Welcome to our advice page which we hope will inspire and inform your teaching about the moving image. These practical and curriculum related articles and approaches to creating schemes of work will be developed over the coming months.

We believe that it is important to look at issues around the moving image from a critical, creative and cultural point of view when using film in the classroom.

From 2005 to 2009 Film Education ran an annual conference – CP3 – which examined the interrelationship between these three approaches. We are pleased to bring you a selection of key articles written by workshop leaders which explore a variety of activities, ideas and issues around the moving image.

We hope that these articles will give you some food for thought as you plan your future lessons about the moving image. We shall be adding new articles over the coming months.

Please note that we have used the original versions of the articles. Contact details and job positions are undoubtedly out of date. Please contact us if you wish to get in touch with any of the authors.

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Image, Text and Sound

This session built on some of the ideas of montage which were outlined in my Critical workshop, Montage – The Hidden Language of Film. In particular, we looked at the concept of ‘vertical montage’. - Tom Barrance
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Animation

"Using ICT based animation within the classroom may seem to be a big challenge to the busy practitioner. This workshop dealt with various ways of getting started with ICT animation using approaches that are relevant to the Art curriculum. We used Photoshop and Flash software. One approach was to get participants to take a series of digital still images which they got the computer to animate. We then built on the concept of a timeline and showed how Flash can be used to create a variety of different animations." - Alistair Fitchett and Richard Knights
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Mobile Framing

‘In film it is possible for the frame to move with respect to the framed material.’ (Film Art (pg 266), Bordwell and Thompson) Mobile technology is slowly creeping into the classroom... Mobile phones are no longer being confiscated and some schools have even introduced the PSP into the classroom as a learning tool. The words ‘handheld’, ‘Educational Digital Assistant’ and ‘location based m-learning’ have been bandied about recently, but what exactly do they mean, and how will they affect the way our pupils learn? - Julie Green
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Creating a Scene

This workshop was informed by the central tenets of the conference – the connections and continuities between the critical, the creative and the cultural; to connect some of the themes from my Critical workshop and the various keynotes and to provide a basis for delegates to develop their thoughts and ideas onto the creative group task. The ultimate objective was of course to give delegates the confidence to produce effective and engaging creative projects with their students. - Jane Dickson
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Podcasting in Education

In this workshop delegates discovered the potential for podcasting within education, learned how to produce multimedia podcasts and how to distribute podcasts. - David Baugh [This workshop was delivered by Alice Heywood and Ed Hunton, Film Education.]
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Film and Performace

In this workshop, delegates looked at the ways in which we can learn how to make a ‘film sentence’ and recognise the power of film to manipulate, to exhilarate and to engage. This hands-on workshop started by analysing a short sequence (what are the questions to ask about a piece of moving image footage?) and then went on to use a selection of rushes from a simple scenario filmed in a variety of ways, allowing participants to experiment with conveying a story using the grammar of the film sentence. - Ian Wall
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Supporting Literacy with Animation

Animation is an effective way of engaging students in literacy and topic-based projects, using ICT creatively and is a fun cross-curricular activity suited to the classroom environment. This hands-on course introduced tips and tricks to get started quickly and easily. We looked at examples of work, approaches to ideas that will engage and motivate students and then made a short 45 second animation in small groups. Animation is being used in schools wanting to work with a more creative curriculum. - Oscar Stringer
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It’s Not Just a Game

Computer games are fun – but they are so much more. This workshop will examine their role in education and demonstrate how they can be used for all ages and in a variety of subjects. It will show practical ways to use them as a powerful teaching resource that students will enthusiastically receive and understand. In addition, it aims to prove that young people can realistically aspire to a career in the games industry. - Karen Anderson
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Creating a Narrative

"This workshop considered the implications that digital technology has for creating narrative and meaning in relation to the values ascribed to media by different disciplines: English teachers may favour film; Art teachers, photography, for example." - Jane Dickson
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