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Erica Techo
Rachel Ivey (far left) discusses potential scenes for a sci-fi/ action movie trailer with students during A Minor Film School.
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A Minor Film School logo
Becoming a movie maker no longer takes thousands of dollars of equipment. These days, all it takes is the right mobile device and a few choice apps. These easily accessible tools were the center of Chelsea Public Library’s summer program, A Minor Film School.
Chelsea Park Elementary School fifth grade teacher Daryl Hyde and Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Rachel Ivey taught the six-week course. Ivey said the class was a product of their combined passions — hers in photography and his in videography.
“We both enjoy interacting with kids so much, we talked about, ‘Wouldn’t it be amazing to work with young people to be able to foster this,’” Ivey said.
When purchasing a mobile device, Ivey said she based her choice on the device’s processer and available memory, and she wanted to show students how to get the most out of their mobile devices.
“When I realized the library was constantly on the lookout for ways to get that middle school, I thought this could be perfect,” Ivey said.
Students learned lessons on video editing, adding sound effects and filters, shooting video clips and selecting scenes for a movie trailer during the course. They were able to use their iPhones or other Apple devices, Android devices and Kindle Fires to shoot and edit video.
“The tech that these kids are carrying around in their pockets is just [amazing],” Ivey said. “I don’t know what I would have done with that [at their age].”
In addition to the lessons students learned during their weekly, hour-long classes, participants had homework assignments where they would practice their photography and editing skills. One assignment involved students selecting two or three pre-filmed clips and putting their own spin on the video through editing, sound effects and filters. After turning in their editing assignment, the class watched everyone’s videos and offered feedback.
The course will end with A Minor Film Festival at Chelsea Public Library on July 23. The film festival will take place at 3 p.m., and the students will show the movie trailers they have put together over the course of the class. The decision to have students build movie trailers means the project can have a wide scope, Ivey said.
“We could have assigned them a 30-second short film, but a trailer allows them to make their project bigger than it could be,” Ivey said.
There will be refreshments offered during the film festival, and there will be time for a question-and-answer period for each student filmmaker. There will also be prize packs given to the winner in each category — Action, Mystery and Comedy. Winning students will be able to choose their prize packs, which can include anything from an iTunes gift card to a tri-pod and phone adapter for aspiring directors.
“It’s things that can help them take that next step and use their phone to make even better films,” Ivey said.
