present has been video and video installation. Check out Kutlug Ataman 2004, Langlands and Bell 2004, Jeremy Deller 2004 (winner), Willie Doherty 2003 and 1994, Catherine Yass 2002,  Steve McQueen 1999 (winner), Jane and Louise Wilson 1999,Tacita Dean 1998, Gillian Wearing 1997 (winner), Douglas Gordon 1995 (winner), Mona Hatoum 1995. The site gives a description of the video work illustrated by a still.

Sam Taylor-Wood
http://www.tate.org.uk/learning/schools/samtaylorwood2427.shtm
Sam Taylor Wood's video installations take their starting points equally from the history of art - famous paintings and sculptures - as from popular culture - cinema and ballet, for example. A Little Death, 2002, DVD on plasma screen, is inspired by the still life painting of seventeenth century French artist Jean-Siméon Chardin. It is a contemporary vanitas, or reflection on the transience of life. A dead hare hangs from a nail next to a ripe peach on a table top. The video accelerates the process of decay, revealing its vitality as well as a strange beauty, as maggots devour the corpse. Meanwhile the peach eerily remains unchanged amid the putrefying remains. The footage was filmed over nine weeks, although the finished video runs for only 4 minutes 30 seconds. The hare is often used as a symbol of lust or sexual desire. The schools section of Tate Online links to an informative PDF with an introduction to and detailed examination of the Real Life exhibition of film and video art featuring work by selected leading artists. It includes descriptions of the videos e.g. Mark Wallinger Angel 1997, other facts and questions, prompt questions, things to think about and further reading.
Photo RKM
The photo shows the reaction of visitors to Taylor-Wood's video during The Stuff of Life exhibition at the National Gallery, London, September 2005.

LUX Online
http://www.luxonline.org.uk
This is a really stimulating free resource for people who want to discover more about British artists' film and video. Already one of the most comprehensive illustrated resources available, it is an ongoing and growing project, so expect regular updates. A licence to view the streamed video is free, but only available to schools and libraries - you just have to register. The site also includes Learning Tours and a guide to video and film references.

Creativity in Digital Media Awards 
http://www.becta.org.uk/creativityawards
The Creativity in Digital Media Awards scheme is now closed. It ran from 2003 to 2006 and was open to students aged between 5 and 18 across the UK.  Becta explains that, "The Awards aimed to inspire practitioners and students to demonstrate and celebrate creativity in the use of digital video, digital still images and digital music." Visit the Becta site to view their archive of winning entries from 2003 to 2006 and to get information about current awards.

Co-operative Young Film-Makers Festival 2005
http://www.3bears.co.uk/festival/index.html
Co-operative Young Film-Makers is billed as "one of the UK's premier film festivals for young people". It showcases annually the talents of young film-makers, screening 100 films made by young people aged 21 or under, and runs a huge variety of workshops, master-classes and special events designed to inspire and encourage. The next Co-operative Young Film-Makers festival is scheduled for 14 and 15 October 2005 with the deadline for entries of 27th June - get entry forms and listings from their website.

Film Network
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/filmnetwork/C54733
Film Network is a new BBC website designed to "showcase new British film talent by screening short films and profiling the people who made them." The site invites young filmmakers to submit their work and also allows audiences to rate and comment on the films and exchange tips, advice and ideas. The BBC also provide links to all the best online resources through their filmmakers' guide.

Technical advice
http://www.ictadvice.org.uk/index.php?&rid=6629 
Although the ICT Advice site has closed some of the resources are archived on the main Becta site. Type “digital video” into the search window and you will find suggestions for getting started with digital video and case studies of Becta Digital Video Award winning schools. There are printable information sheets that cover skills, movie making terminology, planning, filming tips and accredited suppliers. You'll also find an article on how to organise the use of digital video in the classroom, which highlights key uses of the medium, gives planning tips and suggests ways of managing pupils' work.

Serif MoviePlus tutorials
http://www.serif.com/education/tutorials/movieplus.asp
The Serif website has an education section where you can download tutorials in PDF format that I have created at APU mPowerNet for primary and secondary pupils. The MoviePlus Teaching Resource Pack contains general resources for introducing digital video with support materials and 7 different curriculum based projects linked to the Key Stage 3 National Strategy. The OCR section will also soon have downloadable resources for video and a scheme of work for Unit 23 Creating video for the Nationals Level 2 ICT qualification.

