Hazleton -Production Day 1-2
Six students show up this morning at the Gitksan Wet'suwet'eb Education Society College with written stories in hand. It is a keen group – today is actually a school holiday!
Michele, brought in a fairly elaborate story which by the end of the morning she decided to save for another time, and focus on a shorter, simpler story – a Gitxsan legend – which she felt would be easier to complete in the week. Sounds like a good plan! She will save her other idea for later!
Cody and Kirsten, the brother and sister team are making a story about hockey and how it ties into the community of Hazelton. They are making the point that the ice arena has been an integral part of their youth and there should be something done to save the arena which is falling into disrepair.
Jeannette is doing a story in honor of her mom and grandma about how she learned her breadmaking skills. It is a lovely story about family tradition and passing on family knowledge through everyday activities.
Marvin’s movie is a legend told to him by his mother and grandmother about the war between two villages that lead to the naming of the village of Ans’p yaxw which translates as“The Hiding Place.”
Sherylanne is creating a movie about an inner journey, incorporating an original poem that she wrote.
The rest of the morning is spent developing ideas for images to go with the stories and writing storyboards.
Delicious lunches are supplied by the school and we watch videos from other “Our World” projects to get inspired and see how other students have told their stories. We even get to try traditional foods - herring eggs, kelp seaweed with salmon eggs, smoked salmon and tomatoes & onions, rice and fried bread with huckleberries for dessert – so delicious! The herring eggs are a real delicacy that has other students and teachers from the school lining up to get a tasty treat
Steve gives a talk on storyboarding – what is the first written language, he asks? It’s cave painting, the first written form of story telling - he likens story telling to totem poles – a visual language that tell stories. Storyboarding movies is also about putting words, stories, ideas into pictures.
