The assignment can be found at: https://drive.google.com/a/alpinedistrict.org/file/d/0B8BtsF97JUhfcDZIWTJUcm9ETG8/edit?usp=sharing
So...let's talk about the process...
My goal with the lesson plan was to introduce different shots to my students, and help them both start to notice the composition of those shots in the media that is around them today and learn how to create those same shots. I think specifically, I wanted them to be able to identify which shots would work best in each moment so that they could create story boards and shot lists that would actually make sense. After designing the newer version (the video one) of this lesson plan, I was sure that it would be accessible and fairly easy to accomplish.
But I didn't take a few factors into account.
First, I thought that taking their existing screenplays and deciding which shots for several moments would help to simplify the process, and while it did, I also found it highly limiting. While shooting, I found that some moments weren't really conducive to the shot that I originally planned. Additionally, during the editing process, that I wished that I had more shots and better angles than I had planned. In retrospect, it would have been wiser to have them get 2-3 different shots for each moment that they could then use to determine the best one for the final project. While this is more time consuming, it would give them a practical understanding of how elements of composition need to work together to tell a full story. I thought that the shooting process could be easily accomplished in one class period. After all, I was only asking them to get 10-12 of the shots they had planned out prior. But even for me, shooting in one location, the process took over two hours.
Further, I wish so much that I hadn't chosen to do an outdoor scene, and I wish even more that I could have gotten people at a different time. But as it was, I could only get those kids together on a Saturday afternoon when the sun was blaring down, the light was terrible, it was 102 degrees outside and my actors were miserable and wanted to leave...not a pleasant mixture for a decent film. As much as I tried to adjust the camera, the white balance, the f-stop, etc., I still feel like the project came out with really harsh colors and looking amateurish. And I know I could be capable, even with my inexperience, of creating a better final product.
Were I do actually do this with students, I would put them into groups and only choose one screenplay to work with. I would give them plenty of class time in which to complete the product. I would have them discuss and plan out shots beforehand, storyboarding it with stick figures, so they could cut down the set up process. I would have them focus primarily on the shots and deciding which worked best to create a final project. They would need editing tutorials to be able to finalize it, but that could be in a follow up lesson plan or two. Further, I think finding proper equipment is going to prove difficult. I need to find a solution for that issue.
Overall, I found this informative and discouraging all at once. I thought I had enough footage to make a decent final project, and though I accomplished all the tasks on my worksheet check list, I don't feel like it really allowed them to see why each shot works. That's why I would make the changes discussed above. I know there are several aspects of composition that I didn't cover in my lesson plan, but, knowing high school students as I do, you have to build upon concepts. And the foundational elements, the basics, first need to be mastered (or at least clearly understood) in order to really add to the end goal of practical and thorough application.
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