Central Film Institute: Promoting Project Based Learning and Skill Building through Film Making

The Central Film Institute (C.F.I.) is one of many popular classes offered at Central High School’s After School Program: The S.P.O.T (Sports, Programs and Ongoing Tutorial). Central High School in the Central Unified School District is one of several high school afterschool programs funded by the Fresno County Office of Education in Central California. The Fresno County Office of Education receives high school after school funds through the 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative.

Background

The C.F.I. class exists primarily as a result of the interests of one regular day teacher at Central High School named Scott Donaghe.  As a French teacher at Central High School, Scott’s passions for film began during his high school years, “My film adventure began my sophomore year of high school, in my French class. My French teacher, Madame Smith assigned a French Video Project. We were to create a film entirely in French.”

Ten years later, he had become a French teacher, took every class at the Junior College and State College level involving film and decided to incorporate French film projects into his classroom, with varying measures of success.

Scott became involved in the afterschool program at Central High School when it first began over five years ago as a result of an email that was sent out to teachers asking for someone to run the new afterschool program.  He was one of only two teachers out of 100 to respond.  Looking for ways to increase the after school program by offering a variety of after school classes, a survey of 1,000 students was conducted.  The survey listed 50 different after school classes that revealed a high interest in a filmmaking class for after school.

Six months after that survey, the afterschool program developed into a full-fledged program by hiring college students to run and administer the program. Scott was asked if he would be willing to run a film class. He accepted the responsibility immediately.

The Early Years

The first film class was actually conducted by Bruce Royers Studios for the introductory two-month class. Scott watched how the instructor ran the class. At the end of the two months, the instuctor left for his next assignment, leaving with Scott with two iMac computers and two camcorders.

Now under Scott’s leadership, the After School Filmmaking class was officially changed to C.F.I. (the Central Film Institute). Scott created an application and within one month had 50 applicants, all of which he accepted.

Scott struggled for a few years with limited equipment and instructional assistance resulting in inconsistent student attendance and commitment.  During this time he realized that he had to produce a product to get the funds desired. For an entire fall semester, he had the C.F.I. students brainstorm and eventually write a script for a film.  By the spring of that year a 20 page script titled “A Script for Eddie” was complete.

The students filmed for four  weeks.  During this time, the C.F.I. crew filmed a prom and a variety of commercials for the S.P.O.T.  Throughout this process, the students wrote a grant to receive $1,300 dollars in order to edit their film. The film, 20 minutes in duration, was dubbed in French.  With the help of Central’s Graphics Design teacher, Mr. Giannandrea, C.F.I.’s first film had a more polished and professional package with a student designed poster and DVD design.

The film was entered into the SlickRock Film Festival.   Despite not winning, the film and the C.F.I. class were featured in the school newspaper and Fresno Magazine as the Top After School Program in the San Joaquin Valley. A group photo was placed in the magazine. The feature put more money into the class’ budget.  With more funding, Scott’s wife Andrea developed a make-up class consisting of special effects make-up, bruising, cuts abrasions, and old age.

The Plot Thickens

In the creation of their latest film “The Organization,” Scott and his wife paid out at least $400 dollars in supplies for the make-up class, costumes for the actresses, food for the kids, a rental van for location shooting and additional camera supplies such as tapes, connector cables and various other small items.

On the program’s website, comments are featured from students involved with films such as “The Organization” and “Old Lady Smackdown,” and a variety of film clips are available for viewing.

C.F.I. has become a waking passion for Scott, “I never thought that I could love teaching something as much if not even more than French. There is something so compelling working with students two days a week for three hours each day on creative, original film projects. As you will see when you check out the classes we offer in C.F.I., we go beyond just point and shoot some video. We offer Make-Up design classes, scriptwriting classes, music creation classes, film editing and filmmaking classes as well as acting seminars. Many of the students that end up joining C.F.I. are also my French students, some however are not. Yet no matter how they join C.F.I. I feel blessed to be a part of their lives.”

Class Recruitment

Scott’s connection to the regular school day has been the main form of recruitment and advertising of CFI.  Robert Nunes, a junior, first joined the class at the request of Scott, “I took French and Mr. Donaghe asked to me to check out his C.F.I. class.  On the first day I attended, they asked me to make some music for one of the films since I was the only one with a music background.”

Robert has been attending CFI for over a year now and is the class’ music coordinator who creates original music scores for many of the films as well as trains and oversees other students who create music.  Along with developing his love of music, C.F.I. has taught Robert a lot about responsibility and the importance of teamwork, “(C.F.I.) is like a whole other level.  It’s not like a class.  C.F.I. has also made me more mature and step up.  We have deadlines we have to keep in order to finish a film.  We all have to work together to make things happen.”

Due to the fact that Scott and his wife have invested personal money into some of these projects, they are more willing to see them through to the end.  C.F.I. is now offered five days a week afterschool as part of the S.P.O.T program.  According to Scott, “The thing that makes C.F.I. so special is that people are willing to be a part of something big and exciting for nothing more than the intrinsic value of being involved. That is why C.F.I. is what it is. It is fun, exciting, hands on, project based and personal to each and every kid who becomes a part of C.F.I.”

Scott and his wife continue to foster relationships with several of the students who have graduated high school that were a part of C.F.I. One of Scott’s former C.F.I. students was hired at a K-8 school that feeds into Central High School. He is now running his own C.F.I. with 22 kids, using their own Canon XL-2 camera.

Discipline Required

Despite the many positive aspects of C.F.I., Scott still implements a system of removing students from the class if necessary.  Every kid that walks through the door is not mature enough to handle the responsibilities that one must assume when working in C.F.I. Students need to be responsible in handling thousands of dollars of professional equipment. If a student is disrespectful toward other students within the program or careless with the equipment, then they are removed. Scott has removed approximately 4 students from C.F.I. for these reasons.

Scott also makes sure that his C.F.I. students uphold the idea that ladies are to be treated as ladies and gentlemen are to act as gentlemen.  The boys in C.F.I. are expected to open doors for the ladies. They are to be second when serving themselves during parties and they are to say please and thank you.  C.F.I. has grown to over 50 students, has purchased more equipment than ever imagined and has increasingly improved the film projects, has received school, city, state and national attention.  The S.P.O.T After School Program at Central High School has one of the highest daily attendance rates for high schools in Fresno County.

Scott has some tips and suggestions for teachers interested in promoting an after school activity.  First set realistic goals. Keep a book/journal with all your goals. Next, get people excited about the possibilities of what can happen. Involve as many people as possible and watch your programs flourish.  Student Aidyl Molina said it best, “Being a part of C.F.I. is not like being a part of a club or a class, it’s like being a part of a big family.”

Contact Information:
Central High School East Campus
S.P.O.T After School Program
3535 N Cornelia
Fresno, Ca 93722
(559) 276-5653
Scott Donaghe
C.F.I Advisor
(559) 248-6411

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

CFI Website:
http://www.CentralFilmInstitute.com

The Ambassador’s Daughter:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48NdRBLBIHE

Video Contest Submission-Central High East Campus Library
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bQwaRa8V8Q

Case Study written by Kimberley Boyer, Central Valley Afterschool Foundation