It's easier than catching the fly with chopsticks.

We're all new once.  We'll make mistakes and we'll learn from them.  Here is some advice that comes from the mistakes we made along the way.

Erick's Tips

It's impossible to know everything!

The curse of the DP course not having a syllabus to follow when starting teaching this course is the fear of missing something. Do not fear! You can pick the topics you want in terms of movements and theories.

If it's up to you, convince all your students to be HL instead SL, because HL is EASIER. 

I know. It sounds counter-intuitive but it's true; assuming that most students take the course for the production aspect and find that 'less work' because it is more enjoyable.  In HL, 60% of the total marks are based in production (25% for the Film Portfolio and 35% for the Collaborative Film Project). Meanwhile, SL is only 40% from the FP. In my class, in terms of content taught is the same for both SL and HL since in SL they must learn theory and movements for FP and CS.

Best equipment to buy: TRIPOD.

Don't worry if you don't have the budget. As an examiner, I had films that scored a 2 that were shot on a 2000 Euro camera and one that scored 7 that was shot with a smartphone. Steven Soderberg shot High Flying Bird on a smartphone and the Paris 2024 Olympics used smartphones to film the events. A cheap tripod with a smartphone mount will be more valuable than a shaky handheld expensive camera.

Do not waste classes teaching NLEs (Non-Linear Editors).

I am a certified  DaVinci Resolve and Final Cut Pro X trainer and yet I spend precisely 40 minutes in just one class going over the workflow (import media, Media Viewer, Timeline, Render/Export). Students can find any tutorial online about any software. Focusing on the workflow allows them to use whatever software with which they feel more comfortable.

For every production (lab, short film) ask for pre-production work.

Require evidence of pre-production before the students film. For my first labs, it's just a simple text describing what they will do. For the second, where they already learned shot composition, proxemics, and angles, they have to do a shot list. Afterwards, the script + shot list. Until the final film where they should have a full pre-production package. Doing this automatically gives the students tools to write a solid Project Report (or pages for FP) in addition to helping them to plan better their film.

It's ok to say "no" to students' ideas. 

Remember, you are the "producer" of the class. If you feel that the film focus is not good for CS, or the idea for the CFP can be too "edgy" (too violent, too sexual), just say "no". IBO fully supports your decisions in class. If you, as the educator, are in doubt, it's absolutely ok to tell the student to find another theme/topic

Make sure the students split the Project report in CFP in the two sections requested in the guide.

I cannot emphasize enough how important this is, especially for Directors where collaboration is part of the role. For project reports that are not clearly divided, there is a tendency that examiners will consider all collaboration (in the case of directors) as Criterion B. A good proportion would be 60% content for Section 1 and 40% for Section 2.

A nicely presented Project Report (CFP) helps a lot! 

Examiners cannot download and print any document so all is marked online, via the screen. A well-designed project report with a title page, table of contents, Double-spaced text, and a good amount of visual evidence from all stages of production helps incredibly when marking. Do not worry about the number of pages, after all the limitation is 2000 words and not a specific number of pages.

David's Tips

Don't teach filmmaking all at once.

Production is complicated.  Students can learn a lot by focusing on one role at a time. Give them time to focus on how to use the camera properly before getting into anything else.

...and don't touch the role of Screenwriter until the second semester.

One of the most important understandings of the coursework is learning how to communicate meaning through film language.  In order to do this, I do not allow any projects to use dialogue until semester two.  In this way, students are challenged to imagine ways to communicate their stories without words, relying only on making meaning through other aspects of film language.

Spiral Curriculum: Teach analysis between teaching the different roles.

The students' understanding of film that is built through analysis supports their understanding of film language as filmmakers.  Their work as filmmakers gives them a greater appreciation and understanding of the creative and technical choices that professional filmmakers make.

Meet the students where they are.

I do this by having the students bring in their favorite scene for discussion as homework on the very first day of class.  I'm always impressed with the depth of analysis a student will give to something they self-identify as their favorite film.  The flip side of that is that I save more complex films for later in the course.  Find films that the students can really dig into - but will also capture their attention and enthusiasm.

Find an authentic audience.

One of the most important ways for students to grow as filmmakers is to rise to the occasion of a public sharing of their work - this is the intrinsic motivation of pride in oneself that will help them beyond the extrinsic motivation of grades and markbands. One great way to do this is to find a film festival in your community or have the students submit to a relevant festival they find online. Students could even organize their own film festival and invite other classes or schools to participate. Attending festivals also gives students a chance to contextualize the possibilities of what they can achieve in filmmaking outside the view they get from their classwork alone.