Learning with Film

Project Based Learning

There is absolutely no doubt that we will see young people transform digital cinema in the next three to five years.  They are already re-inventing art, culture and commerce on the Internet, and are creating quiet panic in established industries. Students know digital media. They get it. They feel it. And they know about this thing called the Internet. They know about sharing music, and sharing files and about posting movies on websites. The thing is they know, or are quickly learning, how easy it is to make movies. And in the next few years we will undoubtedly see students creating hundreds of thousands of movies. But the question is, what movies will they make?

Nikos Theodosakis in "Director in the Classroom" provides in great detail specifically how filmmaking can be used to to promote higher level thinking skills.  "We provide students and teachers the basic opportunities to learn about the tools of digital movie making.  We go beyond the technology issues of 'how to' make movies and learn to incorporate these new skills to engage students, enhance curriculum and change education.  It is not about technology and the latest and best gadget it is about the skill and resourcefulness each person brings to the creative process.    We focus on the 'story'. "          

Film can be used in five ways: