When we got this movie challenge, I was a little scared. I had worked with iMovie a little, without a lot of success, so I knew I would need a fair amount of handholding to get something done. Luckily for me, or rather for all of us, we have Claude.
Claude, first and foremost, is a teacher, and I use that term in its most appreciative, laudatory, and admiring sense. She imparts more than information. She fills you with hope, inspires you, and, if I may quote Robert Frost, "just gives you a little prod behind and you jump to the skies.” So, when I asked for help, there was no hesitation, just a simple, "Of course." She got a camera in my hands, gave me a tripod, showed how to turn the camera on, and said, "I'll be waiting for you after school to get started."
And we did get started that Thursday afternoon for an hour or so, before we had to leave to take some students to the Upper School play. Claude helped me troubleshoot when the card reader on my Mac failed, and enlisted the help of Craig, part of our IT Support team. After forty-five minutes, the video was in iMovie. Cut!
Friday after school, another tutorial with Claude. She dismissed my guilt at keeping her late on a Friday, as if it were a pleasure to coddle someone with an artistic vision that far exceeded any talent. Claude could immediately see that instructional phases like, "Click on the right-hand side of the bar" or "click on the left-hand side" confused my directionally challenged brain, and so she adapted, pointing to the screen. She never once lost patience, she was never less than positive and when I began to use the spacebar to play a clip and would remember to leave my hand hovering above to stop it, she noticed and praised my progress. I started to remember to use Command A to select all, Command Z to undo, and Command Shift S to split my clip.
By 4:30, I was aware I was eating into Claude's weekend, but she was steadfast. At 5:30 when Claude received a text that she had missed an appointment, I was beside myself, but she calmly made a call and stayed by my side. At 6:15 Claude paused to call her mother, whom she called every evening. This Friday, the call was a little late, but Claude remained gracious, supportive. I knew we would finish the clip. But Claude didn't stop there. She helped me export my clip, upload it to YouTube, get the embed code, and put it up on this site. Then, she sat through the fifteen thousandth viewing of my first iMovie, and laughed with me when it was done.
I dedicate this movie to Claude. But please don't judge her by the quality of my filming or audio; the film’s obvious flaws are mine and mine alone. What I dedicate to Claude in dedicating this film to her, is the experience of collaborating, of learning, of the joy of discovery, of the pleasure sitting in companionable reflection, and of the future hours I will spend on my own iMovie endeavors or on those of people who may ask for my help one day. Merci bien, Claude, prof extraordinaire !
Claude, first and foremost, is a teacher, and I use that term in its most appreciative, laudatory, and admiring sense. She imparts more than information. She fills you with hope, inspires you, and, if I may quote Robert Frost, "just gives you a little prod behind and you jump to the skies.” So, when I asked for help, there was no hesitation, just a simple, "Of course." She got a camera in my hands, gave me a tripod, showed how to turn the camera on, and said, "I'll be waiting for you after school to get started."
And we did get started that Thursday afternoon for an hour or so, before we had to leave to take some students to the Upper School play. Claude helped me troubleshoot when the card reader on my Mac failed, and enlisted the help of Craig, part of our IT Support team. After forty-five minutes, the video was in iMovie. Cut!
Friday after school, another tutorial with Claude. She dismissed my guilt at keeping her late on a Friday, as if it were a pleasure to coddle someone with an artistic vision that far exceeded any talent. Claude could immediately see that instructional phases like, "Click on the right-hand side of the bar" or "click on the left-hand side" confused my directionally challenged brain, and so she adapted, pointing to the screen. She never once lost patience, she was never less than positive and when I began to use the spacebar to play a clip and would remember to leave my hand hovering above to stop it, she noticed and praised my progress. I started to remember to use Command A to select all, Command Z to undo, and Command Shift S to split my clip.
By 4:30, I was aware I was eating into Claude's weekend, but she was steadfast. At 5:30 when Claude received a text that she had missed an appointment, I was beside myself, but she calmly made a call and stayed by my side. At 6:15 Claude paused to call her mother, whom she called every evening. This Friday, the call was a little late, but Claude remained gracious, supportive. I knew we would finish the clip. But Claude didn't stop there. She helped me export my clip, upload it to YouTube, get the embed code, and put it up on this site. Then, she sat through the fifteen thousandth viewing of my first iMovie, and laughed with me when it was done.
I dedicate this movie to Claude. But please don't judge her by the quality of my filming or audio; the film’s obvious flaws are mine and mine alone. What I dedicate to Claude in dedicating this film to her, is the experience of collaborating, of learning, of the joy of discovery, of the pleasure sitting in companionable reflection, and of the future hours I will spend on my own iMovie endeavors or on those of people who may ask for my help one day. Merci bien, Claude, prof extraordinaire !
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As always, I would be remiss if I did not direct you to the musings of my better blogging two thirds.
Ms Karen Lovett
As always, I would be remiss if I did not direct you to the musings of my better blogging two thirds.
Ms Karen Lovett
OMG….I love, love, love your movie. What a great project. What a great way to learn iMovie. This is such a great "Farewell". I just realized that Nico is her brother. I am very impressed and inspired. And the Mary Tyler Moore theme song…well, it brought a tear to my eye. Great
ReplyDeleteNot only that, it was the early version of the MTM theme song (I only watched the reruns but I recognize it!). It's the perfect song for Sophia.
ReplyDeleteThis film really brought up a wellspring of emotion in me, seeing those former 6th graders who are really growing up express themselves so well.
The other two song choices were perfect as well.
What a wonderful film, Jennifer and Claude!
Thank you Jennifer for your comment on the magic of teaching: when fire is ignited, transmission works both ways...
ReplyDelete