Copyright

John Cook, Mike Flood Page, Wendy Earle

Summary

FFA will help budding filmmakers develop and improve their skills by exploring the creative potential of archive film material and original content using online editing tools within a social learning network environment.

Description

FFA will be a film-focused social network that encourages teenagers to explore the creative possibilities of using archive film as core material for filmmaking and to develop and improve their film-making skills. Through a structured challenge the project will involve peer-to-peer learning and professional mentors, combined with an online community and face-to-face workshops. Participants will have access to the riches of the BFI National Film and Television Archive and be able to use multimedia online editing tools to enable them to hone their skills and share their work.

FFA combines a Web 2.0 application with the development and testing of processes to encourage young people to engage with technologies and high quality repurposeable content. It aims to provide an integrated social learning space where participants benefit from peer feedback and the opportunity to experiment. FFA will promote genuine learning out of personal passion through an unprecedented collaboration of cultural institutions, education providers and researchers and media businesses.

The project will culminate in a virtual and real Future Film Festival, organised and curated by young people, at the BFI Southbank and the archiving of the selected films in the NFTVA collections, with the potential of becoming an annual event.

How it might be used

FFA will provide an iterative and informal learning process where young people engage in:

• Film research and selection with access to a wide range of digitised, downloadable archive film online
• Development and sharing of ideas and work-in-progress
• Receiving peer and expert support to improve film analysis and filmmaking skills.

Users will be able to upload original material, mix it with archive material and use the innovative online video editor, e-Seq, to author their pieces, all within a supportive online and offline community.

A typical learner journey for our tyro film maker:

Discovers FFA community and…
Shares an idea and discovers likeminded young filmmakers
Collectively they choose an idea to develop
Develops idea from early thoughts, through discussion, trial video, archive research, treatment, storyboard, and recce to shooting stage
Forms a team (and decides a division of labour)
Shoots footage
Post production, offline then online including mixes with archive using e-Seq
Shares rough-cut
Receives feedback
Final cut
Votes on most exciting idea
Shortlisted
Showcased at awards

Recognising that many young people need support in using technologies at more advanced levels, and that archive film is a new and largely untested resource, the FFA offers multi-stage and multi-platform (online and offline) support for developing film ideas. Users submit their film idea and their peers select the ideas for structured support collective development. The chosen concepts receive professional mentoring at every stage of their production.

Finally, the FFA network nominates films for showcasing at the Future Film Festival.  Films for archiving will be chosen by a professional and peer jury.

Contact

London Metropolitan University:
John Cook, Professor of Technology Enhanced Learning
john.cook@londonmet.ac.uk

Illumina Digital:
Mike Flood Page, Editorial Director
mfp@illumina.co.uk

BFI:
Wendy Earle, Online Education Manager
wendy.earle@bfi.org.uk