Promotion of the project
During the preparatory phase of the workshop, the managers of the activity made contact with the higher education institutions of the city, and the young students were involved and informed about the project, its purpose and the expected results.
Some of the teachers immediately joined the project and participated to the meeting alongside more than 250 students. We have produced promotion materials (flyers and online materials) concerning the project and a public info-day with a press conference and a video projection open to the public.
Identification and selection of recipients
Gradually and thanks to the support of local stakeholders, we identified the recipients of the activity, young Italians and migrants or refugees. In Pisa we work in collaboration with the local leadership of the Italian Red Cross, which has given fundamental support to the identification of young migrants, their participation and their involvement.
First, a work calendar was prepared (then transmitted to the project partners in other countries), with a scan of the contents, the work space was identified and a didactic strategy was set by the workshop managers.
Implementation of the Pilot Project
The Pilot Project of Pisa (January – May 2019) takes place in several stages of gradual deepening of the discussed topics.
Phase 1 – Approach to video work and team building games: in this first phase the participants begin to know each other, become familiar with each other. They spend the first days of work together and start approach the video-making techniques and the theory behind the project. In this phase we play a lot in order to facilitate the relationships between the participants. We immediately make available the video-recording tools, from mobile phones to cameras, using them in games and in the final part of the work days. We facilitate the underasting by translating most of the contents in English and French.
Phase 2 – Beginning theoretical study of techniques and tools to shoot videos: in this phase the participants become more aware of the theoretical foundations of the video, they begin to exchange impressions and experiences on the contents they see, proposed by themselves and by the teachers, they begin to elaborate individual and collective ideas. In this phase the work of building the group’s relationship continues through games, exchange of experiences, activities that facilitate the narration and the confidence between the participants. In this phase the course recipients are also involved in other activities.
Phase 3 – Beginning of the shooting activity: the participants elaborate together a creative project and share it with the group, choosing what they want to tell (also backstage) and starting to shoot. The first clips shot are useful to spot errors, learn new techniques, improve the style and the rendering of the contents. Slowly the participants acquire basic skills, are more involved in the work and gain autonomy in defining the contents and making the first videos. The editing is done in groups and partly at home between one lesson and another. At the same time the teambuidling activity continues, which is crucial for the participation of all the participants to the project. In this phase the translation is necessary only for some parts of the work, in order to deepen some arguments. The migrant participants have acquired greater autonomy with the Italian language and wish to work independently, requesting the translation only when necessary.
Phase 4 – Editing and post-production: last phase of the project; in this period the participants shoot the last clip and finish all the shooting, collect the materials and assemble them all together so as to have a basic idea of the editing and the post production techniques and of the final rendering of a video. The group now has been working together for a few months with good autonomy, and so we decide to elaborate several different contents, including a final video of the laboratory, a backstage video and a collection of interviews with the participants.
Presentation to the public of the results of the laboratory
During a presentation evening open to the public, we show the videos and talk about the experience of the laboratory in Pisa, about activities of the project and its objectives. Participants have the opportunity to exchange impressions and stories with the public, among which we invite local stakeholders, young people from the schools involved and indirect beneficiaries from our territory.
