Howtomakeafilmon“OurTown’sJewishHistory”.ACentropaguide.Step1.Studentsneedtobeginbydoingtheirresearch,sotheyknowthefollowing:

a. WhendidJewsfirstcometoourcity?b. HowmanysynagogueswerethereatthepeakoftheJewishpopulation?c. WhatwasthepeakJewishpopulationandwhenwasthat?d. WhowerethemostfamousJewswhocamefromhere?e. HowmanyJewsliveherenowandwhichJewishsitesareherenow?f. WhatweretheoccupationsoftheJewishpeopleinourtown?g. WhathappenedhereduringtheHolocaust?h. WhathappenedtotheJewsofourtownaftertheHolocaust?i. DescribetheJewishcommunitytodayanditsactivities.

Noteonsources:Weknowthatstudentswillrefertotheinternetfortheirfacts.Thatis not a problem, so long as the students cite specific, reputable sources for theirinformation. Wemustleavethisdecisiontotheteachers’discretion,astheyvaryfromlanguage to language. Obviously, Yad Vashem, theUSHolocaustMuseum, the VirtualJewishLibraryareallacceptableresourcesandthereareothersineachcountry.WhenitcomestolistingJewishpopulationfiguresanddatesandnumbersregardingtheHolocaust,studentsshouldbetoldtoprovideat leasttwosourcesforeveryfact, justtobesure.Remember:thesestorieswillbeseenbyexpertsaroundtheworld.Step2:Locatinggoodphotostotellthestorywith.

Wheretogetgoodphotos:Asidefromwebsites,nationalandcitylibrariesandarchiveswill have photos about Jewish history or places. So will local Jewish museums.Remember,ifyousearchinGoogleandtypeinthenameofatown+Jewish,youmaygetlotsofphotos.Choosehighresolutionphotos,atleast1084x824—otherwise,theywilllookpixelatedonyourvideo.TIP: After you google for a photo, you can filter the search results to use onlycopyright-free pictures. To filter, click on the “Search tools” (see screenshotbelow),select“usagerights”andchoose“freetouseorshare”.Undersearchtools,youcanalsofilterbythesizetofindonlypicturesofhighresolution.

Goingtoamuseumorarchive:Gettingpicturestoscanshouldnotprovetoodifficult,butitmighttakealongtimeandmightcostmoney.Therefore,studentscan,iftheyareseriousaboutit,simplytakeagoodphotowiththeirowncameraofaphotosittingonadesk—andthenusethat.However,itisimportanttomakeagoodqualityphoto.Seesamplebelow.Andbesuretoshootinhighresolution!Later,youcanuseaphotoeditingprogramtocutthephotoout.

Step 3. At this point, you have some old photos and you have done good research.StudentsshouldnowvisittheJewishsitesintheirtown(ornearbytown)andtakegoodphotoswiththeirdigitalcamerasorshootvideo.Manycellphonesnowoffertheoptionforshootingvideo,butitwouldbebettertousesomethingofhigherquality,ifpossible.Whenshootingvideo,hereareafewbasicrules:--Ifthethingorpersonyouareshootingismoving,thenyoucanholdthevideocameraandshootit.Ifthepersonissitting,orifyouareshootingasynagogueorcemetery,thenuseatripod!--Ifyouwanttoshowusthedomeofasynagogue,thenslowlypanupthecamera.--Eachshotshouldlast20seconds.--If you are going to be listening to someone, try and find a way to get a smallmicrophone in front of him or her, beause themicrophone on the camcorder usuallywon’tbegoodenough—especially if theyareoutsideon thestreet,where there is toomuchnoise.Werealizeyoumaynotbeabletofindamikeforthis,butdotry.Step4.Thestudentsthenneedtocreateastoryboardorscript—inEnglish.ThescriptneedstobeinMSword,andthephotosdraggedanddroppedintotheworddoc.(pleasenote:don’tdraghighresphotosintoyourworddocasitwillcrash!).Remember:studentsneedtobetold,overandoveragain,“Wewantyoutotellusastory.Use photos or video or both, butmake it a story for us.” If your school has a creativewritingcourse,thenthisteachershouldcertainlybeabletohelp.Hereisanexampleofabasicstorylineonatown’sJewishhistory—butremember,youcanusevideoorstillphotosorboth.That’suptoyou.

Thisisapictureofourtown,whichwasfoundedin1120.Around500,000peopleliveheretoday,andwewouldliketointroduceyoutoourtown’sJewishhistory.

Jewslivedheresincethe1300s,andattheirpeak,in1920,therewere11,000Jewshere.

