I first visited the school after meeting some of CDNIS teachers who came for our Apple Certified Final Cut Pro courses. There I met Mr Aaron Metz (Upper School Teacher / Convenor, Communication Technology) of the Canadian International School and
his students for the first time. The school has
always been keen on integrating film making as a tool for the students'
overall education. The results certainly showed as for the
second year in a row, the creative abilities of their senior
communications technology students have been recognized in the National
Geographic Channel "Think Again" Documentary Making competition.
Over
1,000 students from over 70 schools participated in the competition,
which featured 200 short documentaries. National Geographic Channel and
Wiseman Education jointly announced the winners at an award ceremony
held at the Education Services Centre of the Education and Manpower
Bureau. In recognition of their superb work in 2007, CDNIS students
were also invited to once again film the event. CDNIS entered five
documentaries into a pool of 200 submissions. "Forsaken: The Neglected Elderly in Hong Kong" won the Best Documentary award.
“A Friend for Life” was nominated as the “People’s Choice”. Our three
other entries – “The Neglected”, “The Forgotten Star” and “Cultural
Crisis” – all received “Distinction” awards. Click here to watch "Forsaken"
"Film is without
a doubt one of the most powerful media
for the demonstration and
dissemination of factual knowledge" Mr Aaron Metz
We caught up with Mr Aaron Metz recently with some questions for our readers....
Q: How did the students came up with the topics for the competitions? Was it something suggested by them or by the school?
Each
year the competition specifies several themes that provide a focus for
topic selection. "The Forsaken" documentary explored a social theme
and the topic of was developed by the students.
 
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| Q:
Through out the making of the documentary, Forsaken, how would you
describe the changes in these film making students before or after the
award, if any?
This team chose to shoot in HD which
presented a multitude of challenges with respect to file size and
performance. Despite these challenges, the students really
demonstrated great teamwork and committed to get the project completed
on time. One of the most revealing aspects of the project for them was
that even elderly people from wealthy families are neglected. They
could really identify with this being from affluent families
themselves. Prior to the competition, the team was very motivated to
exceed the efforts of last years participants and win an award. Upon
receiving their award they acknowledged that raising social
consciousness to this issue mattered more to them than receiving
accolades. This was the most meaningful and profound change for these
students.
Q: Was the film, Forsaken edited on Final Cut Pro?
Entirely. This is our tool of choice at the senior level for all post-production work.
Q: How old was the senior communications students when they made the film? Between 16 and 18 years old.
Q: As their teacher and mentor, how do you feel about your students' achievements?
Very proud, they worked extremely hard and deserve to be recognized for their effort.
* * We thank Mr Aaron Metz and the wonderful students at CDNIS for this
article. Reminding us all the importance of taking steps towards making
documentaries that change the way we see the world around us.
Client : 客戶 
Canadian International School of Hong Kong Limited | 
