MA blog
15.10.08

During a recent Filmmaking project with a youth group I was struck by the creative process that the group needed to go through even though they were using ICT. The way that we needed to encourage the group to think was very similar to the thinking process that would be needed for printing or layered mixed media art work. As the film making occurred and was built in layers it was difficult for the group to imagine and think ahead to the end product and plan an appropriate process to achieve this. Many had an idea of what they wanted the end product to be but were struggling with the thinking skills to work out in what order tasks needed to be done and in what way. This is an issue that I have experienced before in art education particularly in a process heavy project such as printing.

The similarities between the film and printing project are that it is crucial to have an understanding of the process in order to plan the piece of work. In this case it is useful to have examples of the work as it changes and progresses so that groups may see each stage. I was able to use my Whitemoor School film for this purpose and could demonstrate the whole process from individual photographs that would become an animation to music and sound being added later, along with effects and titles in movie maker. This would be similar for printing, showing the prints that were done at each different stage to build up layers of image and colour.

From this experience I would say that there is a definite creative process achieved when using ICT in certain projects. As a practitioner I find the process of film making a comfortable one as it reflects many skills that I have already polished despite the fact that all of the software required is new to me. I would venture that art therefore is crucial in helping to develop skills required in other subject areas. It is not simply the technical skills that are important in either process but it is obviously essential to exercise the ability to think, design and plan ahead making allowances for accidents, error and also skill, knowledge and experience limitations. With this process we learn evaluation, modification and experimentation, all crucial components of the creative thinking process.