Feature Article

AFI K-12 SCREEN EDUCATION

Student Films Premiere at AFI

By Helene Siegel

High school sophomore Hector Garcia knows all about the events leading up to WW I. That's because instead of going to basketball games during his winter break, he and his crew were shooting and acting in their first film--WHAT IF NEWS, a short that tells the story of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and the beginning of the war by simulating modern TV news coverage.

Like most of his peers, Garcia and his classmates at International Polytechnic High School in Pomona are experts at watching TV and movies. And now, thanks to AFI's Screen Education program, they are also experts at viewing media with a discerning eye. They understand that stories are shot out of sequence, moviemaking is a lengthy collaborative process and there's a lot of creative storytelling involved--even in relaying a news story. On a parallel and ultimately more far-reaching track, they also are using filmmaking to learn core subjects like history, English and science in an exciting new way. As their teacher Sean Daly puts it, "Hand a kid a camera and it changes their focus. Now learning is cool."

In an era increasingly shaped by visual media and digital technology, teachers are desperate for new ways to inspire children. Back in 2000, when AFI received its first grant from the US Department of Education, the idea was to translate AFI's unique post-graduate film education methods into a curriculum that would teach filmmaking to secondary students as they were learning traditional subject matter. Now, what started small at six LA high schools, is becoming available nationwide at www.afi.edu thanks to Best Buy Children's Foundation and AFI's loyal supporters.

Hector and his classmates were at AFI in February to screen their films as part of a series of video modules that are designed to enrich the Screen Education curriculum this year. Each lesson breaks down the elements of moviemaking--from pitching a story, to storyboarding, editing, viewing and critiquing--for students and their often technophobe teachers. Making a movie then becomes an alternative to book reports, science projects and oral presentations in the 21st century classroom. That's something that Hector Garcia's mother understands. "It's a visual way of learning and it's an opportunity to let the kids make choices, and have more independence."

Hector and his friends can testify. "It's much easier to remember what you learn because it's writing and acting about what people felt," said Hector recalling the making of his WW I film. Or as classmate Samuel Barker put it, after portraying Dr. Edward Jenner in his team's film about the development of the smallpox vaccine, "You're living it. You'll never forget."