Creating Movie Magic at Tikipunga Primary

Year 6 Navigator Whaea Bailey is running a Film Club after school programme, inspired by two of her Dreamers, KC and Deacon, who showed a real interest in film production. The Film Club programme will run across multiple terms, culminating with the production of a short film which Dreamers plan to enter into a Northland competition.

Dreamers are enjoying hands-on learning across a huge range of skills both behind and in front of the camera, with Bailey drawing on her years of training and experience as a video producer to teach and inspire Dreamers to explore their creativity on film.

Each Monday afternoon, Bailey teaches around 11 Dreamers the core aspects of filmmaking. This includes everything from how to handle and care for the camera equipment to scriptwriting, presentation skills, sound, lighting, timing, pace, and camera angles.

Every Dreamer gets the opportunity to try out different roles and step outside their comfort zone. They get to test out and learn about the different jobs that make up a film or television production – from scriptwriters to news presenters, journalists, actors, and production crew members, including directing, editing and producing.

As well as exploring their own creativity and ideas, Dreamers have to learn to work together, and get to understand all the teamwork and components that need to come together to produce a single piece of art.

To help them build confidence in front of the lens, Whaea Bailey has been joined by Whaea Gnomes, who has been sharing her valuable acting experience with the students.

The group has a clear, exciting journey mapped out across the year:

• Term 1: Focused on brainstorming stories, creating film frames, scriptwriting, composition, and storyboarding.
• Term 2: The Dreamers are mastering their presentation skills and are officially starting to film their production.
• Term 3: They will dive into professional editing as they prepare to submit their final movie to the Te Tai Tokerau Climate Action Film Contest.

The group will compete in the 9–13 age category with a 4-to-7-minute movie. Whaea Bailey hopes to rally as many whānau and community members as possible to support the group, especially since a People’s Choice Award is up for grabs!

To make it a true community effort, there are also plans to feature an original waiata in the film. Written by Year 13 Navigator Te Aranga Hopa and performed by the Tikipunga High School Kapa Haka group, the soundtrack will beautifully weave together the voices of local tamariki and rangatahi.

Stay tuned for the final piece, which will be premiered live to the audience at the contest!