A school film is a great way to show off a lot of content very quickly with a fixed audience engagement.
- #Story… The best films and media content are “story” or “message” led. Think first about the purpose of the film. For example to reinforce a particular message or give your audience insight into the experience of a particular year group.
- The end quality of the film will depend on the amount of time we can spend in each location, and how decided we are on the above messages we need to represent ahead of time.
- At one end of the spectrum is the “Run & Gun” approach. This is an excellent way to gather a lot of content very quickly. Working with about 15-20 minutes per location. This means we can have a lot of options in post-production later.
- I will work with you to narrow down the content that is required depending on the message that you would like to tell at the end of the day.
- Schedule – Please make a timetable (pinpointing the location, time, and subject of each shoot). It is also vital that there is a member of staff to act as a chaperone for the day to help to guide me from one location to another, as well as be on the lookout for short ties, un-tucked shirts, and anything else which does not the follow the normal school dress code.
- Please try and work in coffee breaks every 2 hours (just ten mins or so) and time for a bite to eat over lunch (this gives us both an opportunity to reflect on what we’ve done so far and refine what to do next. Working solidly throughout the day without any breaks usually means we’re exhausted and just end up missing things.)
- Permissions - Please ask your teachers to give their photo permission sheets a once over before the day so they know if there’s anyone who can’t be photographed - this saves valuable time on the day.