F L I C K S C H O O L

Getting Permission (Legal Stuff)

torres21@mac.com (Marco Torres) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:00:32 PDT

When shooting your project it's important to know what areas you are allowed to record in and which are off limits. For example, government area's are usually always out of the question (unless you have connections or the money for proper permits), places like train stations, airports, or private areas like the mall or even some public parks are off limits. Make sure before you shoot your production you have the permissions you need.

For the most part, if you want to shoot in local areas in your city, talking will get you a long way, especially if it is a school project. For example, talking to your local coffee shop or restaurant owner about filming inside their place is not very difficult and for the most part we have seen that they are usually excited to be a part of something like that.

One important tip is to carry location and model releases for the places and people you are shooting. Below are links to some example release forms you can use for your projects.

Location Release

Model Release

Abstract and Video Essay's

torres21@mac.com (Marco Torres) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:31:12 PDT

An abstract movie, sometimes referred to as a mixed media project, has multiple media elements. For example, it can have multiple forms of text, music, graphics, special effects, color and video filters. These movies go beyond your traditional documentary or narrative both visually and story wise.

Click Here to see an example of a abstract movie.

Video essays are another form of abstract movies. Video essays are different then your standard documentary because they don't need to have an actual interview and are different than narratives because the storyline is communicated generally through a scripted voice, images, music and/or text.

Click Here to see an example of a abstract movie.

Film Festivals

torres21@mac.com (Marco Torres) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:46:54 PDT

After students/participants have finished their projects it's important to have a place where they can showcase their work. Putting together a film festival is a great way to showcase their work to a large audience.

The picture above is the the iCan Film Festival put on early by student in San Fernando in the parking lot of a local coffee shop. Since the movies are short in length and take several students to produce one movie, all students have an opportunity to showcase at least one project they have worked on through out the year.

TIP: Work with your local business to collaborate and have your students host a festival of their own!