Mitchell deBes
Sports movie
St Patrick's College, Wellington
Year 11 Technology, three-term project
Teacher: John Davidson
Mitchell was asked to design a recreational activity for Year 11 boys. He decided to make a bike helmet camera mount, with the idea that he could use it to film himself and his friends mountain biking in various locations. This idea was later refined to making a movie of mountain biking and motorcross riding.
Mitchell began by researching camera mounts and creating a timeline for the project. He sketched possible designs for mounting brackets in his visual diary. It was during this early phase that Mitchell discovered the cost of a suitable video camera was not within his budget and decided against making the camera mount. He refined his brief to focus on creating a movie of his riding.
The project would involve gathering footage of motorcross and mountain biking, editing it, and, finally, compiling the edited footage into a movie that conformed to predetermined specifications negotiated with the teacher. Mitchell did not have any experience with film editing software and only a basic familiarity with computers, and had to learn new skills in a number of areas.
Mitchell used some early footage and experimented with video editing software. He watched mountain biking movies, critically assessing the camera angles used and lighting effects and generally looking for features that appealed. After using multiple cameras to capture and show a difficult stunt or jump, he edited these shots together.
To structure the film, Mitchell created an introduction, and a credit section at the end, and divided the film into sections featuring different locations. Music was an 
important part of the video; Mitchell used it to infuse an element of emotion into the film. Permission was sought from the artists to use their work.
Teacher comment
Mitchell designed and produced an impressive movie, he was dedicated to achieving a high quality solution and judging by the response of his class mates, he succeeded.
