Roots with Wings, a Floyd County Place-Based Education Project:: Intergenerational Connections

Floyd Story Center

Since 1998, a community oral history collection partnership of the Old Church Gallery, Ltd., Radford University’s Center for Social and Cultural Research, Honors Program, Scholar-Citizen Initiative, Appalachian Regional and Rural Studies Center, and Floyd County High School. Our archives now hold over 100 interviews.

In our Roots with Wings project, college mentors, high school staff, and community volunteers meet weekly during the school year to teach the discipline of oral history collection.


Students learn ethical, methodologically sound interview techniques, practice and complete several interviews, transcribe the audiotapes, create searchable content logs, archive interviewee resources and period photographs, learn the technology of audio and video recording, research historical backgrounds, acquire proficiency in iMovie and storytelling, and finally extract a theme from an hour long interview to create a seven minute movie production.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

iMovie 101

All this work to find theme, but how do you actually make a film?     We use i-Movie.

 Last week Radford University student Bianca taught a lesson on how to navigate the software that comes preloaded on all Apple computers. We all watched an introductory video made by John Hildreth, Associate Director, RU's Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning.  Next, FCHS students paired with RU students and everyone got hands-on experience using the program.

Michael (FCHS) learns iMovie skills as Kasey (RU) helps navigate the software.

The focus of the lesson was to get familiar with the editing techniques that iMovie will let you do to give your short film a theater feel.  



 FCHS students Jason and Cody are deep in thought as they get iMovie tips.

Students learned how to set up a project in iMovie, insert film clips, and transitions, titles, maps, music and photos.

Bianca wrapped up the lesson by asking everyone to name one thing they learned from the day.

Students now have a better idea of how to edit a film and can start thinking about the raw material that they will need to gather to feed the editing machine.

"I like the idea of the documentary as a portrait. There's not a chronological beginning, middle, and end structure. You build something in the editing room that's shaped by getting to know the person and digging deeper, un-peeling the layers of them as you get to know them."  Spike Jonze

Stay warm and safe during this snowy weather! 

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