Deutsch
“Mockumentary” descibes a fictional documentary that makes fun of that genre. Seemingly real occurences are staged or real documentaries are torn out of their original context. It is common to do that in satires and parodies and mockumentary style is perfect for creating an awareness of how modern media work.
School. A building, a habitat, a system. To the outside spectator it may look peaceful and harmless with its classrooms and halls. But it is actually one of the most dangerous places of our planet.
The Content
Quoting animal documentaries and transferring them into a school context we wanted to draw attention to general deficits in the (German?) education system in a funny way. Some aspects that the film talks about are the drill to reach uniform goals, the disastrous communication between teachers and their students and the rigidity and boredom of a system whose only aim is to “mold” human beings. Besides those critical topics there are also allusions to typical behavioural patterns of students, their exposure to media and gender-specific traits.
The Project
During the project the students learned how to work with a script and turn it into a visual story. They also looked for shooting locations, collected props and racticed the scenes. They filmed, played and edited the material. They also gained some insight into stylistic devices of the mockumentary genre and later made their own mockumentaries.
The narrator is Tom Quaas, an actor from Dresden, whose deep sonorous voice adds even a further touch of irony to the movie.
School is one of the most dangerous regions of our planet.
