Film & Video Teachers Workshop


Explore new ways to teach film and digital video in the classroom

The number of students looking for an education in film and video production and the number of schools offering these courses is increasing dramatically. The need for qualified teachers in this field is, therefore, also growing.

This one-week course is for teachers and instructors about to teach film and/or video in the classroom. (Experienced teachers, in film and video, should refer to the Advanced Film & Video Teachers workshop.) This workshop explores the technology, methodology and practical aspects of student productions. The class deals with the curriculum, course structure and content, shares experiences and student exercises that work, explores basic video techniques, and looks at a wide variety of student work. There are discussions of budgets, equipment, and how to integrate video into school's curriculum. The course covers the use of video cameras, iMovie, iDVD, Final Cut Pro and other editing software.

This is a hands-on course, and the class test-drives various camera systems, software and production tools. The class reviews textbooks, examines training videos and manuals, and discusses and practices critique methods as the class screens the work that each participant completes during the week. Students should expect to be working 10 - 12 hours a day, and loving it. Students leave with a new level of confidence in what they know and who they are as film and video teachers.

For those wishing for additional education, the Advanced Film & Video Teachers workshop is offered the following week.

Testimonials:

"I had the most memorable educational experience of my life!"
- Stephanie Chevalier, Dover-Foxcroft, ME

"This class is perfect for anyone who would like to start a filmmaking class at their school or improve upon a class they already teach."
- Mark Chevalier, Dover-Foxcroft, ME

Workshop sponsored by:Canon link

Instructors

Ben Stumpf

As a Boston-based documentary filmmaker and editor, Ben loves to make films that raise awareness about social causes.  He produced and edited a documentary for WGBH about the pros and cons of competition, and is currently working with his students on another WGBH short about global warming's effects on New England fishing.  He worked on camera, sound, editing, and research for two feature-length documentaries: Traces of the Trade, which opened the POV season last year, and A Lighter Footprint, a film about living sustainably (still in production).  He has produced awareness-raising short pieces on time banks, local currencies, and immigration, and most recently cut the trailer for the 2009 Boston Jewish Film Festival.

Ben has taught creative technology (filmmaking, graphic and web design, animation, digital music) to high school students for almost 10 years.  He was a teaching assistant for the Workshops' Four-Week Documentary course, and over the past several summers he has taken most of the courses in the Workshops' Documentary Film track and taught the Film & Video Teachers Workshop in 2009.He holds a Masters in Documentary Film from Goddard College.