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Digital film-making Project

Aim

Making films and telling a story – a project to develop Cherbourg children and young people’s digital film making skills, including visual arts, story telling and digital technology.

Background

The Digital Film Making Project at Cherbourg State School started in 2004, and it was noticed how the Cherbourg pupils embraced the medium of film-making – both behind the scenes and in front of the camera. Read more

Why it Works

Digital film making works well because the students are enthusiastic about acting and enjoy seeing themselves on film, while developing technical and literacy skills. Students who take part in this project have shown marked changes in their self-esteem and confidence.Read more

Keys to keeping this initiative alive

Media has a big role to play in the future lives of Cherbourg students. The program is embedded in the school’s curriculum, and the coordinator has ensured community members have the skills and abilities so the program will continue. As technology changes, the resources needed to run the program will change. This will require funding, which may become a community and school priority. Read more

Advice to others who might want to try this in their communities

If you are interested in starting a similar project, get as much information as possible from those communities with similar programs in place. Cherbourg State School learned a great deal through this process – mostly through trial and error.

Importantly, care and safety of the equipment is critical. At Cherbourg State School, students have to prove they can do the right thing to participate in the program, and it gives them a strong incentive to behave appropriately before they can be included. Only those in Years 5-7 who attend school regularly, generally behave themselves and try to do their best, are allowed to take part.

Children's Comments

“It’s fun and something different to do!”
“We travel and go in competitions!”
“You go places you’ve never been to like the Museum, the Art Gallery and the Library!”
“I like story telling!”
“Watching the movies we’ve made is fun!”     “Kids feel great, excited!”
“We win competitions!”
“It’d be slack if we didn’t have this!”
“Our history would be lost if we didn’t have some people telling it on film!”
“Our parents get the CDs”

If the children didn’t have this program they would feel:
“upset”
“angry”
“bored”, and
“sad that other kids wouldn’t have it in the future!” –
these words from three children who have been in the program for three years.

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