NOTICE TO PARENTS OF WORLD LANGUAGE STUDENTS
of Westmoore High School
Throughout the month of March and part of April, the students of World Languages
(Spanish, French, Latin and American Sign Language) will be creating their own short films
and video projects for the third annual “Westmoore International Film Festival”. The
teachers in the World Languages department will be judging the students’ entries and
prizes will be awarded for the very best student entries. Students will also be graded in
their classes for their work. A collection of the best films will be shown to all World
Language students in May 2014.
In order to participate in this project, students may choose to work individually or as part
of a group (up to four members in a group). They may have to appear on film and that film
may be shown to other classes. We have video-cameras and computers for editing here at
school or students may use materials which they or their partners have at home.
In the attached packet, you will find a complete listing of the timetable involved including
due dates, the expectations and guidelines for the project, as well as some helpful hints for
the students. Please review these with your student.
We are very excited about this project and the opportunity it will give our students to
creatively use their language skills.
You have the right to opt your student out of this project, in which case a replacement
assignment will be given. If you have any questions, please contact your student’s teacher
directly via email (available through the Westmoore website).
Please indicate below your choice for your student:
I understand the information communicated in this packet and I agree to allow my student
to participate in this video-making activity.
I have read the information in this packet and I would prefer that my student be given an
alternative assignment which will not involve video-taping.
________________________________________________
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Signature of Parent or Guardian
Email Address of Parent or Guardian
Date
Daytime Phone Number of Parent or Guardian
Westmoore High School
International Film Festival 2014
Film Categories:
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News Report- reporting on events that have happened in the past, weather report,
talking about outdoor activities
Music Video- original lyrics sung to a popular tune
Commercial- advertising a service, product, destination, or activity
Skit- original sketch or idea, game show, scene from a book read in class, soap opera,
or scene from a popular TV show (Level III, IV, V only)
Movie Trailer- advertising a movie in the target language (Level III, IV, V only)
Documentary- reporting on an event or person (Level III, IV, V only)
Length:
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Levels I and II 1-2 minutes
Levels III, IV, V 3-5 minutes
Remember: Our aim is to showcase as many films as possible during the film festival. If a
film is longer than 5 minutes, it will not be shown during the festival.
Groups: 1-4 students per group
Guidelines:
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Script must not contain any English!
Costumes, props and gestures should be incorporated; they help to illustrate
meaning and add to audience appeal.
SUBTITLES REQUIRED!
EDITING REQUIRED! A member of each group will be responsible for
organizing the editing effort.
Quantity and quality of the target language are important both in the script AND in
the video.
Grammatical accuracy and pronunciation will be evaluated.
Creativity is valued and encouraged!
Each of the following areas will be directed by one group member: Script,
Props/Costumes, Filming Schedule, and Editing. The person in charge is not
expected to do all the work; he will see that the work is done and will be expected to
turn in pertinent assignments on the due dates!
All films shown must be rated G or PG: No alcohol, no violence, and no sexual
content.
International Film Festival Calendar 2014
International Film Festival will be held FRIDAY, MAY 16TH
Sunday
2/23
Monday
2/24
Introduce
video
project
Tuesday
2/25
Wednesday Thursday
2/26
2/27
Friday
2/28
List of
characters
and plot
info due
3/7
Saturday
3/1
3/2
3/3
WORK DAY
3/4
3/5
3/9
3/10
3/11
3/23
3/24
3/25
3/12
Outline and
filming
plans due
3/26
3/27
WORK DAY
3/14
3/15
3/28
3/29
3/30
3/31
4/1
4/2
WORK DAY
4/3
4/4
4/5
4/6
4/7
4/8
4/9
4/10
4/11
4/12
4/13
4/14
Video
Project
due
4/15
4/16
4/17
4/18
4/19
3/6
Rough
Draft of
script due
WORK DAY
3/13
3/8
YOU MAY START FILMING AS SOON AS YOUR TEACHER APPROVES YOUR FINAL
OUTLINE AND FILMING PLANS.
EACH VIDEO NEEDS TO BE UPLOADED ONTO YOUTUBE.COM. (The video will be given
a name provided by the teacher. No students’ last names should be used or credited,
nor any references to Westmoore High School.)
VIDEO TECHNIQUES: Some helpful hints…..
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Face the camera
Plan, plan, plan each shot
Run a scene before filming so you can see it before recording
Always more than one take just in case
Be aware of ambient sound
If incorporating music, balance sound of music with volume of speaking
Stabilize your camera – even the best image stabilizing camera has limits. The
steadier you can keep it, the better your film will look. USE A TRIPOD WHEN POSSIBLE.
