Exploiting Short Film and Video Clips - An #ELTchat summary

This is a video summary, as requested, of the #ELTchat from 29 May 2013 on the subject of exploiting short film and video clips.  It is based on extracted quotes throughout the chat broadly based around the following five themes:

http://film-english.com/

1) Reasons for using short film and video clips.  A theme which ran through the chat was why choosing shorter length videos, from whatever source they might be, was preferable to longer videos.  Many participants brought up positive views on the use of shorter videos, even clipping videos where necessary. The focus was on ‘exploiting’ (making good use of) clips rather than dwelling on any possible disadvantages.  A huge number of resources were mentioned and these are all linked to at the end of this brief summary.   

2) Issues of length.  As a continuation of above, really, there was general agreement that plenty of language work was possible with videos of 5-6 minutes in length, 10 minutes max.  Some felt that information overload can occur or that students fall into a kind of 'TV trance' if the clip is too long.

3) Criteria for choosing.  This was, perhaps, under discussed. The question was raised near the beginning and there was sufficient criteria put forward for it to warrant a section in the video summary.  Ideas included quality, engagement, topic or content and whether higher order thinking skills would be utilised.  But a deeper exploration of this issue never really got going, such as the basic question of what comes first, the video or the lesson objective?

4) Type of video.  Animation, advertisements, silent films or ones without recognisable dialogue were popular choices.  For some, it was important that the video clip used had some kind of pedagogic aim, even if that word was not explicitly used.   For some, it depended on the level and age of learners.  Some felt authenticity was important, and for a short time the chat briefly touched upon students making their own videos.  For the most part, videos that can be used were ones not intended for language teaching, indeed the less talk the better!

and 5) Techniques.  Towards the end of the chat, ideas were put forward as to the way to incorporate video clips into the lesson.  Certain techniques, such as using freeze frames, split viewing, using them for prediction tasks, and getting students to do voiceovers or commentaries, were highlighted.  It was also mentioned that getting students to re-enact or ‘stage’ the clip, especially if there was some kind of narrative, was also a possibility.   ‘Videotelling’ was another idea raised, and for more information on that, participants were guided towards Jamie Keddie on the subject (see links).

https://vimeo.com/channels/staffpicks

The video clips come from links mentioned in the chat. An exhaustive list of links follows the video.
 

Note: As often happens, links and comments that were shared but without the #ELTchat hashtag could not be included, unless retweeted with the hashtag.  I had to edit the order of the quotes to try to establish some sort of narrative.  In the end, like many great scenes left out of movies, a lot quotes had to end up on the cutting room floor. 

Video Audio track:

"Drops of H2O (The Filtered Water Treatment )" by J.Lang (feat. Airtone)
http://ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/37792
is licensed under a Creative Commons license:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Video clip sources:

Mixtape by Luke Snellin - (as showcased on) http://film-english.com/2013/05/20/mixtape/

Make It Count by Casey Neistat - (") http://film-english.com/2013/04/15/make-it-count/

Momentos by Nuno Rocha - (") http://film-english.com/2013/03/04/moments-2/

Zero by Christopher Kezelos - https://vimeo.com/24975340

Celestial Dynamics by Kim Taylor - http://bit.ly/Zlbf6I

The Power of Words by Andrea Gardner - http://bit.ly/11vLJbn

Skyfall movie clip – on http://allatc.wordpress.com/ and http://bit.ly/QOpPxe

The Shawshank Redemption by Secret Cinema (Future Short) - http://bit.ly/R85Gqz

The Black Hole by Phil and Olly (Future Short) - http://bit.ly/15VkJ

Paper is not dead (Samsung galaxy S4 vs iPaper) - http://bit.ly/19wX7LJ

Vicky Hollett’s 100 second English lesson: Travel - http://bit.ly/15pzgLn

Bridget Jones’ Diary movie clip - http://bit.ly/oqjOYx

Pingu’s Pancakes by Otmar Guttman - http://bit.ly/zSGWo

Shaun the Sheep is feelin’ good by Aardman Animations - http://bit.ly/18Gltl4

Let It Rain by Mike Hardie and Chris Byrnes - http://tropfest.com/ny/

Lucky by Nash Edgerton and Brooke Wilson - http://tropfest.com/ny/

Wittertainment’s Code of Conduct by Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo - http://bit.ly/LUnEUv

‘Dumb Ways To Die’ by Pat Baron, Julian Frost and Cinnamon Darvall. Song written by John Mescall with music by Ollie McGill/The Cat Empire - http://bit.ly/ZTUi1D

Links to resources mentioned in the chat:

Kieran Donaghy’s ELTon award winning Film English site http://film-english.com/ which inspired the chat topic (@Shaunwilden)