Video clips
http://www.tv-ark.org.uk/
TV Ark - The Television Museum site is useful for streaming or downloading short video clips in Real Player format of different genres of TV programme from ads, public information films and children's programmes, to news and opening title sequences. Use them to help pupils analyse types of shot, angle, length of clip, pace and other characteristics of a particular genre before planning their own movie.

Digital storytelling
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/capturewales/
A fascinating archive of RealMedia movies made by ordinary people at digital storytelling workshops
around Wales. Videos are classified by theme – challenge, community, family, memory and passion.
Look out for 14-year old Jessica Jones’ movie “Pink Laydee”.

http://www.storycenter.org/
The Centre for Digital Storytelling in Berkeley is dedicated to helping people use digital media
 “to tell meaningful stories from their lives”. There are case studies, articles and and resources
to implement your own digital storytelling workshops.

Film clips
www.imdb.com
The Internet Movie Database has a huge searchable stock of current and old movie trailers with viewer ratings and information about genre, plot outlines, stars, location, taglines and other useful data.

Top

• promotes a range of learning styles,
• increases pupils' motivation and engagement,
• develops skills in planning and teamwork - especially those involving collaboration, verbal reasoning and negotiation,
• increases willingness to take risks,
• allows opportunities for pupils to take the initiative, 
• develops problem solving abilities,
• extends skills in logical thinking. 

Digital video is not the preserve of the Media Studies or English departments!  It can enhance and expand the suite of creative tools that pupils experience within the art and design curriculum as a new and innovative art medium.

52KB

Click on the button to download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Organise groups into production teams and plan to have them take turns with no more than two camcorders. Crew members can double up on roles, depending on numbers, but teams could include a director, production assistant(s), scriptwriter(s), researcher(s), camera operator(s), film editor(s) and actors.

Before storyboarding, have the group view one or two short scenes from a film, TV programme or commercial to analyse the range of shots, transitions and other filmic codes and conventions used. How do film-makers indicate time passing or suggest drama or panic in a scene? What type of shot would make a character seem threatening or vulnerable?  What kind of sound is used? What about lighting? Are the same conventions relevant to an artist's video?

Top

• record more footage than you think you need - surplus material can be discarded in editing;
• aim for short finished films of about 1 to 2 minutes only, as digital video uses 3.6 MB per second (a 2 minute movie can take up over 400 MB of disk space); 
• use the zoom sparingly while recording: instead, stop filming, zoom in and frame your shot, then continue filming;
• move physically nearer your subject for close-ups where possible
• avoid too much camera movement - the camera should only be moved for a purpose: a tripod can help with this;
• move the camera in the same direction always.

For more detailed information about filming techniques including different types of shot, camera viewpoint, the 180⁰ rule, transitions and sound types download a tutorial sheet below:

156KB

Top

Although DV camcorders differ, the basic operations are very similar, so my checklist for the Canon MV range can easily be adapted for your own make of camera. 

My main advice would be to ignore the camcorder's edit or special effects functions - use it only for recording and previewing material. Editing and adding effects are best done on a computer with video editing software, so that source material retains maximum creative potential and flexibility.

iMovie is free software for Apple Macs and Movie Maker is included free with Windows XP for PCs. Both programs are very user-friendly and have great capability.

Download a DV camera operating worksheet to adapt or use below:

Top

Step-by-step tutorial on Windows Movie Maker 2

67KB 55KB

A documentary style movie filmed on location about a football fan newly arrived in London from the West Indies on a first emotional visit to Wembley where the new stadium is under construction.

A celebrity gossip item where a chauffeur dishes the dirt on her star employer. The interview is in Afrikaans with subtitles and the movie is filmed in the car and the recording studio.

Top

© RKM 2002 - 2007

Home - Animation - Video - Projects - Image Manipulation - IWBs - Interactive - Presentations - Multimedia Tutorials - Other Tutorials - Art Links - Gallery - About