November 19, 2015. Newport, RI. Media Smart Libraries teamed up with the GiveMe5 Film Education Program for the workshop titled Starting and Growing a Film Program: Elementary Through High School. This workshop, held at the beautiful Newport Art Museum, brought together a panel of film experts from across Rhode Island who shared their experiences with children, film, media, and education.
The first speaker was Brien Jennings, School Library Media Specialist at Narragansett Elementary School and Media Smart Libraries Advisory Board member. His filmmaking takes place in his School Library Media Center, where a lot of his equipment is DIY or repurposed. Jennings encouraged librarians and educators to think outside the box when building their programs and to start small. On the role of filmmaking in schools, Jennings said, “I think it is important for kids to understand media isn’t just books.” In today’s digital world, texts are films, photos, advertising, tweets, emails, etc, and children need to be given space to explore and learn about different modes of media.
Next, the workshops participants heard from Nick Marcoux, film teacher at Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts (TAPA). Marcoux’s goal when teaching film to middle and high school students is to inspire them to “innovate the world of cinema--it’s only a 100 year old art form” and to “innovate storytelling.” Since TAPA is an arts charter school, Marcoux instructs students who are concentrating in filmmaking and students not only learn about the technology and history of filmmaking, but also about story, perspective, and voice.
Katie Reaves, film teacher at Beacon Charter High School for the Arts, was the next speaker and her experience teaching film differed from Marcoux’s in that her students are high school seniors completing their senior project as a film. The films are imagined, shot, edited, and showcased in one school year. Reaves said she enjoys taking these students from having never made a film before in their lives to filmmakers. Her goal is to “push them to be better than they ever thought they could be” and show students that filmmaking can be a rich, viable, competitive career.
The panel wrapped up with Anisa Raoof, Executive Director for the Providence Children’s Film Festival (PCFF) and Media Smart Libraries Advisory Board member. Raoof said that one of the goals of PCFF is to provide independent filmmakers, including youth filmmakers, a place to show their films and give children access to quality films. Raoof endeavours to “provide greater access through partnerships with libraries.” In addition to presenting on PCFF’s vision and festival, Raoof highlighted film guides currently being developed in conjunction with URI’s graduate students and the new link on PCFF’s website that shows users which films are available to borrow from Rhode Island’s public libraries.
The question and answer session at the end of the workshop allowed librarians and educators to solicit advice about building their own film programs, and topics discussed included fair use, budgets, administrator support, curriculum integration, and interdisciplinary partnerships. The workshop finished with a quick explanation of GiveMe5’s new filmmaking and media consulting services available for schools and libraries.