The Classroom - ID# 391

Deerfield
Comedic Narrative
Entry Description

Fatigued by the pandemic and remote learning, students in a Geography class attempt to come back together as a class for in-person learning. Music: "In the Bubble" by Ali Shaker from Epidemic Sound. License obtained through subscription.

Copyright Info

Recent Teacher Comments

  • 3/6 4:45 pm - You all did a wonderful job with the camera work to create a mockumentary, very consistent throughout, especially with the several nods to the camera. Your lighting was effective, though I would have zoomed in on some more student reactions to the situation, especially with the bee scene and the cheating scene. Overall, however, I didn't know who to root for. The teacher was sad to observe because there was no control. The students were hard to root for because they were so poorly behaved. Ultimately, the arch of the story didn't lead anywhere and I kind of wish the teacher either had the last laugh (like putting bees in the kids car for the last shot OR a student saving the situation and helping the teacher. A good formula to follow when writing a scene is "This happens BUT then this happens". Using that formula plus finding a character who the audience will root for or at least perceive the world via their perspective is important and helps keep things tight and entertaining. Your sound work was pretty good throughout, with a couple of situations being a bit too loud. Keep at it, you're on the right track here!
  • 2/24 2:23 pm - STORY: You did a good job with the mockumentary style (The Office, Parks and Rec, etc.). If the point was to mock the characters in the class or satirize their attempt to return to normal, then you succeeded! CAMERA: The camera work was very consistent with the mockumentary style comedy shows. EDITING: This area was where you could have improved. I think your pace was a bit inconsistent. You spent a lot of time in the middle section with the bee (from :38 to 1:12). That could have been abbreviated. LIGHTING: Not sure if you used any additional lighting. The space seemed to be decently well lit, but more lighting usually helps image quality. AUDIO: Watch your mix; primary dialogue should be between -6 and -12 on the VU meter, sound effects between -12 and -18, and then music beds between -18 and -24. There were a few spots where the audio seemed blown out and over modulated.
Judge 1

Positives: I'm always a fan of the mockumentary voiceover - does a great job of establishing the premise of a piece (post covid, they don't know how to be students anymore) Pretty good job in the chaotic "cheating" montage. There was a lot of movement, would have been super easy to turn this chaos into something incomprehensible. Instead, we had a bunch of nice, clear beats, strung together with the illusion of chaos. Nice work.

Improvements: If you're going to use a voiceover once for context (a la a mockmentary), it's worth using it repeatedly. It gave a glimpse inside the mind of the beleaguered teacher BUT it could have also been used to tell us what's up with the students. We used it to learn that once student had a seeming impossible bathroom/mugshot situation but... would have like some insight into the characters. This needed a better ending, and a better conclusion to the narrative. Right now, it felt TOO much like a documentary: Students are behaving poorly, and here are some students behaving poorly for you to watch. Ok... soooo? Are they better for it? Worse for it? Is this a new permanent thing? Felt like there this was missing an ending.

Judge 2

Positives: This is a great use of this style/genre! Excellent slice of life in the day of this teacher and really good pacing at points. You made it feel like there was really a documentary crew in the room and I loved the jokes that were just sort of dropped in. Like the kid that goes to the bathroom and never comes back. The cutaways to the talking head are also very well placed and well framed.

Improvements: I wish there was slightly more of a plot. I don't really think you have to change much of the overall piece either. I just want to know why this documentary crew is there today. It could be as simple as adding a talking head of the teacher towards the top saying something like, "That's why I decided to bring in a documentary crew so I could show everyone what a day in the life of a teacher post pandemic looks like" then boom the rest of it falls in place. When telling a story its always important to ask, why is it important my audience watches these characters' lives today? And it can be an easy answer such as- this is the day the documentary crew is here. My only other note would be maybe a better out at the end. You introduce this character of a kid who seemingly defies the laws of physics when he leaves for the bathroom. Maybe he comes back into the room at that moment wearing something crazy or something. Just a quick joke there will make the piece stronger overall though!

Judge 3

Positives: Great music selections and solid editing and camera work. The chaotic bee scene was great, and overall this looked like a ton of fun to make.

Improvements: I think the film suffered a bit by not very thoroughly showcasing a change in the characters. It would be a better narrative arc if the students, or even the teacher, experienced some sort of resolution to the conflict and circumstances were different in some meaningful way by the end. A lot of the comedy in the film seemed to be more inside humor related to school policy and didn't necessarily translate well for an outsider like myself. I might suggest trying more universally funny gags and funny exchanges to appeal to wider audiences.

Judge 4

Positives:

Improvements: