The first excerpts, which we propose here, in terms of the properties of the shots are very similar to what we are about to film.

We have also included an excerpt by Jean-Luc Godard, which is technically rather complex, but might serve as a source of inspiration.

Let’s watch the excerpts with attention and interest, asking ourselves what cinematographic choices were made and engaging into a conversation with filmmakers’ films as real filmmakers would do.

We suggest developing the proposal in two stages: first, in a group, reaching an agreement regarding the shot among various students with the help of a teacher and/or a filmmaker; next, each student at his or her place, building on what he or she sees and his or her unique sensitivity.

If we have already worked with the proposal ‘Diaries of spaces’ we could directly start working with the portraits of trees in an individual manner, each student independently.

If we start from work in a group, it would be interesting first to go outside and walk around the school area picking out the trees which seem special or which we are keen to film. We shall pay attention to trees as well as their surroundings, we will examine how sunlight lights up their branches and trunk, and we will evaluate whether there is enough space to film them from a certain distance.

Having chosen ‘our’ tree, it is important to examine it: we could approach it and examine carefully at different moments of the day, so that we see how it transforms as the light keeps changing; we will attentively observe its colours and shapes… Then, already holding a camera in our hands or framing it with our hands, we will move around looking for our framing: we will walk around the tree to look at it from different points of view and to examine the background from diverse perspectives; we will approach it and again move away; we will analyse whether it fits the framing and whether we need any camera movement, we will see how the impression of its dimensions changes as we change the distance; it is also important to consider what role the context of the tree will play: whether we want to show only the tree or include the life around it…

If we decide to start practice from proposing students straightaway to film trees individually, it would be interesting to discuss the above mentioned questions together before we begin.

Our shots should last at least 1 minute and during this time we should be very attentive to everything what will be happening in our shot and we will have reach an agreement when to cut it.

It is very important to establish a certain protocol before we start filming. One member of the team will give indications: 1) Is everyone ready?; 2) When everybody is ready, he or she will indicate when to start shooting: ‘Camera?’; 3) Then the student who is filming after having started should say: ‘Filming’ (or say it just before starting to film if we cannot edit it out later); 4) When we look at each other and decide that we can finish the shot, this person should touch the back of the student who is filming, thus indicating him or her to cut, and when it is done to say ‘Cut’.

To finish the shooting we will celebrate it with an applause and later we will comment on what we appreciated during the shot, whether something special happened, what surprised us…

If it is possible to organise that, it would be interesting to edit the filmed shots. If we do that, the shots will obtain properties of a tiny film.

We will edit the shot adding at the beginning a sign where we will present our tree and situate our film in time. For example: ‘Barcelona, 20 October 2020. We are filming the tree that we see from our classroom. It is acacia.’; ‘Vilnius, 10 October 2020. I’m filming a tree which I see every day when I go out.’ Or ‘Tenorio, 10 October 2020. I like how the wind makes the leaves of a poplar tree shine.’ Or ‘Brück, 2020. I’m fascinated with the colours of a walnut in autumn.’

The sign should always be placed at the beginning, before the shot, acting as an opening. The text should be written in white on black background, in a discreet font size and without adding any effects.

In case we edit more than one shot of a tree, we should pay attention to the duration and the moments when the shot changes.

At the end of the material that we are editing we will include credits which should consist of the name of the author, school name and the course.

It would be interesting if every team could present their shot to their peers and explain their choices, discoveries, decisions they have made… It is a very important moment because it helps to internalise new skills and to highlight the importance of these first shots.

When the students will start filming individually, it would be equally important and valuable to find time to share, comment and appreciate their shots. 

There are countless possibilities in relation with the portraits of trees. We will mention two:

– ‘Catalogue of Trees’. It could be very beautiful to take the shots filmed by each student and to create a little cinematographic catalogue of the trees in our neighbourhood, town or city. We can find some inspiration in the film excerpt by Agnès Varda.

– ‘Diary of a Tree’ over the course of several months. We will look at how a tree changes in different seasons, at different moments of the day, in changing weather conditions (on a windy and windless, rainy and dry, sunny and cloudy day)…

In collective shootings, we will work in teams, from 4 to 6 students in each.

We estimate that it will take 1 hour or 1 hour and a half to film the first shot.

We will use only one camera in each team and we will try to make sure that all the students participate actively in the preparation to film the shots.

During the shooting we should always stay behind the camera.

During the shooting we will keep totally silent because we will be working with the sound of the world that we will be filming. Before we start shooting, we will establish a special code of gestures in case we need to communicate while we are filming, for example, to tell others that something worth filming will enter the framing (some birds, a passer-by, an approaching train…), to communicate the decision to continue filming or to stop doing it.

It would be interesting, once the shooting has finished, to dedicate some time to note down everything that we have learnt (we could make a list of ‘Discoveries’) and comment on our experience with the rest of the groups.

• A video camera or a photo camera with the video mode, for the shooting in teams.
• Home photo or video cameras or mobile phones for the students to film outside school.
• In case we decide to edit the shots, we would need a computer with video editing software. Kdenlive, open-source software, might be an interesting option.