With the screening of the 8 videos produced by the students of the Lugagnano and Vernasca middle schools and the award ceremony for those that turned out to be the best in terms of content, technique, commitment and creativity, an initiative that engaged students and teachers throughout the school year has come to an end.
The project was proposed to the Lugagnano IC by the company VINIDEA of Ponte dell'Olio and the DIPROVES Department of the Catholic University of Piacenza, as part of the SALVIBIO project aimed at preserving the biodiversity of Piacenza's wine-growing heritage. In particular, the project characterised some native varieties (including Melara, Santa Maria, Bervedino, now only cultivated in the Val d'Arda) that may be very interesting for the viticulture of the future that has to face climate change. The custodians of these varieties and partners in the SALVIBIO project are the producers Az. Agr. Lusignani Alberto of Marco Lusignani in Vigoleno, Az. Vit. Villa Rosa of Illari Andrea in Bacedasco Basso, Az. Agr. Massina in Vernasca, Az. Camorali Fabrizio in Lugagnano Val d'Arda.
Preserving biodiversity also means keeping the wine-growing tradition alive, raising the awareness of the new generations so that they continue to cultivate vines, thus halting the phenomenon of abandonment of the countryside. This is why the project also included an action aimed at young people, to help them discover the richness and beauty of the world of wine.
This objective was intended to be achieved by offering young people an opportunity to develop the ability to produce videos to be disseminated on the web, which has now become the main - if not only - way of exchanging information among teenagers. Every day we see dozens of videos on our mobile phones, but do we know how to use this medium to communicate something to others? The technology is all available for practically no cost: today's smartphones can take video footage of more than acceptable quality, free software for editing can be found on the web, platforms such as YouTube allow one's videos to be viewed by millions of people worldwide. But making a video to communicate a message well requires technique that can be learned.
The students of the Val d'Arda were therefore offered a videomaking course, held on-line by Elena Valdameri, a collaborator of CREMIT of the Catholic University of Milan, during which they were taught the phases and rules for producing a film: writing (idea, subject, script, storyboard), filming (production plan, definition of roles and times), production (filming, audio recordings, authorisations), editing (retrieval of supplementary material from the web, editing, publication).
At the same time, the students, divided into groups and with the invaluable support of teachers Alessandra Gatti, Simone Tambini and Michela Villa, started to construct their respective videos, recording and retrieving audiovisual material from the web. The last few months were dedicated to editing, which was carried out with free programmes and the tutoring of experts. In the end, eight videos were completed.
According to Alessandra Gatti, a teacher from Lugagnano and project coordinator, "the key strength of this project was the coaching provided by Vinidea's experts to the pupils during the preparation of their work (videos). The technical consultancy, which followed the introductory course on video recording and editing techniques, allowed the students to experiment with what they had learnt in a precise, timely and somewhat more 'professional' manner. The Lugagnano Comprehensive Institute would like to thank Vinidea and the Catholic University of Piacenza for the educational opportunity offered to our pupils".
Gianni Trioli of Vinidea, creator of the initiative, "was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the videos produced, each one developed on different ideas and with different techniques, proving once again that young people have skills and potential that we adults tend to underestimate. We think that the twofold objective of making the young people aware of the importance of viticulture for the area, and of introducing them to the technical basics of video production, which will increasingly be the means by which they will communicate their ideas and skills to others, has been achieved. I have to thank very much the teachers who accepted this challenge: I know it was demanding for them to follow the children in this activity, but I think they did an excellent job of developing the children's talents."
The project received the patronage of the municipalities of Lugagnano and Vernasca, and the contribution of the GAL del Ducato, which purchased the videomaking kits, given to the classes that produced the winning videos. Sergio Copelli, representing the GAL, said " GAL as the managing body of development programmes in rural areas cannot but welcome and support initiatives involving schools. A useful project for the development of the social and cultural identity of the territories. Congratulations go to the teachers and promoters, but above all to the girls and boys who passionately used contemporary media languages to narrate a characteristic of the Valdardy region".
The winner of the contest was the video entitled "Tradition in Val d'Arda" made by the group of Linda Terzoni, Matilde Nicelli, Lucio Casciello and Karim El Shahhat Mashal from 2ndA of Lugagnano, which presents a vineyard as a precious inheritance that spans the generations, and was realised by putting into practice many of the techniques learnt during the course.
You can find all the films produced by the young videomakers at this link: http://www.salvibio.eu/it/video/video_cat_113.htm
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