WILLYAMA HIGH SCHOOL
BROKEN HILL
Well, here we are at the end of our 2nd week. We are in Broken Hill, at Willyama High School - one of the two secondary schools in the town. The school sits at the north-eastern corner of the town. Open, flat bush-scrub borders the school grounds with a stunning contrast of colours - the red earth against a myriad of greens and greys with the elegant beauty of the occasional ghost gum. We saw exceptionally beautiful landscape last week as well, across several towns and the countryside in between, but unlike at Coomealla High, our twelve Willyama students are all 'towny' kids. Our group here consists of three Year 10 girls - Lucy, Sam and Letisha; one Year 8 boy - Tom; and eight Year 8 girls - Jasmine, Riannna, Bianca, Keanna, Amanda, Shannon, Sharna and Catherine.Preparation
Initially, we found our Willyama students quiet, but when we embarked on drama games and activities that required a lack of inhibition, that is exactly what we found. These kids were happy to dive into the world of imagination, and were already doing a great job of making that world real to the onlooker - their potential audience. And, by the way, in most cases, quietness didn't last long!
By the end of Tuesday we had got to know each other a little, talked about the town and made a map of the school. We played a lot of games that exercised our ability to work as a team, we talked about and worked at opening ourselves up to new ways of seeing, learning and understanding. Fred told the kids that this week, in our room,
"2 + 2 could = 5 … if they wanted it to".
While science is a great and important thing, drama is not a science. Drama is an art and like all art, it is subjective.We asked one major thing of our students: that the work we did together was true and important to them. This was to be a time to explore their own thoughts and feelings.
By Wednesday most of our kids had decided on their special place. They had articulated what this place meant to them and why - what it made them think and how it made them feel. Some had also started to plan how they would show these things in their film piece: Would it be made in a documentary style? Would there be dramatic elements - scripted or improvised? Would their story be told in a less linear / conventional way - would it be more abstract? How would they use basic camera moves, editing and sound (possibly music) to communicate their feelings about their special place? How ever they decided to do it, it would be their story.
The 'owner' of each special place would be the director of that film. They would need to think about whom, within the group they would ask to be their key crew members. The crew would be instrumental in helping the director carry out his/her vision. So on Wednesday morning we set the protocol for our shoots and then headed off to our first location. Shoot Days
Wednesday
Jasmine had a very clear idea about how she wanted to shoot her piece. She had described it to me, and in fact, taken me to the location on Tuesday afternoon. She had shown me exactly how she wanted the piece to start. She would be the presenter within her documentary style film. So here we all were, on Wednesday morning, up on level 3 at Jasmine's special place - Room 3.6. This is where Jasmine comes to do reading and other schoolwork. But most importantly for her, it's where she can talk to people who help her in times of trouble - people like Uncle Darren, who appears with her in the film. Jasmine showed strength, warmth and honesty in inviting us into this very important part of her world.
Next location was the fire escape on level 3. This is where Lucy's film was shot. Lucy's connection with this place started with a photography assignment, but the place went on beyond that to mean much more to her. She used four of the other girls - Amanda, Catherine, Sharna and Shannon to be her actors. They would be playing the roles of Lucy and her friends. The girls were directed by Lucy to improvise - there voices would not be heard but the feeling they portrayed would set the mood for the piece. The piece will have a voice-over, recorded by Lucy that describes her feelings for the place and what went on here. Having a strong visual sensibility, Lucy loves being behind the camera. She was asked by a number of the other students to be their DP (director of photography) and shoot their pieces, a job she took on with enthusiasm and responsibility.
Next cab off the rank was Letisha's piece. Here again, our director chose to use other students to be her actors. Letisha's story sprang from her special place - the crossbars of the awning over the walkway. Letisha also had a strong plan. Her piece would have two parts - the first naturalistic (set in a classroom), then moving into a more stylised communication of the story, (at the crossbars). It is the story of a special friendship, but during the shooting of the piece, Letisha was surprised by what was emerging. It seemed the simple story had a life of its own. To her credit, Letisha embraced this and went with it, allowing the organic, inner-life of the story to shine. The whole group also found, in shooting the drama, how many technical aspects arise and how difficult it can be as an actor, to 'hit your mark' in lots of different ways while still appearing natural. This piece required a lot of its actors. The cast - Tom and Catherine - were very focused. They took the responsibility of embodying Letisha's characters seriously and giving them the heart that they deserved.
We were still shooting Letisha's film when the bell went for lunch. Tom's piece was set in his special place - the court - at lunchtime. The whole lunchtime feel, with kids doing what they do in their own time, was intrinsic to Tom's vision. So we put Letisha's shoot on hold, grabbed a quick bite to eat, and embarked on shooting Tom's footage before the bell sounded to send the students back into the classroom. Tom's idea was simple, clear and true to himself. Essentially, he wanted to capture his own P.O.V. (point of view) in the place he felt comfortable and relaxed, where his friends were and where he came to have fun. We shot 'The Court' from a number of different angles, and then shot Tom from different places watching the action. Tom also recorded a concise and thoughtful piece of voiceover to convey his feelings.
We ended the day back at Letisha's second location. After our brave actors had nailed a couple of confronting moments we called it a wrap for our first shoot day. "In the can!" - as they say in the movies.
To be continued . . .
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