ATTENTION EDUCATORS:
A Diverse Curriculum to Support your Classroom!
If you are looking for practical, relevant and engaging resources to enhance your classroom instruction, we’ve got you covered! AAHSFF is proud to offer a variety of FREE lessons from our Video Production Resource Community curriculum and Roadshow presentations. These lessons are ready for immediate implementation into your existing curriculum. And if you enjoy these lessons, we offer a complete curriculum of over 50 lesson plans that provide comprehensive resources designed to help your students develop their craft and take their projects to the highest level. You can purchase Year 1 (30 lessons, $299.99), Year 2 (12 lessons, $149.99) and/or Year 3 (10 lessons, $149.99) to further support your classroom instruction.
We appreciate your continued support and hope that these lessons provide meaningful inspiration for your students!
All the Best,
Tom, Andrew and the entire AAHSFF Team
About VPRC:
The All American High School Film Festival is the premier destination for the world’s most talented student filmmakers, but what about the teachers working behind the scenes to educate, inspire and support their students’ creativity? What resources are available to these invaluable professionals? Turns out, not much… Especially when it comes to films actually created by students that illuminate attainable best practices and help reveal where the bar is set. So we created the Video Production Resource Community, a comprehensive curriculum designed for immediate classroom use!
We feel one of the best tools a teacher can have is relevant, peer-created content, so our entire curriculum is based on exemplary student films from our library of over 15,000 student films. Each of our 50 + lessons provides 2-4 days of interactive, engaging instructional activities focused on inspiring your students to elevate their craft to the highest level (while making your classroom preparation easier!!!).
We also recognize that your job is incredibly unique and demanding. For this, VPRC offers you the opportunity to directly engage with our team and other Video Production teachers throughout the country and around the world. In addition, membership also includes exclusive festival perks like early registration and teacher networking events, PLUS the opportunity for VPRC teachers to compete for our annual VPRC Educator of the Year Award with a $1,000 cash prize!
How We Do It:
It’s no secret: Students love viewing video content. But how do you get them engaged? How do you get them to see more? How can you, the educator, enhance the experience beyond passive viewing? AAHSFF to the rescue!
Our initial lessons are designed to inspire your students to tell their stories through the medium of film while simultaneously enhancing their visual literacy skills. Each of our interactive lesson plans is designed to engage your students in the world of video production with equal parts entertainment, analysis, and application. Perhaps most importantly, our curriculum provides quality, hyper-relevant, peer-created content that represents the diverse themes, topics and genres that most resonate with your students.
Engagement Is Key:
Start with quality, hyper-relevant, peer-created content.
Center lessons on student-produced films.
Make it equal parts entertainment, analysis and application.
Focus on STORY!
Incorporate topics and themes that resonate with your students.
Keep the content and genres diverse.
Choose films that show not tell.
Seamlessly incorporate essential visual literacy skills to help students see more.
Empower students to apply what they have learned with real-world results.
Benefits of Membership
Interactive lesson plans based on student-created content
An open forum for questions and best practices
Educator networking event at AAHSFF
Exclusive Teacher of the year award ($1,000 Cash Award)
September Kick off kit (Includes a poster and other fun marketing materials)
Priority registration for Film Invitational
Membership is Divided into Three Years of Curriculum:
Year One Membership: $299 - 30 Interactive lesson plans based on student-created content + all benefits listed above. Lesson topics cover a wide variety of genres, film techniques and best practices for emerging student filmmakers.
Year Two Membership: $149 - 12 NEW interactive lesson plans based on student-created content + all benefits listed above.
Year Three Membership: $149 - 12 NEW interactive lesson plans based on student-created content + all benefits listed above.
A Sample of the Benefits of our Year One Lesson Plans:
Interactive lesson plans based on student-created content:
We’ve created three tiers of lesson plans designed to help your students grow from active viewers to screenwriters to competent and capable filmmakers. Let’s take a look at how it all comes together!
It’s no secret: Students love viewing video content. But how do you get them engaged? How do you get them to see more? How can you, the educator, enhance the experience beyond passive viewing? AAHSFF to the rescue!
Our initial lessons are designed to inspire your students to tell their stories through the medium of film while simultaneously enhancing their visual literacy skills. Each of our interactive lesson plans is designed to engage your students in the world of video production with equal parts entertainment, analysis, and application. Perhaps most importantly, our curriculum provides quality, hyper-relevant, peer-created content that represents the diverse themes, topics and genres that most resonate with your students.
Engagement Is Key (Tier 1):
Start with quality, hyper-relevant, peer-created content.
Center lessons on student-produced films.
Make it equal parts entertainment, analysis and application.
Incorporate topics and themes that resonate with your students.
Keep the content and genres diverse.
Choose films that show not tell.
Seamlessly incorporate essential visual literacy skills to help students see more.
Allow students to apply what they have learned with real-world results.
So you’ve watched some exemplary student films… you’re feeling inspired… you’re thinking: I can do this! It’s time to tell your story. It’s time to show the world what it’s like to look through your lens! Our next batch of lessons looks closer at crafting stories that will move your audience and leave a lasting impression. Once again, we’ll model the power of story using high-quality peer films that illuminate various aspects of the screenwriting process. These lessons will include ample opportunity for application including activities that foster individual creativity and story creation.
Story is Everything (Tier 2):
Give your audience a story they can’t shake.
You want to move, affect and change your audience.
Focus on what you know and your life experiences.
Start with careful ideation and a thematic focus.
Center your story on the basic three act structure: Set-Up, Conflict, and Resolution.
Create dynamic characters that evolve throughout the film.
Use secondary characters to illuminate the main character.
Listen to real conversations to help craft realistic dialogue.
Plan surprises for the audience with symbols, plot twists, and manipulations of time.
Our final batch of lessons explore the elements of film and how they can be used to amplify story and further engage the audience. This is tricky territory as it’s easy to overdo it, but don’t fret: we’ve got great student films that will show you the way! Students will analyze a variety of film techniques as they continue to build their own pre-production plans. From casting actors to rack focus-- we’ve got you covered!
Perfecting the Package (Tier 3):
Using the elements of film to make your project the best it can be!
Keep your pacing crisp with calculated cuts.
Breathe life into your story with creative cinematography.
Enhance mood and atmosphere with a complimentary score.
Choose the most ideal and achievable authentic locations.
Find professional, adult actors eager to work with you.
Discover the power of a well-planned voiceover.
Be prepared for the challenges of capturing audio.
Consider a variety of techniques: parallel editing, depth of field, framing, and many more!
