4.7

Teaching Literacy Through Film

The British Film Institute (BFI)

5 top tips to make your film a success

In our next step you will be asked to create a Record and Playback film of your own. Before we do so, we’d like to take you through our five top tips for recording successful film content.

Camera framing - Would a long shot or close up suit best for the activity you have in mind? Camera positioning - Where is the best place to position the camera to get a clear shot? Lighting - Are the people being filmed facing the light source rather than standing with their backs to it? Sound - Have you chosen a suitable location to cut out background noise? Is the mic close to the person who is speaking to camera? If you are without access to a tripod, have you minimised camera shake with your elbows on a table, shelf or wall?

If you’d like to use these tips in class, we’ve attached a downloadable Top 5 tips pdf to this step below.

Do you have any tips to add to these 5?

What can you incorporate into your planning to minimise this?

How do you think you could improve the quality of work produced?

Please add your thoughts to the comments below.

© Into Film 2015

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Get a taste of this course

Find out what this course is like by previewing some of the course steps before you join:

Why use film to improve literacy?
video
Watch this short video to discover how and why learning through film improves literacy.
Foley sound
video
This step is an introduction to Foley art, and has a video clip with Foley artist, John Fewell.
Developing writing through camera shots
article
Linking camera shots and positions to still images in this activity, can provide a great writing stimulus in creating narrative.
Record and Playback
video
An introduction to the technique of Record and Playback, a simple but very effective tool for curricular learning.
Shoebox set design
article
Making a shoe box set takes your pupils on a filmmaking journey that produces literacy outcomes, and is a great tool for assessment. PDF provided.