Top 10 Elements of Good Educational Movie Making

1. Strong focus – there will be greater educational value if the project has a curriculum link to work being covered in class.


2. Involvement – assign specific jobs to ensure that all students have a contributing role within the project.


3. Planning – storyboard to give direction to the project. Allow students a degree of control over scripting and directing appropriate to their abilities.


4. Background – be aware of visual objects and sounds that would be out of place if included in the footage.


5. Lighting – choose an area with even lighting. Strong backlighting or a mixture of shade and sun creates poor quality footage


6. Footage – better too much than not enough. Take more than one shot of each scene - the shot you thought was the best does not always turn out the best


7. Basics – be conscious of basic filming techniques such as crossing the line, panning, etc .


8. Shots - vary the camera angles & length of shots (long, medium and close up) to create more interesting footage.


9. Soundtrack – thoughtful use of sound effects and music greatly increases the effectiveness of the project.


10. Editing – use consistent titles, transitions and effects to enhance the movie, but take care not to overuse them.