If you don’t have a tripod, you can rest the camera on a fence, wall, stool, bookshelf, etc.
If you have to shoot handheld, use the eyepiece viewfinder against your face and your
elbows against your chest to help minimize extraneous motion.
Sound – The closer the speaker is to the microphone, the better the sound quality. Use
external microphones whenever possible. Wireless mikes and wired mikes that can be
used on a boom (made from a stick or fishing pole) will be better than the built-in
camcorder microphone for everything except close-ups. Good microphones are
remarkably inexpensive these days.
Lighting – Lighting helps create a mood. A single strong light source creates stark,
dramatic contrasts. Diffuse and multiple light sources are more calming or neutral. You
don’t need expensive equipment: household lamps can be placed off-screen to create
multiple lights from different directions, and white sheets or paper held off-screen can
be used to diffuse strong sunlight/shadow conditions for outdoor shots. Most cameras
do well with just the available light in all but the darkest lighting conditions – they are
more forgiving than film cameras!
Nonverbal communication (visual clues)
Shot types: Establishing (wide angle) – Gives the audience a frame of reference: Tells
where/when is this scene taking place. Informative, but not emotionally involving.
Medium shot – includes one or two persons, starts to focus in on the action.
Close-up (face shot) – Expression conveys a message. It gets the viewer emotionally
involved in what is happening.
Camera angles: Shooting up at someone/something makes it appear powerful and
imposing. Shooting down makes them weak or less significant. Point of view: If shooting
separate shots of the two people in conversation make sure the camera is placed just as
if you were a person watching from one side. Don’t switch sides as the speaker changes
– an observer doesn’t run to the other side when watching people talk!
Transitions have messages: Slow fades or pans to the next scene imply the passage of
time or distance. Fast transitions imply a quick change of place or time. Zooming and
fancy scene transitions (such as found in computer editing systems) tend to distract
from the action. Are you telling a story or showing off your editing skills?
Filming for captioning: When adding captions to the video, you will need to film a lot
of short shots and/or plan to cut longer scenes into shorter pieces so that the video and
captions will match.
Creating captions: Some computer editing programs show more screen than a
television will during video playback. Keep your captions well in from all edges of the
screen so they don’t disappear.
Go for a wide audience: Would a stranger to your school find the video entertaining?
Would you be embarrassed if your parents/siblings watched it? Be cautious in the use
of “insider” jokes/humor. Also, a mild “dig” can seem like a major insult to someone
else.
Outtakes (bloopers): Don’t make the ending longer than the video – it’s probably not
as funny to others as it was to you when you were filming. A few really good ones can
work well underneath final credits.
First Law of Video Making: It will take you at least three times as long as you think it
will both to film AND to edit a video. Guaranteed!
Second Law of Video Making: Unexpected problems will arise. If you follow the First
Law and allow LOTS of time, you will find ways to work around the problems.
Third Law of Video Making: You will have a lot of fun in the creation process. You
may not have Spielberg’s equipment, but you can still create great entertainment.
International Film Festival 2013
Film title _____________________________________________________
Student’s Name ______________________________________________
Script preparation
________/50
Creativity shown in film
________/10
Quality of YOUR language in the film
________/20
Overall effort in project (your self-evaluation) ________/20
Total
________/100
Comments:
________________________________________________________________
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Other group members present in the video:
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
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Name ________________________________Date ________________
Questionnaire: Self-Evaluation
I. Please check the boxes for the parts of the film for which you felt you significantly
contributed. In addition, for each checked activity, please write the amount of time you
spent of each activity in the space provided.
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Initial brainstorming for film ideas _________________________
Writing of script _____________________________
Preparing script for teacher ___________________________________
Editing of script ____________________________________
Preparing edited version of script for teacher __________________________________
Planning of shots/takes ___________________________________________
Filming of video ______________________________________
Editing of video ________________________________________
II. How much total time did you spend working on this project? (This includes time
spent on your script outside of class, filming time and editing).
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Of the total time spent on your film, for how much of it were YOU present?
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III. Do you feel that everyone in your group deserves the same grade? Y N
If you circled NO, please explain why below:
________________________________________________________________________________________________
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IV. Is there anything else you feel I should know before assigning a grade to each group
or individual? ________________________________________________________________________________
V. I am interested in your opinions and suggestions about the Film Festival and video
project. What might you suggest that we do differently next year to improve the
project? You may email me or use the bottom of this form for your reply.
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