“The great films have not been made yet. The ones who will make them are out there, though, riding a skateboard.”
Robert Altman

Digital video production is rapidly making its way into schools and classrooms across the state. Part of this is due to advances in technology that make it easier than ever to shoot, edit, and share videos. Another reason is the power this form of communication holds for students in an era of MTV and video games. Furthermore, from a teacher’s perspective, video production provides an opportunity for students to learn and apply group skills and higher-order thinking. Unfortunately, many students and teachers only view videos as event videography (plays, band/orchestra performance, sports, etc.) or what they see on MTV or coming from Hollywood. There are many other video formats/genres that lend themselves to classroom projects. and which push students to learn a wider variety of skills. A few of these genre are described below.

Genre: Biographies
Example(s): Biography Channel
Description: Students select a particular person (historical, modern-day or fictional) and document an important event or series of events in his/her life. Consider including photographs, interviews, reenactments, maps, etc.

Genre: Commercials
Example(s): They’re everywhere
Description: Students design a commercial for a book they would recommend to their peers. A good source for ideas would be commercials for current movies. Consider using persuasive language and advertising techniques (testimonial, humor, bandwagon, etc.) Modification: Design a commercial for a local or national political candidate.

Genre: Game Show
Example(s): Jeopardy
Description: Students present the important information learned during a unit in the form of a Jeopardy game with a host and several contestants. In writing the script, students should focus on using a variety of question types.

Genre: Historical Documentary
Example(s): Ken Burns’ Civil War
Description: Students make an in-depth examination of an important event (or series of events); describing what led up to this event, the event itself, and the implications this event had on history. Consider including photographs, timelines, maps, reenactments, interviews, etc.

Genre: Instructional
Example(s): Home Fix-it and Cooking Shows
Description: Students present the steps for conducting a “Science in the Kitchen” experiment in a how-to manner. Make sure students emphasize the science process and concepts exemplified by the experiment. Modification: Students solve a math problem.

Genre: Nature
Example(s): The Nature Channel; http://www.apple.com/education/dv/butterfly.html
Description: Use the time-lapse capabilities of a camcorder to record the growth of a plant in a glass container (so you can see some of the roots). Use voice-overs to describe the changes the plant is going through. Have students consider presenting their commentary in an anthropomorphized manner (attributing human form or personality to things not human). Modification: Watch an insect devour a plant or film the lifecycle of a butterfly.

Genre: News
Example(s): Local evening news
Description: Students present short “hard news” or “features” about events in their school or community. Use anchors, reporters, interviews and other techniques seen everyday on your local news. Modification: Create News Magazine stories (i.e. 60 Minutes) that go beyond the “just the facts” approach and dig deeper, looking at things such as causes or implications.

Genre: Public Service Announcement (PSA)
Example(s): Visit the Ad Council’s website http://www.adcouncil.org/
Description: Students design a PSA to speak out on an issue that affects their world. The goal is to build awareness, start a discussion, or change negative behaviors. The PSA needs to grab the viewers attention, provide a concise message, and get them to act. Tag lines help people’s memory and can add power.

Genre: Science Experiment
Example(s): Bill Nye; http://www.apple.com/education/dv/gallery/mov2.html
Description: Students create a video of a science experiment. They start with the topic, materials, procedure, and their hypothesis. Then they present the experiment including their results. They end by connecting the experiment to the “real world,” explaining its implications, or putting it in context of other science topics.

Genre: Video Poetry
Example(s): http://homepage.mac.com/jburg/poetry/index.html
Description: Students synthesize a poem, image(s) and sound into a single piece. Either the poem or images can be dominant, with the other enhancing or supporting so that the synthesized piece is more effective than the poem or image(s) presented separately.

Beyond those examples described above, consider using other genre (interviews, talk shows, travelogues, sitcoms, soap operas (telenovelas), etc.) or combinations of genre as a way to unleash your students creativity. Video is a communication medium students seem much more comfortable with than many teachers. You will be surprised how just suggesting a wider range of genre(s) can ignite your students’ creative processes.

 © 2002, Jordy Whitmer

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