How To... Create a Digital Movie

Quiet on the set! Creating a digital movie is a great way to motivate future fiimmakers

Creating a digital movie is a great way to motivate students and implement the NETS standards for project-based learning.

Pre-Planning Stages

Last month, I covered the basics of a digital video project. In summary:

Choose a Topic. Whatever you decide to create a movie about, the subject must be a part of your curriculum.

Set the Scene. Decide on the scenes and plan the digital images and video clips it will take to tell your story.

Film your scenes. Students will accomplish more if you assign them different tasks: cameraman, costume and scene design, director, narrator and actors.

Editing Your Movie

You've got the movie clips and audio/sound clips, now lay it out using the Digital Storyboard reproducible on the next page. Whether you use PowerPoint for your video production or a more robust movie editing tool such as Pinnacle, MovieMaker, iMovie or Adobe Photo Elements 3.0, here are some tips for smooth editing of your production.

Working with video clips

1 Name and number all your video clips and still images to make it easy to recognize the content for each clip.

2 Create a folder on your computer where you'll store all your digital images. Digital editing software does not change the original clips, but you must point to the folder where all the clips, images and audio files are stored. Don't store this folder on the desktop, since desktop items reside in memory and will slow your machine down to the point it will be difficult to edit.

3 Digitize all your video. Programs like MovieMaker will import clips from your video device. Think about your final product and capture video at the highest quality for tape, DVD or web.

4 Sort through your video clips and digital stills and decide the order for your story. All your video does not have to be created by your students.

5 Smaller video clips make it easier to edit and add the elements of narration, transitions and special effects where you want them to appear. If you have one long video clip, take time to break it up into workable segments.

Audio Clips and Narration

1 Repeat the naming and numbering process for your audio and music clips and create a folder for all these files. Check your copyright for these files, too.

2 Use the Digital Storyboard to write the narration using a microphone and second audio track for your movie. Wording should be scripted to control the length of the sound clip.

3 Divide narration so each audio clip is limited to four to five seconds for single images. An image should appear for at least three seconds to provide adequate time to view, but more than five seconds can lose the viewer's attention.

Transitions and Special Effects

1 Stay consistent with transitions. Elements like fade in or out should help clarify the elements of your story.

2 Don't use too many since this interrupts the flow of your movie and takes the attention of the viewer away from your story content.

3 Special effects can be easy to add. Glue your drawing to a piece of clear glass and film your video with the glass in position in front of the real object.

Remember, if you post your video to the web or share it at Parent Night, then you must have copyright permissions or use copyright free video and sound clips.

For more resources, please visit:

Envision Your World

www.envisionyourworld.com

Curriculum materials that support social studies and science while incorporating digital imagery.

Adobe Digital Kids

www.adobe.com/education/digkids/m ain.html

Intro to digital photography and video with lessons, tips and training tutorials.

Digital Storytelling Cookbook

www.storycenter.org/

A recipe for creating a digital story.

Copyright Early Years, Inc. Nov/Dec 2004
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved