Transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING]
STUDENT 1:
After you've planned all the shots, seeing them develop, seeing them even on the little screen, seeing a plan come to fruition in an image was really nice. Yeah.
STUDENT 2:
We tried some things, and if it didn't work, then we tried again, and then it would work better. So yeah, that's basically trial through error, I guess that's what you would say.
STUDENT 3:
We all had good ideas-- welcome to the reflection room, hoping that all turns out really good at the end.
NARRATOR:
In the Create Stage, the students develop a message about religious, peace, and toleration, shot by shot.
KAREL VAN NIEUWENHUSE:
Making docutubes combines several purposes. The most important one is to reflect thoroughly on issues of religious diversity.
NADIA HINDI:
Young people learn a different way of looking to the past, more contextualised, more critical and more complex.
KAREL VAN NIEUWENHUSE:
A secondary purpose is then to present this opinion that they formed in an appealing audiovisual way via docutubes.
NARRATOR:
In Leuven, the students are investigating how religious coexistence in the past affects everyday life in the present.
STUDENT 1:
We started thinking from the clipping French laicité, in France, the separation of church and state, and then we found ourselves asking how far does that go?
NARRATOR:
The streets of Leuven offer many ways to depict the passage of time.
STUDENT 1:
One thing we did was make a time lapse for a couple of shots.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
We took shots of street names to edit together.
KAREL VAN NIEUWENHUSE:
They should think about the relationship and the connections between past and present.
NARRATOR:
A pen and paper is all you need to create your own graphics.
STUDENT 1:
And we also filmed a bit of moving around so just holding the camera to ourselves while we were walking.
STUDENT 4:
What we really want to know is do they work in practice?
KAREL VAN NIEUWENHUSE:
It's important to remind young people that they should engage with the clippings, that they should give them the space in their docutube.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR:
In London, the students found parallels between ideas in the clippings and ideas in their own school.
ANNIE POWELL:
I think as a Church of England School, we're very inclusive. As the students mentioned a lot in their videos, we are a Christian School, but we're not a school for Christians, we're a school for everyone.
STUDENT 5:
Do you think we need to embody Williams' metaphor of society as a ship? We wanted to look at Roger Williams, his metaphor of society as a ship, and how Urswick embodies this.
INSTRUCTOR 1:
That's why this chapel door, you've got a display of the Lord's Prayer translated into over 40 different languages. Those are the first languages of everyone who speaks at this school.
STUDENT 3:
Our school is like a society in the ship, and we're here to prove it by the testimony of two teachers.
NARRATOR:
When interviewing the head teacher, it's important to get your questions straight.
STUDENT 3:
So as a Muslim, do you think the school is promoting religious toleration to help unify all students?
NARRATOR:
I don't think it, I know it.
ANNIE POWELL:
They had to keep it very, very focused, and they had to focus on what the story was that they were telling.
NARRATOR:
In Granada, many students were inspired by Spain's multicultural past.
NADIA HINDI:
We tackle different things related to Granada, to the history of Granada, about the relation between Christians or non-Muslims with Muslims in the city.
NARRATOR:
These students are using drama to reconstruct the religious intolerance that happened on this spot.
NADIA HINDI:
Some of them were interested by Reconquista, for example. Reconquista refers to the battle between the Christians and the Muslims from the Christian perspective. Some of them was very keen to take this topic and take it to the street and interview people.
INTERVIEWEE:
So this street here is bizarre, and you can see that Granada is very tolerant.
NADIA HINDI:
They was really engaged with the process.
NARRATOR:
The next stage of the process will test the students teamwork even further.
STUDENT 2:
We are currently making the movie, so they're actually editing things which means that we're choosing which fragments to use, what are we leaving out, what do we put in.
GAIL BLOCK:
Editing is in fact, what makes the film. So when you've been out filming, it's only in the edit that the story really comes together when you're deciding what order to put those shots in, what to emphasise, what to leave out.
NARRATOR:
With some technical support, the footage is loaded and the edit set up.
INSTRUCTOR 2:
Once they're into your project window, they'll look a bit like this.
NADIA HINDI:
It's really a team that's behind supporting the young group. We have the historical skills, the knowledge, and we have also the technical skills.
STUDENT 5:
Just the little end bit?
STUDENT 6:
Yes, the just the little end bit.
STUDENT 5:
This one or this one?
STUDENT 6:
I think that one.
STUDENT 7:
That one because it have better angle in it.
STUDENT 6:
Yeah.
NARRATOR:
Editing forces the students to clarify their ideas about religious, peace, and toleration.
GAIL BLOCK:
It's a really good idea to first of all concentrate on your sound and lay down the story in terms of interview, in terms of commentary, because that's the backbone of a good film.
STUDENT 8:
[INAUDIBLE] We are struggling a little bit with working with the audio tracks.
STUDENT 9:
I mean, It's not that bad.
STUDENT 8:
No, no, no, but the way it cuts it.
ANNIE POWELL:
There were some moments of despair when they realised they hadn't quite filmed what they wanted to-- and they couldn't make it look quite like a sort of million pound Hollywood movie.
STUDENT 10:
What is that?
INSTRUCTOR 3:
Any surprises?
STUDENT 11:
A little bit. There's a bit of malfunction, but we're working through it. Yeah.
NARRATOR:
History, not technology is the key to success. So just a little technical know how is all the students need.
STUDENT 4:
Ambitious, tolerance, and constitutions and moderation of lives.
STUDENT 1:
What I enjoyed most about editing is how putting all the separate bits together, all those different little clips become one movie, one story. So that's it's nice to see that come together.
NARRATOR:
After the edit, the students watch each other's films. In London, they'll be judged by Professor John Wolffe from the RETOPEA.
JOHN WOLFFE:
I think you've all showed a very strong, creative narrative, but also building very much on the RETOPEA materials. So thank you, I think you've all done a brilliant job.
NARRATOR:
Elsewhere, the young people have also been thinking hard about the aims of the project.
KAREL VAN NIEUWENHUSE:
RETOPEA wants to promote among young people and in society at large, active engagement with ideas, problems, solutions, and processes from the past.
STUDENT 12:
Hey, today, we're at the University of Leuven and we're going to take a look at some examples of tolerance in the past.
STUDENT 1:
When I go out in the streets, after tomorrow, I'll have a look at some things differently.
NADIA HINDI:
At the end, we always try to encourage them to connect with the things they know, the things that they experience in their lives and their normal lives, so this is the way they learn.
STUDENT 5:
It was fun, Yeah. It was fun to do.
STUDENT 13:
Well, it feels very professional although we're not professionals. So it's a nice feeling actually.