Every year our team work with Saffron Walden County High School to undertake a creative challenge which encourages students at the school and its partner primary schools to work together and engage with creative technologies. This year the challenge was as big as ever and involved all ‘groups’ taking part having to work together with each other to make ‘one big story’.
On the 11th of July Hal MacLean and myself headed down to the school to train the young people in four hours how to use the following pieces of software:

• Final Cut Pro (Video Editing)
• GarageBand (Sound Editing)
• iStopMotion (Animation)
• Comic Life (Comics)
• iMovie (for use with Reflecmedia kit to allow Chroma Key work)

This is the first year we have introduced Final Cut Pro to the 10 – 13 age range of pupils. We believe Apple’s iMovie is far too easy for young people who are now ‘tech savvy’ in comparison to the year 2000 (when we started this project). Young people now require high end tools as the desire to achieve high quality effects increases, Final Cut Pro has meant we’ve had to teach young people how to edit in the same software the BBC edit the news programme you will no doubt watch on TV this evening.
We’ve also introduced the young people to Reflecmedia kit, which allows them to ‘chroma key’ Harry Potter style! The material allows blue/green screening in any light conditions.
We look forward to returning to the school in October to review the finished products and celebrate success. When we return we’ll be training the 25 young people in Photoshop and DVD Studio Pro.
Click here to see what other projects Hal and I have been involved in with SWCHS.
Some images from the event:
 
Here are the first two podcasts which document the start of the project, in Day 2’s Podcast Elliott Williams talks about how Summer School projects have changed since 2001.