Using humour and emotion

Communication is often most effective via humour or emotion. We used both in two of the films we have made for Teach First.

Teach First is a charity that challenges educational inequality by encouraging highflying graduates to go into teaching, learning on the job, In some of the country’s most deprived schools.

Tough questions

The first film was based on the fact that teachers are asked dozens questions each hour. So it asked the viewer whether he or she would be able to answer children’s toughest questions in a fun Buzzfeed-style format.

Getting the best out of children on camera requires a relaxed shoot and a lot of patience. We spent a day filming with the pupils in a school in West London, asking a lot of open-ending questions to make sure we had enough good answers to make a funny and powerful film. We used a bright yellow background, so the video would stand out on Facebook. We edited the footage to make viewers imagine themselves as teachers – and cut in a series of chapter headings to ask whether they could cope in the classroom.

Inspiring answers

The second film used another simple device: we interviewed three teachers at a school in South London and asked them what inspired them about their pupils. We then surprised them with videos of their pupils explaining how their teachers have in turn inspired them.

This prompted very genuine, emotional reactions from all the participants, giving the film an emotional core that can’t help but inspire the viewer.

Fast turnaround

The film was made over two days, and involved some swift editing overnight. The first day was spent with the students, gathering b-roll and interviewing them speaking straight into the camera lens, so the teachers and viewers feel their talking directly to them. The second day was spent with the teachers, interviewing them in a traditional way but also using a laptop to show them the student interviews.