SCHOOL HIGHLIGHT:

CAN FILM –‘IT MAKES LEARNING LOOK ENJOYABLE’

To coincide with the launch of City Academy Norwich (CAN)’s new website, a Norwich-based film company was commissioned to produce a promotional film. The brief was a fresh, contemporary, compelling film to reflect the energy of the School.

Following a visit, the production team submitted their requirements – two days of filming visuals only with set-ups including students being taught science and maths; students cooking, playing basketball and rugby; students doing art and textiles, plus one student dancer and a one student drummer.

Paul Collin carefully selected a group of students who were invited to the Headteacher’s office to discuss their soon to be staring roles. Although one or two students had performed in school productions, none of them had been involved in a filming process – this would prove to be quite an experience for them all. The challenge of scheduling then began: 11 hours over two days, ten locations inside and one outside, 20 students, four teachers, experiments involving bubbles and fire, paint, clay, stir fry, dance and a drum kit – all with minimum disruption to the school day. Staff were very supportive releasing students from lessons, moving rooms, preparing ‘set-up’ lessons, props and experiments.

The selection of a student drummer was key, as the soundtrack to the video is drumming, and the visuals thread through the film. Year 8 student Enoch, a gifted musician, learnt the track very quickly – even though his sound wouldn’t be used, it was important that his movements mirrored the soundtrack. He admitted he was a little bit nervous, but said, “I love playing the drums anyway, I spent about 15 minutes listening to the music and playing it, then the filming took about an hour – I played the same bit over and over again and they moved the camera into different places. It was frustrating with how long it took, but I understood why and the director was helpful. It was great fun.”

This reflects the thoughts of our other performers – it took a long time! Each segment took about an hour including set up for camera and lights, briefing the students and staff, and repeating for different angles. Year 8 student Molly who features as the dancer said:

“It was it great, I got to do my own dance… again….and again… and again, which was very tiring. It helped me understand how filming is done, I really enjoyed it.”

The completed video is exactly what we wanted: contemporary and compelling. Staff think it’s ‘amazing’ and students have commented that it’s ‘cool’, but Beth from Year 7’s comment encapsulated it perfectly: “it makes learning look enjoyable and I love it.”

You can see the video on CAN’s website: www.cityacademynorwich.org