Large format. To work on English, these high school students from Mortagne-au-Perche act like they’re in the cinema

The project is huge, generous and educational: teaching people about cinematography and sound while testing their English through projection and comprehension of films and documentaries from the 70s and 80s. As part of his dissertation on Image Education, Hand despulenceDirector of Media Library Mortagne-au-Perche (Orne), presented twelve films last February at the Etoile Theater and then at the High School Jean Monet The institute focuses its examination on voice over for final year students.

Three workshops

On Friday, April 19, 2024, around twenty volunteers worked with intensity, good humor and imagination in three different workshops to study voice, translation and film as part of their English lessons. They expressed ideas and feelings on radio, camera, English, in short they were the actors of their creative life of the day.

goodwill

To carry out his project, Guy Despoilens had the best wishes and talents: he worked from the beginning with two English teachers, Anne Devanes and Héloise Radique, Catherine Depoilly, teacher-librarian at the high school, and his own daughter, Lucia. Desbouillons , singer, musician and former Jean-Monet, with three years of experience in radio clubs.

If Guy, Anne and Héloïse each led a workshop, Catherine authorized the radio to record all the voices when Loïcia Desbouillons offered her services: “I’m there to help them use the instruments to use their voice, their words. I give them ideas, suggest details for them to imagine, get inspiration from references.

A unique experience

In a calm and colorful, spacious and bright establishment, nineteen student volunteers participated in a unique and collaborative experience. In groups of three or four, they worked on image and sound, wrote and translated their scenes and dialogues into English, filmed their scenes and their pre-imagined scenes, invented stories and fiction from a particular theme.

A conversation in English

The first workshop directed by Guy Desbouillons was to recreate a long scene taken from the film. Annie Hall By Woody Allen, he recreated a dialogue in English and then filmed the scene in Jean-Monet’s hall, using a semi-professional camera, a projector, a dolly, a microphone-tie and additional props.

Against the backdrop of a conflict between two people, one funny and the other curious, gradually approaching the goal while continuing to talk, six high school students played a game and while walking, elicited three conversations in English. morning.

Far from voice acting this time, the idea was to bring the voice out loud and clear in a dazzling and funny dialogue. Melisandre Rodrow has fond memories of the day: “It was an experience I really enjoyed. What I saw taught me a lot about cinema from the 70s and 80s, and it helped me get to know myself and my friend Julie better. Recording his voice in English on the radio was very enriching; It’s a little surprising, especially in English, but I think, I hope it came out well.

On foot or by bike

The second workshop, led by Anne Devanes, took up the principle of film Female chewing gum By John Smith: Although it sounds like a voice acting on a film set, these are actually documentaries with real passers-by on a London street.

In a short scene filmed in Paris, in the 19th arrondissement, it shows people walking or biking. With zoom recorders and microphones, they matched their sentences to the images second by second.

Parasitic noise

Iven Salo, one of the six high school students, says: “It was a great experience, friendly and intense. In the end we are very satisfied with what we delivered. But it was more difficult than we first thought. The time was so compressed that we only had 5 seconds to say several sentences and not even a second was allowed to go by! So we had to make choices, but we still managed to add our little personal touch.

Work in groups

Nathanael Ronfard affirms: “It was a new and original experience, it really made you want to start, it was a happy workshop. We had to stick to the choreography. The brainstorming happened in the morning, the recording, which we had a lot of fun with, took place in the afternoon. Then we worked in a group, one thing. We learned to face it, work in a fun way, and avoid all parasitic noise.

The last workshop, held under the authority of Héloïse Radigne, invoked a sequence from the film. All your beauty is blood shedPortrait of Laura Poitras, photographer Nan Goldin.

Personal photos

Five participating high school students brought personal photos and recorded interviews so they could tell the story behind the scenes of their photos. They then had to write and translate an autobiographical story in multiple voices, which they eventually recorded in a high school radio studio.

Cornelius Vincent vividly remembers the pleasure he experienced on this working day: “We were given access to filmmaking and it was great. I really enjoyed the day seeing what goes on behind the scenes of a film. We learned to put ourselves in the shoes of an actor, a director, and were shown the shadowy works of cinema. And then I saw how we do sound and picture, which is quite unusual, especially when you live in Mordaug. Finally I saw the importance of teamwork because to progress, you have to agree with everyone. »

Get away for a day

At Jean-Monet High School, students worked outside of school hours on April 19. A collective, artistic, literary and didactic work, which allowed him to escape even for a day from corrections for graduation.

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