Stories in motion: A filmmaking model

Nikos Theodosakis (2009) approaches learning through design from the perspective of a filmmaker. He advocates the educational value of cooperative video production in much the same way we have promoted multimedia authoring. His model outlines a media production process broken down into stages (development, preproduction, production, postproduction, and distribution) and accomplished by student teams (director, writer, camera operator, editor, producer). Working within the context of a content-appropriate challenge, the basic idea is that a production team must plan and “pitch” a project to the teacher and, upon gaining approval, implement the proposed project. Depending on circumstances, the project might be designed to create a video product that argues for a cause or provides the viewer a brief educational experience.

What educators will likely most appreciate about this writer and video proponent’s work is the detail and concreteness in what his book and web site have to offer. Yes, we are promoting the value of another author’s work. Theodosakis offers many examples of projects. He also creates detailed lists of the responsibilities of each team member during each phase of the film making process. Tasks are assigned that are consistent with the role of each team member. For example, the writer might develop a script, create scene breakdowns, record sound, write voice-over narration, and develop press releases as the team moves through the stages of the production process. The camera operator might research possible visual topics, generate a shooting schedule, operate the camera, locate additional needed images and video, and select key still images from the video. This model, in which team members take on different roles all of which are essential to the cooperative project, is a great example of task specialization in cooperative learning tasks (Slavin, 1995). The individuals working on a team might stay in the same roles or switch roles as the project progresses. These comments offer only a taste of the detail Theodosakis provides. It would not really be fair to paraphrase the details from another book.

Some educators may find this approach very helpful because it offers a great structure for those new to media projects. Others may explore the descriptions of stages, roles, and activities as a way to develop new insights that can be woven into the teacher’s way of doing things. You may not chose to involve students in the creation of a video, but the concept of a project unfolding in stages and the list of activities associated with each stage should offer ideas that could be generalized to other types of projects.

Theodosakis’s website provides a useful resource you should explore.

The five phases of the filmmaking process desribed here are:

1. Development (create and pitch the core idea for the project)

2. Pre-production (translate into storyboard and script)

3. Production (gathering of sound and images - collect the raw material)

4. Post-production (edit video, voice over, effects)

5. Distribution (offer to an audience)

These phases might be compared with the structure of the hypercomposition design model (Lehrer ,1993):

Planning

Developing major goals, propose topics, propose presentation format, set up team

Transforming and Translating

Collecting information

Collect from others or research

Generating Knowledge

Organizing, summarizing, publication

Evaluating and Revising

Test, review, revise

Both models are based on a common basic structure (closely related to the writing process):

Plan - development

Transform and Translate - production, production, post-production

Evaluate and Revise - post-production, distribtion

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