The film making process is quite good at connecting with young people and helping them to work through their own skills preferences. I met one girl who has consistently said she wants to be an artist and I'm pretty sure she has it in her to succeed, and a couple of chunky lads who wanted to be rugby players. When I was their age I wanted to be a vicar, I'm not sure why, and then at ten or eleven I decided radio, TV or the theatre was going to be my thing.
The routine we used was to talk to them about the various jobs required to make up a film crew - camera, lighting, sound, interviewer and so on. Within these categories we broke down into key responsibilities. After a period of deciding whether their preferences were around people skills, creativity or technical skills we allocated roles to the volunteers.
In the classroom we had a number of pieces of equipment - camera, microphone, light, headphones, reflector and other props. We didn't actually do any filming but it was clear that by using tools as props we were able to more effectively discuss and role-play the different jobs quite effectively. They looked really professional.
Getting the kids to use the space and to assemble the pieces of equipment and look like a crew worked extremely well. I'm only sorry I don't have any photos because they looked great. Many thanks to Raynville, you're all brilliant.
more thinking on the workshops








