After months of activities carried out by all partners of the Erasmus+ Mediascapes project, including methodology research and workshop meetings, we have almost reached the end of this journey. Between Italy and Portugal, the last stages took place in the schools involved: four days of restitution of the audiovisual products realised during the transmedia storytelling workshops, characterised by the dialogue between the participating students, trainers and teachers, but above all of maximum expression of the theoretical and practical skills acquired meeting after meeting.
These are the moments in which it is possible to see that the objective we set ourselves with this project, i.e. to experiment with and promote the languages linked to storytelling and transmediality in education, has been pleasantly received and completed with the best desirable results.
RESTITUTION DAYS IN ITALIAN CLASSROOMS
At the I.C. Emma Castelnuovo in Rome, each class participating in the project dedicated a day to the restitution activity.
The young male and female students of class IV told the story of how they approached transmedia storytelling, in a course that saw them grappling with stop motion, podcasts and a graphics tablet, to tell a story based on a theme they had previously tackled in class and which had particularly impressed them, namely the ancient art of origami. Seeing the material created in synergy with the entire class group, recounting the learning experience with the help of the expert trainers, and sharing what was understood about the power of transmedia characterised this first restitution meeting.
The second day of restitution, which saw the two participating classes from the Secondary School, was also animated by the same activities of dialogue, confrontation and expression of what they had learnt by experimenting with interactive cinema, with interviews, theatrical improvisation techniques, photography, and double interviews. This day was also dedicated to the narration of the final product they were able to realise: the teamwork of all the students led to the production of an audiovisual product that talks about them, their experiences and emotions as inhabitants of the Ponte di Nona district.
RESTITUTION DAYS IN PORTUGAL
Also in Viseu, Portugal, among the classes of the Escola Secundaria Viriato, two days were dedicated to a restitution activity to present the results obtained after months of fruitful training sessions. The first session was a meeting between participating students, teachers and expert trainers, in which they had the opportunity to talk about the activities carried out and to critically evaluate together the results of the Medascapes‘ workshops.
In particular, space was left for the showcasing of the work process carried out by the students, to emphasise its importance and success. All the boys and girls expressed all the synergy and motivated participation with which they worked, as well as the theoretical knowledge and techniques acquired on transmedia storytelling, all necessary elements for the conception and production of On the Move, the final short film made, of which they were able to recount the multiple micro-narratives that composed it and its meanings.
During the second session, the students were able to present the entire project to their parents, explaining its organisation and objectives, the transmedia storytelling workshops and their experiences. Of course, all the useful materials resulting from these efforts and, above all, On the Move, could also be shown. After the viewing, the meeting ended with a stimulating discussion around a concept that, we are sure, will remain in the minds of all present for some time to come, and which will provide further opportunity to talk about transmedia storytelling and transmedia logics applied to audiovisual production: is On the Move a film? What is missing for this story, the material filmed and produced, to be considered a film? Can we ‘keep moving’?