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Only $1,667.90 Needed

 

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Goal

INTRODUCTION
This project seeks to increase student engagement and comprehension of classic English literature by involving a diverse high school student body, including special needs and English language learners, in adapting and filming selections from Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales.” The resulting adaptation will serve as an engaging resource for English classrooms and be showcased in subsequent years, enhancing literary studies. Additionally, the film will be submitted to the 2025 Palm Beach Student Showcase of Films, offering students opportunities for recognition, prize money, and participation in a prestigious arts event.

While our Film and Media classes and club possess basic sound equipment and rely on student phones for filming, professional-grade lighting kits and camera stabilizers are essential to elevate production quality. This enhancement directly addresses feedback from Cambridge Media Studies examiners, who recommended improving our films with better lighting. High production values will increase the project's credibility for festival judges and further engage students in learning and collaboration.

The project aligns with Gulf Coast High School’s commitment to reducing failing grades by fostering critical thinking, promoting small group collaboration, and creating culturally enriching experiences. This initiative supports Florida BEST standards in English Language Arts, emphasizing literary analysis, narrative writing, and digital media production.

HISTORY/BACKGROUND
In 2022, two students from the GCHS Cambridge Media course banded together to start a schoolwide film and media club and asked me to be their sponsor; I have taught English, Cambridge Writing, and Cambridge Media Studies at Gulf Coast High School for the last eight years. The following year, the GCHS Film and Media Club membership grew and members created and entered several short films into the Palm Beach Student Showcase of Films, the largest student film festival in Florida and one of the largest in the country. In 2024, for the first time in our school’s history, a Gulf Coast student won one of their major short film prizes, which inspired other students and resulted in even greater growth in club membership, which has grown over 600% since its founding.

The idea for this particular adaptation came about as a result of a discussion between myself and our club president, Noah Sabin. While many individual students had submitted films into the student film festival, Noah and I wanted more students to work together, collectively, on a longer piece. Our concern was that we wouldn’t be able to include as many students as we wanted from the school’s various arts clubs and departments (music, drama, English, art, film, and TV news) if we were limited to telling one single story.

After two hours of brainstorming, we hit upon an idea: what if we took a classic English language anthology series and adapted it into several short films that could then be threaded together into one longer narrative? This would allow us to significantly increase the number of students involved and include students from other departments and clubs. It would also address the ongoing difficulties of engaging students with classic literature. We realized that we could interest students in older texts by allowing them to adapt one, then further that interest by showing the film in English classrooms.

Because “The Canterbury Tales” has been recommended by the state of Florida for eleventh grade English language arts study and aligns with both the state and district emphasis on promoting the “classics,” we believe that this student adaptation can be used not only by other eleventh grade Gulf Coast English Language Arts teachers, but by other district and state ELA teachers looking for engaging resources that promote comprehension and engagement with the classics. Our hope is that we might eventually be able to develop a film library and/or a channel of films, and make our text-to-film projects an annual event.



 

 

Category

Electronics - Personal computers/tablets/iPads, headphones, charging cables, computer mice, etc. 

 

What will be done with my students

ACTIVITIES TO DATE
In the first semester of this school year, Media Studies students and Film and Media Club members examined the original “Canterbury” text with their teacher, selected five stories to modernize and adapt, and began writing a screenplay.

Initially, these students selected and voted on several potential anthologies; “The Canterbury Tales” was the clear winner. This seminal medieval work follows a group of people who embark on a pilgrimage to Canterbury, England, and tell stories along the way to keep each other entertained. Chaucer’s premise was that the pilgrims would reward the person who ultimately told the best story, but unfortunately Chaucer died before completing this epic poem, and a “winner” was never revealed. Students were captivated by the idea of giving Chaucer's work a true "ending," and making it resonate with young people and modern audiences while exploring the stories and their thematic connections to contemporary life.

Students broke down each of the twenty-four stories and presented them to the other club members and students. These breakdowns were carefully analyzed for appropriateness, theme, genre, characterization and plot. After much deliberation, five “finalists” were chosen based on their collective themes of revenge and greed and on student analysis concerning the futility of crime in general.

