Having run a number of service learning projects in collaboration with the School of Arts and Social Sciences in the last academic year, the Student Affairs Office (SAO) has set about recruiting more students to take on service challenges. One recent project involved filming short videos on financial management for primary school students. Divided into four teams, 16 students from the School of Arts and Social Sciences, the Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration, and the School of Education and Languages worked with four groups of child actors, each team tasked with a video on a sub-topic. Before the actual filming and production, which spanned from May to August 2021, the participants were taught practical skills in technical workshops on script writing, video shooting and post-production. In addition to hands-on experience, they were left with many unforgettable takeaways …
The unpredictability of work
involving people
As an animation student, I initially thought it wouldn't be too complicated to produce a film with real people. Yet we faced a lot of challenges when it came to the actual shooting. For example, forgetting to hire a single lens would be enough to delay the shooting schedule. Fortunately for us, the equipment store was open on the morning of that particular shooting day. Progress also depended on the actors' performance — say when our actors couldn't manage some of the lines or actions, we had to make adjustments on the spot, without changing so much as to compromise the quality of the final product. This project has taught me that work involving people is full of unpredictability, and requires a lot of thoughtfulness and patience.
A lesson on 'spending wisely'
The theme of our video was 'spending wisely', and we literally learned a lesson about that in the process of hiring shooting equipment! Under a tight schedule, we had forgotten to check the prices at different stores and paid the shop before making sure it was a fair deal. We've experienced first-hand the consequences of shopping without planning, and learned that we must ask for advice before hiring any equipment.
First-time leader
This was my last university project. Before that I rarely had an opportunity to lead a group, so I wasn't very confident to start with — in fact I’ve always doubted my own abilities. However, in the process, I found that I could indeed understand my groupmates' needs and difficulties and build a good rapport with them. This experience was for me an important breakthrough as well as a confidence booster.
Watch the videos
