A Superpower in your pocket

So let’s talk.

Are you having an issue with cell phones in your classroom? Is this a constant conversation at your school? Is your admin team instituting rules about how devices can and should be used in your school?

If so, you are not alone.

According to a 2019 Pew Research Center survey, about 95% of teens (ages 13-17) in the United States have access to a smartphone, and 45% say they are online almost constantly.

If you are in a classroom in 2023, you know this is the truth. The only thing that might be wrong in that data is the use of the word almost. I think our kids are always online.

In my schools (speaking through my 15+ years in the classroom) administration has always tried to regulate phones in one way or another. And maybe they should… in another teacher’s classroom. Personally, I don’t want them to weigh in on how this incredible tool can be used in my class though, because I think cell phones are literally a superpower in our pockets.

Honestly, I get why they want to regulate phones. Some teachers may need that help from the higher ups to curtail student device usage abuse during their class, but for me, I want to model appropriate use of the tools we have. I want students to be able to use their phone, but I want them to know when it is okay to use their phone. And even moreso, I want students to know how to use their phones.

So, what are some acceptable uses of cell phones in a video and film production class?

Well, for starters, cell phones can be used to unlock your students' creativity and productivity. Let me explain.

Most high school students these days have smartphones that are more powerful than the computers we used just a few years ago. These devices have high-quality cameras, microphones, and editing software built in, making them perfect for shooting and editing short projects. I don’t know if I would undertake a feature film on an iPhone 8, but it is more than sufficient for learning how to capture meaningful stories.

But it's not just the technical capabilities of cell phones that make them useful in teaching video production. It's also the fact that students are already comfortable and familiar with them. They use their phones every day to communicate with friends, take photos and videos, and share content on social media. By using their phones as a tool for filmmaking, you're meeting them where they are and making the process more accessible and, hopefully, more fun.

So, how can you leverage the power of cell phones in teaching script writing, filming, and editing?

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Have students write short film scripts on their phones.

Writing a screenplay is a daunting task for many students, especially if they're not used to writing in a narrative format. But if you have them write their scripts on their phones, they can do it anytime, anywhere. They can jot down ideas on the bus ride home, flesh out characters while waiting in line at the cafeteria, and make revisions after drama club. By the time they get to class, they'll have a solid foundation for their short films.

There are a number of tools that they can use for this, such as the built-in iOS apps, such as Notes and Pages, but for ease of collaboration, I prefer them to use resources like Google Docs, which when signed in through a school account, gives them the ability to easily share with their classmates, making for a smooth production process. This gives all students in a group access to the script, which is useful for when someone is absent and it cuts down on having to print off numerous copies of the script after they leave theirs in the shooting location for the seventh time.

Our phones can also be used for planning out our productions and shots.

Visualizing our shoots is an essential part of the pre-production process, but it can be a hassle to do on paper. With mobile devices, students can easily sketch out their ideas, take photos to use as reference, and even add notes and dialogue to their storyboards. This will help them plan their shots more effectively and ensure that they capture the footage they need to tell their stories.

Some of the tools that I find useful in this capacity are again native iOS apps, like Notes and the newly released FreeForm, which can be used collaboratively for things such as mind mapping and shot/scene organization. One app that I have found to be very useful in production is Keynote, Apple’s presentation software. You can create storyboards in this app, then play them out as movie files, which can go a long way in helping the entire production team get on the same page.

Once the production is planned, students can then use their phones to capture beautiful, cinematic, and aesthetically pleasing images. (Yeah, right!)

At the very least they have the right tools to get started. Assuming you have taught them about framing, the rule of thirds, and the like, there are a few things that can help to make their images better and more professional just using the stock iPhone camera. A simple walk through how to manually control the image in an iPhone will yield tremendous results and this, interestingly enough, is something that most of my students have no clue even is an option. Seeing the faces on my students when I show them that you can actually long press on the thing you want to focus on and then control the exposure on that subject is one of the highlights of my year. (I really like seeing minds melt when they realize something they never knew before.)

While the stock camera is an incredible tool, it is worth noting that there are other options out there. I have used Filmic Pro for years. I decided to purchase the $10 app after watching a few videos that were produced with it and I could not be happier. Since my purchase, the price went up to $15, and now- with a knot in my stomach- I have to tell you that they are on a subscription model. Fortunately, I have been grandfathered in, so I still get to use the app (the original version) as needed.

Even on the subscription plan, the investment might be worth it, especially for students who are highly interested in pursuing film and video production as a career. A few years ago I was recording an event and started out with a $5,000 cinema camera with a $1,500 lens. The video it captured was gorgeous, but it exhausted my arm and shoulder. After several hours of exhaustive work, I decided to switch over to Filmic Pro for the last hour or so of the event. When I gave the files to the editor, who has worked in the industry for over twenty years, he couldn’t immediately tell the difference between the cinema camera and the iPhone footage.

Once the video is captured, it now has to be edited. I do recommend that this be a desktop endeavor. Our phones aren’t quite where we need them to be yet, but they have come a long way in the past few years. Apple’s iMovie is a good starting point and can allow for very basic editing. Adobe Premiere Rush gives editors a little more, but is still very limited in power. Perhaps, the best release for mobile editing probably doesn’t live on a phone, but on an iPad. Recently, Blackmagic Design released DaVinci Resolve for iPad, which you can read more about in this post by Tom White. I gave it a go after reading Tom’s article and I was very impressed. It takes a little getting used to, especially in how you get outside footage into the device, but the power of what you can now do in a tablet is absolutely incredible.

And finally… it might surprise you, but phones can also be used for communication!

Yep, these production powerhouses can be used to help students stay connected to each other and to even have quicker access to the teacher… if you are into that sort of thing. In my program we use Slack extensively to plan and produce our productions. I have found Slack to be an incredibly efficient way to share files and resources, such as video files, graphics, and audio, which it will automatically transcribe for you should you need it. There are also great plugins that allow you to share to Slack directly from email services like Gmail and Outlook, which is how we are able to assign announcements from our email directly to a student who can then produce that piece for the show. And, the best part, this is all on the free plan!

In closing, our kids probably know more about what our phones can do than we do. But, they don’t always realize the power of the tool. I am not going to say anything about great power and great responsibility here, but it would be fitting since I have already said that our phones are a superpower in our pocket. No, I am going to let you figure out how you want to communicate that with your students. Heck, maybe send them a message in Slack.