A practical guide for running a successful 30-hour (15-lesson) short film project in English with (pre-)intermediate students: planning, lessons, evaluation, deliverables, samples and experiences, plus ideas for other projects.

Project Scope (Short Film Project)

Students. Students are older teenagers or adults and are at an (pre-)intermediate English level. They work in teams of 4. Class size should not exceed 25-30 students (6-7 teams) in order to have enough teacher-team talking time.

Teachers. The project can be run with one teacher, but I have often had the pleasure of working together with a (Thai) teaching partner. A second teacher is especially useful
when the foreign teacher is busy discussing the progress with individual teams and when lower level students have a problem understanding instructions or comments.

Topic. Teams produce a 5-10 minute short film on any topic of their choosing.

Language. All classes are taught in English and all products are delivered in English. Teams may still use their first language in team discussions although they are encouraged to speak English. Note: the project could be done in ANY LANGUAGE, not just English.

Homework policy. There is NO homework in this course so that the teacher has the opportunity to observe the teamwork. This policy also prevents copying, and teams can not recruit other students to do the work for them. Teams that work diligently in class will rarely have to do anything outside class, except for recording the film.

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