Jewishfamiliescontributedinmanywaystothegrowthofourcity.Theywereworkers,tavernowners,doctors,lawyers

ManyoftheshopswereownedbyJewishfamilies,liketheoneownedbyMrHerskovits.

WehadtwoJewishschoolsinourtown.Hereisthegraduatingclassof1920.

Andhereisanotherpicture.ThatisnotHebrewwrittenabove,bytheway—that’sYiddish,anditreads:________________.

HashomerHatzairwasveryimportantinourtown,andwehaveseveralpicturesoftheHashomer“ken.”Hashomerwas:[giveadescription]

IftherewasoneJewishyouthgroup,therewouldnaturallybeacompetitor,andwealsohadaBetarclubhere,too.

Sportswasalwaysimportanthere—thisisapictureoftheMaccabiswimteamfromthe1930s.

TheHolocaustcametoourcityin1941.Althougharound4,500Jewsescaped,around5,000weredeportedtothedeathcampsin1942andmostwerekilledthere.HerearesomeidentitypapersofJewsinourtown.Wetookthispictureinourcityarchive.

HereisaphotooftheplacewheretheJewswereshot.Itiscalled_______________.

Todaywehaveonesynagogueinourcity,andthisisMrKarp,whoisthepresidentofthecommunity.

Thisistheinteriorofthesynagogue,anditisquitebeautiful.Thearchitect’snamewasLeoRostonanditwasbuiltin1899.Herearesomedetailsofthesynagogue:------

OurJewishcemeteryisalsobeautiful,witharound5,000graves,butitisobviouslyovergrown.

HereisamonumentintheJewishcemeterytothosewhoweredeported.Wecounted98namesonthismemorial,anditwasforJewskilledinworkcampsin____________.

MrBernzweigisamemberoftheJewishcommunity.Hewasadentist,survivedAuschwitz,andlivesinourcitytoday.

MrKarpandMrBernzweighaveFridayeveningservicesinthesynagogueandtheysaytraditionalprayers.

AlthoughtherearenotmanyJewstodayinourtown,wedohaveaSundayschool,wheretwentychildrenattend.

WehaveaverylivelyJewishschoolinourcity,andstudentsfromourschoolnowworkasdoctors,lawyersandscientists!

WehopeyouhaveenjoyedthisvirtualvisittoourJewishcommunity.WehavelearnedthatintheJewishreligion,Zachorisaveryimportantword.Itmeanstoremember.AndwerememberourJewishcommunity.

Pleaseremember—thisisonlymeanttobeaguideline,atemplate.Naturally,ifyoucanfilm aHanukkahparty or a choir of the older people in the community singing, thesewouldbeinteresting,too.

Important: when students have finished their script, they need to submit it to theEnglishteacherforagrammarcheckandstorytellingflow.Theyshouldalsosubmitthescript to the history teacher, who can do some fact checking, just to be sure. We atCentropawouldalsobegladtoreadthescriptsforyou.

Step 5. Students then need to make their video, which can be done in so manyprogramsnow—MicrosoftMovieMaker,SonyVegas,Apple iMovie,etc. Ifyourschoolhas an IT department or a teacher that specializes in video or film, then please havethemhelp,too.TheywillrecordtheirEnglishlanguagevoiceover.Assomebasictips,considerthefollowingsteps,regardlessofyourchoiceofsoftware

1. Collectinga. Collectyourmaterialsandplacethemintoasinglefolder

i. Imagesii. VideoClipsiii. AudioFilesiv. SoundEffects

2. Importinga. Open your software and make sure you have access to “import” the

materialsyoucollectedintoyoursoftwareb. Importallmaterialssothatyoucanarrangethemintoanorganizedfilm

3. Arrangementa. Your software will have a “timeline” or “project area” where you can

arrangeyourmaterialstocreateyourfilm.b. Considerperformingyournarrationfirst,atthespeedandtoneyouwish,

andthenaddthematerials.c. Oncenarrationifcomplete,addyourimages,audiofiles,videoclipsand

soundeffects**Remembertosavefrequentlyduringthisprocess!

4. Convertinga. Finalizeyourfilmintoa.MOVora.MP4b. Savethefinalizedversiontoyourcomputerc. Usethesavedfiletoshareonline

At theendof the film, theyshould listall thenamesof thestudentswhoparticipated,and they should thank the city library, Jewish community—or whoever helped themwiththeirresearch.Thefinalstepistouploadthefilm,andwecanreviewthoseinstructionswithyou.Yourcleverstudentswillknowhowtouploadtobliporyoutube.