Conveyor belt cinema activity for students

Conveyor Belt Cinema

Conveyor Belt Cinema

Topic: Filmmaking Careers

Empowerment Lesson Video: Filmmaking Careers

Supplies:

  • Small cardboard box, lid removed, one per student
  • 2 toilet paper tubes per student
  • 2 small dowels or BBQ skewer sticks per student (Depending on student age, the instructor can remove the sharp end of the BBQ skewer stick prior to the activity)
  • 2 sheets of 8 ½ x 11 paper, per student
  • Heavy weight paper one per student
  • A single-hole punch, or a pushpin
  • Scissors
  • Ruler
  • Hot glue/hot glue gun or another strong adhesive
  • Double-sided tape
  • Paper clip, one per student
  • Crayons or markers

Video Discussion:

Ask students to brainstorm words they associate with the term “filmmaking career” (i.e., actress, Hollywood, director, camera, etc.).

Have students share their ideas with the class.

Tell students they will be watching the video titled Filmmaking Careers. Explain that the video presents role models talking about some of the careers available in the film industry and the reasons that they chose a film career.

After viewing the video, use some or all of the following questions to review the film content and prepare students for the activity:

  • What careers are there in the film industry?
  • What skills do people in the film industry need to have?
  • Do you think you would find a career in the film industry interesting? Why or why not?
  • How can you prepare yourself for a career in the film industry?

Activity Instructions:

Students will explore filmmaking careers by constructing a simple animation device that mimics how movies create the illusion of movement. By designing a background, creating a figure, and assembling their own animation machine, students will learn about the creative and technical aspects of filmmaking.

Have you ever wondered how movies make characters move? Today, you’ll get to create your very own animated scene and learn how filmmakers bring stories to life! You’ll design a background, create a character, and build a moving machine to watch your movie come to life.

  1. Gather the supplies you will need for this project including paper, dowels, crayons or markers, glue, toilet paper rolls, a paperclip, and tape.
  2. Tape two pieces of paper together, then trim them to make a rectangle approximately 5.5x16 inches. Use your ruler to check!
  3. Use crayons or markers to draw a background on your paper, for example a cityscape or landscape.
  4. On your paper scraps, draw a person. The person might be walking, running, riding a bike, or even sitting on a unicycle! Cut the figure out.
  5. Using the holepunch, make two holes on either side of the long sides of the box. Your holes should be about 6” apart.
    • If you don’t have a holepunch, use a pushpin to make the holes and scissors to widen them until they easily fit your dowels.
  6. Trace the end of a toilet paper tube onto the heavy weight paper four times. Cut out each circle.
  7. Make a hole in the center of each of the circles large enough for the dowel to fit snugly. Depending on the gauge of your dowels, this can be done with a holepunch, scissors, or a pushpin.
  8. Glue the circles onto the ends of each of the toilet paper tubes to cover them. When they are dry, gently push one dowel through each tube.
  9. Glue the dowel to both ends of the cardboard tube so that the dowel and the tube rotate together as one.
  10. Insert the dowel ends into the holes in the box.
  11. Wrap your background image around the tubes. Pull the paper as tight as possible. Then, stick the ends of the paper together with double-sided tape.
  12. Straighten out the paperclip. Stick the still figure that you drew onto one end of the paperclip using double-sided tape.
  13. Poke the paperclip up through the bottom middle of the box so that the figure is in front of the background.
  14. Bend the paperclip so that it stays in place where you want it. You may need to hot glue it in place.
  15. Congratulations, your movie box is complete! Turn the dowels to watch your character move across the scene you created. Try turning them in the opposite direction to watch your movie play in reverse!
  16. Take a moment to admire your hard work and creativity—just like real filmmakers, you’ve brought a story to life through design, engineering, and imagination.
Conveyor belt cinema activity for students

*Adapted from www.kiwico.com.