Shabbat with Moses: A retreat for Grades 3-6
One of our projects for the Teaching Technology Fellowship at Beth El was a movie making retreat during which our students created a video of the life of Moses. The retreat lasted from Friday evening until Saturday evening and the goal was to shoot the footage on the retreat and edit it when we got home so that we could show it to the students and their parents on the last day of school, which is also our Fiftieth Anniversary Birthday Party.
We shot the video in three separate sessions, working around the usual Shabbat retreat activities (dinner, Maariv prayer, Breakfast, morning prayer, sports, Havdallah). We used the new video camera we got at the last session on a tripod, and a second camera for close up shots We knew we would not have time to make the scenery so we shot against a green screen (a trick we learned from the Cameron video).
We began the first session by teaching them three songs that were written for the movie. Then the students heard the script and recommended people for parts (We allowed students to reject the part if they chose, but we did not allow them to volunteer. They had to be volunteered by someone else). Then the students in the act went off to rehearse while the rest of the students worked on making props (They made the Nile River,and a doorway) We shot the scene before lunch.
At the second session the teen volunteers shot a funny scene of their own making (a video within the video about Moses killing the taskmaster) to the "live audience" of the students interacting with the teens. Then we shot the three songs they had rehearsed in the morning.
At the final session, which was held after free time, we incorporated our traditional retreat talent show into the video by presenting the short talent skits as performances that were done before Pharaoh's throne. While they were presenting these, another group rehearsed a second scene (the burning bush) , and we shot that scene as well.
The final scene was shot on the Sunday following the retreat , when we were back at Beth El. The final movie is still being edited. When it is done we will upload it to the wiki.
The retreat was a huge success. It was wonderful to see the students of different ages cooperating on the project, and the combination of music,drama, and art allowed everyone to find their strength. The students are excited about seeing the final result.
Judy and Mark
This sounds like a lot of fun. The line that really resonated with me was "allowed everyone to find their strengths". In a very collaborative effort such as this, with many pieces to it, there is room for this to happen, and increases the odds of a successful project! Great use of the camcorder.
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