Quotes:
- ‘I have really liked watching the movies that we made.’ Year 6 pupil - Intake Primary School, Doncaster
- ‘I liked the excitement of being watched by people but the acting bit was difficult because you had to come in at the right time and I found that hard.’ Year 4 pupil - Deepcar St. John’s, Sheffield
- ‘I learnt that filming is harder than it looks!’ Year 4 pupil - Deepcar St. John’s, Sheffield
What is it?
The integration of Digital Video in teaching and learning enables pupils to express their ideas both visually and imaginatively, which can lead to a better understanding of a range of subjects. You can bring the entire curriculum alive through the use of video and a range of media.
Small projects are often better than bigger projects and can be used to develop an understanding of difficult concepts such as metamorphosis, night and day, decay and erosion or you might use to reinforce a better understanding of relationships. Why not try the time-lapse option in Kudlian's I Can Animate for projects to do with Germination or Shadows.
What do I need to get started?
Barbara Ainscough can provide all resources for an in-school workshop if requested- ✓ Ideas and storyboard
- ✓ A computer: laptops or iPads are an easy solution and offer great flexibility
- ✓ Digital video camera (eg. iPod, iPad, mobile phone, flip camera)
- ✓ A microphone (optional) - the easi-speak microphone is easy to use and offers great recording quality
- ✓ A tripod (optional)
How much time do I need?
You will need to make time for a good DV project. Why not consider having a creativity week in school?
- ✓ Use recorded or online TV adverts to teach camera angle and position
- ✓ Remember careful planning and story-boarding will lead to better quality and reduced video footage.
- ✓ Too much footage will probably result in an unfinished or abandoned project
- ✓ Keep the project short - try making a 1-minute movie
- ✓ Try and tell a story through a sequence of still images with a Ken Burns zoom effect applied✓ Record a voiceover to your still images✓ Use the Digital Video Hot Tips! document to support your planning (resources section)
What can I expect to achieve?
All subjects which allow opportunities for storytelling, sequencing, instruction, explanation and issues such as literacy, history, geography, science, maths, PSHE, DT, ICT and art. It fulfils the 'Excellence and Enjoyment' aspect of the Primary Strategy and aspects of media studies and drama at GCSE level. If you have sufficient time pupils can be asked to compose their own music for their film, thinking about genre and style.
Impact on learning:✓ Understand the language of media and film e.g. camera angles, type of shot
✓ Skills in story-boarding and sequencing
✓ Create original films with careful consideration of purpose and audience
✓ Presentation skills✓ Process skills - planning, problem solving, critical thinking and evaluation✓ Explore personal capabilities such as creativity, communication, negotiation, initiative, collaboration, leadership and self-motivation
✓ Develop positive habits and attitudes necessary for responsible citizenship
✓ Increase pupil engagement in the curriculum, motivation, self-confidence and self-esteem
✓ Provide greater access to the curriculum
If you are a beginner and find this task overwhelming or difficult to make time for during normal school hours, an easy way to get started with digital video is to use still images to make a movie. They can be added to iMovie or the Garageband Podcaster track really easily and a soundtrack and voiceover can be added.iMovie allows you to apply titles and credits and the 'Ken Burn’s' effect too which gives the still image some movement, rather like zooming in or out or panning across a picture.
A storyboard or a planned idea is a definite must. Fantastic results are guaranteed usingthis method,in just a fraction of the time it would take you to record and edit your own film.
You can also bring alive history projects by using images to explain how an historical event unfolded eg the Great Fire of London. If you use a product like Espresso you can capture still images from the videos and then create a project in iMovie.
One of my favourite uses for it in the classroom is to take the comic or digital storytelling idea one step further and use the same images to create a movie with a narrative, the student’s recording their own voices and adding sound effects.
Download ideas for using Espresso with iLife and other Mac software from the Resources Section.
You might also like to link the project to your school’s web-site, blog or Learning Platform.
