Mara Sheban, a recent college graduate, helped students at the Academy for Global Citizenship plan their films on Nov. 8.
By Lisa Biehle Files
Imaginations soared at the 2019 Young Filmmakers Workshops (YFW) with results ranging from a documentary about endangered box turtles to a humorous fantasy involving the Loch Ness monster, no longer able to hide in a dried up lake due to global warming.
With all Young Filmmakers Workshops, teachers focus content on the environment, encouraging but not requiring students to enter the Young Filmmakers Contest.
Students from Pembroke Township traveled to Chicago to learn film editing from Matt Wechsler at GEMS World Academy in Chicago.
Outreach Live Action Workshops for High School/College
Pembroke Township, Illinois
July 8, 15, and 26
During the summer, YFW traveled to Pembroke Township, Illinois, one of the most economically depressed areas of the country, to hear the authentic voices of students participating in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Youth Conservation program. Matt Wechsler of Hourglass Films led three workshops with six students resulting in two entries to the Young Filmmakers Contest, one from three high school students about the endangered box turtle and another from three college students about the Youth Conservation Corps. The final editing workshop took place at GEMS World Academy in Chicago, near Millennium Park.
To learn more about these workshops, go here: https://www.greencommunityconnections.org/recent/2019/7/30/young-filmmakers-workshops-head-downstate-and-back-again
Students collaborated at the Academy for Global Citizenship in Chicago on Nov. 8.
Outreach Editing Workshops for Grade 6
Academy for Global Citizenship, Chicago
November 8 and 22
In the under-served southwest side of Chicago, the Academy for Global Citizenship (AGC) strives to improve student lives, starting with healthy, organic meals and finishing with “academic excellence, international awareness and environmental stewardship.”
Founded by charismatic Executive Chairman Sarah Elizabeth Ippel in 2008, this public charter school has a strong environmental focus, beginning with its net positive energy school building. Sustainability Coordinator Marney Coleman incorporated the Young Filmmakers Contest into her curriculum but needed help teaching film editing to her 6th grade students.
YFW jumped in, led by former contest winner, Adam Joel, who mustered a group of colleagues to help plan films and then teach iMovie on November 8 and 22. The classroom of 27 students split into nine groups, many focusing on the burden of plastic waste. At least eight film submissions are anticipated.
Middle School students worked together to create a film about water shortage at the live action workshop Dec. 1, in River Forest.
Live Action Film Workshop for Grades 6 to 8
River Forest Park District Depot
December 1
High school film teacher Jonathan Moeller returned to lead local live action Young Filmmakers Workshops. At the first workshop, a group of 13 middle school students split into three groups to create narrative films about waste, water, and open space/ecosystems.
Jonathan’s box of creative costumes, including hats and masks, and a large green screen with a variety of backgrounds prompted students to develop original and humorous story ideas. The Loch Ness monster faced a water shortage, a careless man who littered was interrogated under bright lights for his crimes, and animals convinced a lumberjack to build eco-friendly homes and end deforestation.
Animals reprimand the careless human who litters, destroying habitat for wildlife at the elementary school live action workshop on Dec. 8, in River Forest.
Live Action Film Workshop for Grades 3 to 5
River Forest Park District Depot
December 8
Two students from last year’s elementary school workshop came back for more in this sold out live action workshop for grades 3 to 5. Jonathan Moeller’s costumes and green screen helped creative juices flow once again.
Seventeen students split into three groups that focused on one theme: the impact of waste on wildlife. In one film, an evil villain recklessly littered until he saw the error of his ways, in another, kids who dropped gum wrappers found animals injured by ingesting the wrappers, and in the third, animals organized politically to visit the president in Washington, DC, to complain about habitat destruction.
Story is the most important aspect of filmmaking, according to Jonathan Moeller. These motivated students succeeded in developing original story ideas and completing their films quickly, which may be entered in the Young Filmmakers Contest 2020.