3 A teacher’s perspective

You are now going to focus on the advice of a teacher who supported the ‘Create’ phase of a docutube workshop in London.

Activity 1

Timing: Allow about 10 minutes for this activity

Watch Video 2 where teacher Annie Powell talks about her experience of managing the filming and editing process of a docutube workshop. While you are watching the video, make notes in the text box below on what Annie Powell says about the kind of practical concerns that educators might need to bear in mind when supporting young people in the filming and editing process of the docutube workshops. In particular, focus on aspects that might be of special relevance to your own educational setting.

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Transcript: Video 2

[MUSIC PLAYING]

ANNIE POWELL:

I think one of the key things that we did was just before we sent them off to film we actually asked them to write down exactly where they were going. I gave them time slots for where they needed to be to interview one of the particular colleagues. And then they had to write down the order in which they were going to go to certain places.

I think the students very quickly realised it was very important not to be all in the same area filming at the same time because they couldn't get the sound to work. There was too much noise and so they would be interviewing someone but there would be noises off of someone else being interviewed. They went off and it was slightly alarming at one point because I couldn't see where anyone was. In fact, there was one group on our roof garden and there was one group down in the museum, another group interviewing someone else that I hadn't even expected. So they were really very focused and very efficient in their filming.

We had lots of goodwill. We had students coming to help. We had other teachers coming in to help and all of them enjoyed it, felt they were doing something positive.

And the editing phase required all sorts of other skills like we got assistance from some of our colleagues. The head of ICT kindly came in to help the students get started. They had to download their film footage and then open up the package which we have on the school system, which they were not familiar with. They'd not actually used it before and they then had to start putting together their cut of their docutube.

The students found that quite a challenge. They wanted to do everything. They wanted to make their docutubes look like sort of million-dollar films if they could. I think it was interesting that there were moments of kind of despair as things didn't work in the way that they'd wanted to and they were briefly despondent when they realised that they hadn't quite filmed the thing that they thought they'd filmed.

The fact that they had such a short amount of time we emphasised that it wouldn't be perfect. The point is to try and tell their story and focus on the story they're telling. And that was really useful, actually, because they accepted very quickly that they couldn't quite do the most perfect film but they could tell their story. And they turned out to be very resilient.

End transcript: Video 2

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Video 2

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Discussion

The teacher makes the following suggestions:

• Make sure that not all the groups film in the same place at the same time to give each other space and to avoid sound interference.
• In order to keep track of where groups are, write down where they are planning to film and when. Consider giving them time slots.
• Encourage groups to focus on the story they are telling, rather than aim for a technically perfect film.
• Ask other colleagues to assist you in the delivery of the workshop, for example by providing technical support.

As teacher Annie Powell explains in Video 2, it is important to find effective ways of keeping track of where your young people are and to make sure they have a way of contacting you when they are out and about (for example, by giving them your mobile phone number). Even if they are not planning to film outside the room where you are holding the workshop, it is likely that some groups will need to leave the room to avoid sound interferences with other groups.

In advance of the workshop, you will need to establish what kind of computers or laptops are available to you. If possible, avoid a scenario where participants use their own laptops or phones as this makes it harder for you to supervise the process and prevent footage from being shared in the public sphere prematurely or inappropriately.

Figure 5 A teacher checking in with his students at a docutube workshop in Tartu, Estonia

Most computers will already have some form of video editing software installed, so it is ok to go with whatever editing software is already available to you. Indeed, the simpler the software, the less temptation to spend too long trying to achieve effects during editing. If you are not sure which software to use, the RETOPEA team recommend OpenShot [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] , which is a freely available software that is relatively user-friendly and compatible with different systems.

You should also check whether there is any further hardware available that might be needed – such as adaptors for connecting memory cards from the cameras into laptops, or USB sticks for moving finished docutubes.

As Annie Powell explains in Video 2, if you don’t have filmmaking experience, it is important to find out whether there is someone in your community who can assist and offer technical support, particularly with the practicalities of using the editing software, transferring footage from the cameras to the computers, editing, downloading and securely storing the finished films. Make sure you reach out to them well in advance of the session, especially if these are aspects you are inexperienced with.

If suitable cameras and computer hardware are not available, participants may be working with tablets or their own phones and editing their films using apps that can be easily downloaded onto such devices. The quality, however, is unlikely to be as good as with films made with cameras and then edited on PCs. If young people use their own devices to film and/or edit their docutube, it is especially important to reiterate messages about the importance of not sharing material inappropriately. Participants themselves might later regret putting on the Internet footage that might be ill-considered, offend someone or be subject to ridicule or harsh public criticism. Indeed, in light of these challenges, consider very carefully what footage, if indeed any, should be shared beyond the workshop.