F.A.M.M. (Future Artists & Media Makers)
Documentary Film Production SUMMER CAMP 2021- Led By Chip Jackson
July 5th - July 30th Grades: 9-12 Over the course of four weeks, teens interested in film and television production and arts and media, will mer in-person to gain a foundational knowledge of video production, as well as guided hands-on experience creating their own short film! This year, students will collaborate to produce a sequel to the 2016 student-made F.A.M.M. documentary “Did Anybody Ask Us?”, sharing their experiences and perspectives of life during COVID-19, political and world events of 2020, and discussing the challenges of living in today’s social climate.
weekly break down of 2021 summer program
WEEK 1
Week 1 of FAMM Camp started off with students meeting their Lead Instructor Chip Jackson, the OA JET crew and OA Program Mentors, Tricia Evangelisto and Joshua Thornton. Students introduced themselves and were then introduced to our ‘Quality Pledge’ which set the standard for expectations of excellence for our film production for the next four weeks. As we prepare to produce a sequel to “Did Anybody Ask Us?” 2016. We began forming a bond as a crew through sharing our favorite movie genres, exploring how covid has affected the lives of everyone over the past year, and also built trust & communication through challenging exercises such as “Count to 10” where the goal is to count from 1 to 10 without stumbling over another crew member. Students were also challenged with finding & labeling the similarities & differences between documentaries vs. movies and got their first introduction to the use of film terminology to explain these differences. A huge shout out goes to everyone for all of their hard work! And a VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU TO The Robinson Community Theatre @robinson_theater & @salvationarmybgcrva for housing our group during the rough weather days during the week.
WEEK 2
During week 2 of FAMM CAMP, we jumped into conducting student interviews. Our production began with getting some perspective on what life was like as a middle schooler in 2020. Through thoughtfully crafted interview questions we exercised eliciting responses that can tell a clear and engaging story. We split groups into camera operators, who captured A & B roll footage, sound technicians and interviewers which began with Ethan, 14 who shared his perspective on life before quarantine measures were in place. Our young production crew has been crushing it with each new step of the process while recalling skills related to composition; focusing on the rule of thirds, ensuring quality sound and most importantly asking questions that reflect the topic! We couldn’t be more proud of our young film production crew, THEY NAILED IT THIS WEEK!
WEEK 3
“ I will be creative as well as original & think outside the box, I will be the eye of all my peers! ” Ethan, 14 confidently delivers a line from our quality pledge in just a few takes as production is moving right along for our F.A.M.M crew! This week we had the most colorful & diverse backdrop to film our production and would like to thank Chimborazo Elementary for housing our production for a few days as students were allowed to make executive decisions about location, lighting, sound & use of the proper lenses to capture quality content needed for our project. Concurrently we began creating and producing an educational YouTube video that will exemplify 8 different shot sizes and display the use of terms related to film production. We spent most of our days this week with cameras & equipment in hand, applying newly acquired knowledge while cooperatively working as a team. We ended our week with a group visit to the VMFA to experience the exhibition The Dirty South curated by Valerie Cassel Oliver. We enjoyed this time together and can’t wait to share our lovely production as we will wrap up last week of camp with editing and post-production procedures.
WEEK 4
We closed out our last day of FAMM (Future Artist & Media Makers) Summer Camp with an eye opening and insightful day at @bhmva . We want to thank all of the BHMVA staff for their hospitality and our wonderful guide Mary Lauderdale for sharing her incredible knowledge of Black History with us. We were so incredibly inspired to learn of all of the talent and beauty that is derived and comes directly from Richmond, Virginia and surrounding areas. We want to thank all of our campers for joining us for the past four weeks under the instruction of Chip Jackson, for putting their all into being present each and every day of camp. We close out this week with the wonderful sight & sound of Saba, 14 as she serenades the group on the piano of the legendary Joe Kennedy Jr. Thank you to all of our sponsors & supporters that made the last 4 weeks of FAMM camp possible @rpsengagement , @cfrichmondva & @virginiaarts !
