ELT ImageMakers' video researcher, script writer and teaching consultant, Victoria Pascual, spoke about her role last month at TESOL, Spain, in Salamanca. Little did we know that this would be the last conference in a while as it was just before the unforeseen lockdown in Europe due to coronavirus. We are proud of Victoria's commitment to her work in ELT as a teacher and as a video specialist and look forward to seeing her speak in person again when the world gets back to normal.
Jason Sterling makes debut as background actor
Our own Jason Sterling (Technology) has jumped out of his comfort zone and tried something completely different, by being a background actor for the first time in a feature film. When he discovered that a movie was filming in his own backyard (the San Francisco financial district), he took a chance and applied to be a background actor. Who knows for sure how visible he’ll be, just a shadow in the background, or on the cutting room floor…, but it was a great experience and gave him a taste of the world of video production!
Successful 3-day shoot in Barcelona
ELT ImageMakers was in Barcelona, Spain, recently for a video shoot for one of their clients. Seeing the scripts come to life is always one of the best parts of the project. Anna was directing while Victoria and Kieran looked on. Great to have the team meet up!
The Image Conference 2019
Brussels, Belgium
At the beginning of last month, I had the honor and pleasure of participating in the annual Image Conference as a plenary speaker and co-presenter. Together with ELT ImageMakers’ very own video researcher and education consultant, Victoria Pascual, we spoke about our recent collaboration on a large secondary course video project in which we worked together as producer and teacher to find the most engaging and suitable content for teenage learners as well as how we guided script writers to maximize the content. My second presentation reviewed the different types of ELT video and described the process of writing scripts, creating storyboards, and producing viable video strands for publishers.
Of course, Kieran Donaghy, the creator of the Image Conference, who also happens to be part of ELT ImageMakers’ team, gave an inspiring plenary on the fifth skill of viewing. Sylvia Karastathi and Kieran did a magnificent job of executing the conference, including the organization of two very memorable group dinners. The atmosphere throughout the entire weekend was truly one of collaboration and unfettered support by all who attended. People who come to this conference every year really want to be there and believe in what they are doing in the classroom, in their schools, and in their work spaces, as far as making the image and their critical analysis of it a central part of their teaching and research. This was my fourth Image Conference and I was very glad to be a part of it again.
Anna Whitcher and Victoria Pascual talk about their session at the Image Conference Brussels
Watch Anna Whitcher and Victoria Pascual’s video teaser for their talk “Language teachers and video producers working together” at the Image Conference in Brussels on Saturday 5th October.
ELT ImageMakers goes live!
ELT ImageMakers pressed the launch button on Thursday, May 23. We are now official! A big thanks goes out to Jason Sterling (Technology) for all of his support and problem-solving skills in the creation of the site and also to Nora Hennick (Video Content and Scripting) for her eagle eye. Very excited to be working with such a great team of people (see our About page) on all things video-related in ELT. Check us out!
Anna Whitcher talks about her Image Conference experience in Athens
Anna Whitcher, who delivered a training session on ‘Language learning through video creation’, talks about her experience at the Image Conference in Athens.
The Image Conference
The Image Conference, the annual conference of the Visual Arts Circle, is an innovative and collaborative project which seeks to explore the possibilities which film, video, images and video games offer to both language teachers and language learners.
The Image in English Language Teaching
The Image in English Language Teaching is a book edited by Kieran Donaghy and Daniel Xerri with contributions from several prominent writers in ELT.
Putting Students in the Director’s Chair
In this 2015 article by Jess Hytner from Cambridge University Press, Anna Whitcher’s webinar explores how teachers can use video creation as an engaging classroom project.