At the same time, students spent a great deal of time hashing out the overarching premise that would help “weave” these five stories together. These ideas included: following a group of students traveling together to an out-of-state concert; following a group of immigrant children traveling to another country; dropping in on a support group discussion; bringing a group of campers together to tell stories around a fire; and/or bringing a large group of people together for a wedding or funeral or party.

After much collaboration and brainstorming, it was agreed that the five stories would be told, in flashback, as eulogies at a funeral for the old and frail crime lord, Thomas Canterbury (the pilgrims in the original story were headed to a church to honor St. Thomas of Canterbury, who had been killed there centuries earlier). Each eulogist would then relay his/her experience (story) having worked as part of Canterbury’s ring. At the conclusion, the eulogists collectively realize that Canterbury has ruined their lives and that they would have been better off without him. However, Canterbury suddenly reveals himself as very much alive.
He tells them that he “faked” his death, determined that his successor would be dictated by whomever told the best “story” (i.e., gave the best, most loving, most glowing eulogy). The winner of the contest, the Clerk, who has endured more humiliation than anyone, is promoted to the Crime Lord’s exalted position, and immediately seizes it, despite his prior ambivalence about Canterbury and the powerful epiphanies of the other criminals. In the end, the vicious cycle that they all hoped would end simply changes form and continues forward.

ACTIVITIES GOING FORWARD
• By the end of December 2025, students will have completed the five short scripts and incorporated them into a longer script.

• Crews have already been determined (see below). These crews will cast roles within the school in collaboration with the GCHS Drama Department and Drama Club. This casting will be completed by the end of December and/or first week of January 2025. All locations, sets and other art pieces will also be in place by this time.

• All pieces will film during the first three weeks of January. Art Club members will be engaged in designing and building props, sets, and costumes, and Music department students will be composing original music for the piece.

• The piece will be edited during the last week of January and the first week of February for timely submission to the Palm Beach Student Showcase of Films.

• GCHS TV news students will show the film to the school at large, and other GCHS ELA teachers may show the film to their classes any time between February and May 2025.

• If the piece is selected as a finalist for the Palm Beach Student Showcase, students will travel to Palm Beach in April 2025 to attend the ceremonies.

January Production Calendar:
GROUP 1: Manciple’s Tale
Director: Gianna Salinas
Cinematographer: Jorge Calderin
Editor: Kiley West
Crew: Noah Rubin
Crew: Chase Huseman
Actors: TBD
Art Director/Production Designer: TBD
Musicians/Composers: TBD

Group 2: Clerk’s Tale
Director: Gavin Ball
Cinematographers: Anastasiia Stepaniuk (Asy) and Dylan Galtes
Editor: Khayla Camacho
Crew: Emily Llorca
Crew: Samantha Santiago
Crew: Victoria Ivanishchak
Actors: TBD
Art Director/Production Designer: TBD
Musicians/Composers: TBD

Group 3: The Pardoner’s Tale
Director: Iliana Cruz
Cinematographer: Alondra Rodriguez
Editor: Tim Blank
Crew: Erin Tarr
Actors: TBD
Art Director/Production Designer: TBD
Musicians/Composers: TBD

Group 4: The Reeve’s Tale
Director: Gaby Forero
Cinematographer: Lilly Paquette
Editor: Blake Mikulski
Crew: Valentina Navarro
Crew: Abigaelie Saint-Amour
Actors: TBD
Art Director/Production Designer: TBD
Musicians/Composers: TBD

Group 5: Tale of Melibee
Director: Ava Williams
Cinematographer: Eden Masterson
Editor: Jackson Wilhelm
Crew: Ana Moral
Crew: Jayden Ortiz
Actors: TBD
Art Director/Production Designer: TBD
Musicians/Composers: TBD

Overarching Story:
Producer: Noah Sabin
Editor: Jackon Wilhelm
Screenwriter: Dylan Galthes
Other Positions: TBD