Presentation at IATEFL conference on Using video in the classroom with teen learners - http://bit.ly/12ThTA5 (@Marisa_C)

Vicky Hollett’s one minute and 100 second videos on You Tube: http://t.co/HyP1j41Qv8 and SimpleEnglishVideos: http://t.co/MTU300GvA6 (@MarjorieRosenbe)

Recent 10 min talk on using One Minute English videos at IHtoc60 conference: http://bit.ly/18C0mTo (@Shaunwilden)

English Central blog post .pdf about using video in the classroom: An Activity Guide - http://bit.ly/QN3qDc (@Marisa_C)

ShareSafeTV – a way to clip YouTube videos so that it plays a smaller section – http://t.co/aR6h6mBIqU (@sandymillin)

Steve Muir’s all.at.c blog – using movie trailers - http://t.co/vFWMyWtbon (@sandymillin)

We Are Teachers blog – 10 Video Projects every teacher should try - http://t.co/xHtpofAtrq (@NancyW via @sueannan)

CUP Professional English Online – video activities for advanced business students - http://bit.ly/17D8Qdp (@MarjorieRosenbe)

Pingu – e.g. ‘Pingu’s Pancakes’ - http://bit.ly/zSGWo – ‘for intonation work’ (@sueannan via @shaunwilden)

Air Jordan Advert - http://t.co/mJ0ZqDkz7i – used for translator training classes (@Wiktor_K)

Pinterest board for interesting texts, includes some videos - http://t.co/LmOYNWIya4 (@Marisa_C)

Bernard – short animations featuring a bear with no dialogue - http://t.co/1pGCdddQBd (@sandymillin)

‘The Power of Words’ – an inspirational video by Andrea Gardner - http://t.co/YvfaxL1tzc (@naomishema)

TROPFEST ‘The World’s largest short film festival’ - http://tropfest.com/ - and YouTube channel - http://bit.ly/s7Dgm (@cioccas)

Quality short films on Vimeo’s staff picks - http://t.co/teaBKLB25v (@kierandonaghy)

Shaun the sheep – e.g. ‘Shaun the sheep is feeling good’ - http://t.co/bTZnNPaNRU (@AliCe_M)

‘Samsung GALAXY S4 vs. iPaper’ video – for HOTS - http://t.co/mTRxzysffA (@naomishema) - and with full lesson plan - http://t.co/IDxFtJYVOg (@kierandonaghy)

Fifty People, One Question – http://bit.ly/b3q3 (@mattelmman)

‘Matt Cutts – Try something new for 30 days’ - http://bit.ly/m7da5j - Short TED talk used for motivation station – blog post - http://t.co/ptnLpvoQC6 (‘sandymillin)

Students reporting the news - http://t.co/IlHJZUQ36M (@sandymillin)

Public Information films from the UK National archive - http://t.co/ihbLVB8MAW (@shaunwilden)

The Wittertainment Code of Conduct – poster and video - http://t.co/ok61iVi6Af (@sandymillin)

Truth or a lie? – from Blustbuff.com – http://t.co/dH6ILWD7HH  - ‘great site for fun listening’ (@Marisa_C)

Short of the Week – a huge, curated collection of short films, including many animations, from the around the world - http://t.co/RIAc1TvOpf (@kierandonaghy).

Overstream  - http://t.co/LinDyTLR8g - ‘the joy of every voiceover addict’ (@Marisa_C and @sandymillin) and which allows you to add subtitles to YouTube videos (@shauwilden)

‘Momentos’, a film on theme of homelessness + lesson plan - http://t.co/grz7ySPjdB (@kierandonaghy)

Shell Scenarios for discussion about environmental future - http://t.co/IKwcDsvHrv (@sueannan)

Grammarman – ‘sets of activities for full films’ - http://t.co/wZcMyxc8pp (@sandymillin)

Future Shorts - YouTube channel - http://t.co/u2QLon7X6g (@kierandonaghy)

Lesson Stream – Jamie Keddie’s site - http://t.co/0DU98RVZXY (@sueannan)

‘Dumb Ways to Die’ song from an Australian public information advert with lesson plan c/o Steve Muir - http://t.co/xEhUwRIPw8 (@sandymillin)

40 CPD videos for colleagues ‘that will ignite a discussion’ - http://t.co/qLd5Tjub3U (@sueannan)

Filminute! Great 1 minute films. International film festival of 60 second (no more no less) movies - http://t.co/mOXgVYjTgC (@annapires)

Animoto – for students to create their own animated vids - http://t.co/6e4fjPYsO0 (@mattellman)

Bombay TV - http://bit.ly/147Jyx and Bombay TV2 - http://t.co/i6q2kE8Wrn - Bollywood movies for subtilting or doing a voiceover to (@Marisa_C)