This project requires students to:
• Read, analyze, adapt texts and draft/write scripts and revisions
• Film
• Light scenes
• Record scenes
• Act
• Direct
• Design Art, Color Schemes, Scenery and Props
• Design Hair, Makeup, and Costumes
• Compose and record music
• Edit video, including titles, credits, logs, music, and sound effects
• Organize and plan shoot schedules and scenes
• Coordinate locations, crews, and actors
• Engage in marketing and publicity/promotions events and materials












 

 

Benefits to my students

STUDENT BENEFITS
At least 50 Gulf Coast students (including special needs and English language learners) from various arts disciplines and clubs will participate in the following activities:

• Analysis and exploration of an FDOE 11th grade classic text, building critical thinking skills through the creation and development of a modern adaptation, as evidenced by the final film, as well as script research and script drafts and revisions.

• Development of a variety or practical, media and other digital skills through the production of a filmed adaptation of Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales,” as evidenced by the completion of the short film.

• Building community relationships and potential partnership by engaging with the local Naples community through the procurement of three or more locations in which to film, as evidenced by the short film project.

• Development of teamwork skills that can benefit them with college and job preparation and expose them to potential careers in media (the world’s fourth largest employer), as evidenced by the completion of the finished film.

• Preparation for and attendance at a large student film festival as a result of their participation in the project, as evidenced by 2025 film festival acceptance and attendance. This will also provide students with potential opportunities to win award monies that can then be used to further develop and grow the film and media program.

• Engagement in all of Gulf Coast’s targeted activities for improving student grades: increasing school participation in clubs and extracurriculars, promoting small group work, asking and answering probing questions that encourage critical thinking, and celebrating and providing diverse cultural experiences, especially for diverse learners.

Finally, as many as 1500 Gulf Coast High School students from all grades and backgrounds will be exposed to classical literature and school art clubs through exhibition on the Gulf Coast High School news channel.

 

 

Budget Narrative

The requested equipment directly addresses key challenges in student film production, including lighting consistency and camera stability. Each item will enhance the quality and functionality of student projects and can be located on https://www.amazon.com:

1. GVM RGB LED Video Light with Lighting Kits, 680RS 50W Led Panel Light with Bluetooth Control, 2 Packs Photography Lighting for YouTube Studio, Video Shooting, Gaming, Streaming, Conference – 2 Orders.

Ensures professional-grade lighting, improving visibility and scene aesthetics.

2. NEEWER Photography Lighting kit with Backdrops, 8.5x10ft Backdrop Stands, UL Certified 5700K 800W Equivalent 24W LED Umbrella Softbox Continuous Lighting, Photo Studio Equipment for Photo Video Shoot – 2 Orders.

Provides versatile lighting and customizable backdrops for diverse scenes.

3. DJI Osmo Mobile 6 Gimbal Stabilizer for Smartphones, 3-Axis Phone Gimbal, Built-In Extension Rod, Object Tracking, Portable and Foldable, Vlogging Stabilizer, YouTube TikTok, Slate Gray – 5 Orders.

Stabilizes smartphone footage, eliminating shaky visuals and enhancing production quality.

4. Skyreat Osmo Mobile 6 Case,PU Leather Portable Storage OM 6 Case Shoulder Bag for DJI OM 6 Smartphone Gimbal Stabilizer Accessories – 5 Orders.

Protects stabilizers for longevity and ease of transport.

5. Flat Plug Power Strip 10Ft Long Extension Cord, LeZone 4800J Surge Protector, 12 Outlets 2 USB C 2 USB Ports, Wall Mountable, PD20W Desk Charging Station, Black – 2 Orders.

Supports efficient equipment setup and organization.

6. Colored Masking Tape, Colored Painters Tape for Arts & Crafts, Labeling or Coding - Art Supplies for Kids - 6 Different Color Rolls - Masking Tape 1 Inch x 13 Yards (2.4cm X 12m) – 1 Order (Count)

Supports efficient equipment setup and organization.

 

 

Items