Teach Me Something!

Teach Me Something! Student produced iMovies Liz Kolb Teacher and Technology Coordinator Grandview High School, Columbus, Ohio elikeren@umich.edu

The inspiration • Grandview Heights City Schools, Columbus, Ohio; • Character education • Integrate technology • Authentic project • Student “Choice”

The Assignment • Students were put into groups of 4 and asked to write, film, produce, and edit a 2.5-4 minute short film that “makes you think.” • The movie needed to have a moral or lesson. • A discussion would occur after the movie about the “lesson.” • The movie’s would be judged at the Grandview iMovie Academy Awards.

Assignment Requirements • Pitch, Storyboard, and Script a 4 minute movie • Film and edit the movie • Design a DVD cover for the movie • Design a digital DVD with the following; • 2.5-4 minute edited movie • Director’s Narration on the movie • Behind the scenes • Bloopers (no more then 2 minutes). • Present the movie and DVD at the Academy Awards.

Equipment • Digital Camcorders (Canon ZR10’s and ZR20’s) • Canon ZR10’s and ZR20’s. $399.00 • Digital Mini DV Tapes (1 per group)…I kept these. • 2 Sturdy Tripods • (manfrotto by bogen). $149.99 each • Wheels for Tripod • (Manfrotto by Bogen). $155.00 each • Head for Tripods • $150.00 each

Equipment • 2 handheld microphones (Excellent quality) • Shure Microphones $88.00 each • 3 lavaliere microphones • Shure Microphones and Body Packs. (WL 93 Omni directional) $103.95 each • TXD Shure Body-Pack System $225.00 each

Equipment • VCR or Digitizer that will convert analog and digital. Needs S-Video and Audio/Video IN/OUT.

Software • iMovie for Editing • iDVD to create the DVD • Appleworks to create CD Cover

The Benchmark • Colorblind by Wyoming City School high school students.

Let’s Begin… • Brought in Film Expert to Inspire… • Associate Producer of Ali, Miami Vice, and Last of the Mohicans. (Cathy Shea)

Camera Work • Student’s learn how to use the digital camcorders. • Shots • Wide-all subjects in the scene • Medium-waist up • Close-up-small detailed part of the subject • Angles • Reportorial -actor speaks directly into the camera • Objective- camera acts as a member of the audience • Subjective-camera placed so that it sees what one of the actors would see. • Panning and Zooming to add effect

The Pitch Summarizes your movie idea

The “draft” storyboard A visual of scene by scene ideas

The script

The Final Storyboard

Filming • Must have signed permission slip to film on or off campus • Check out sheet includes; equipment for filming, location, group members, and badges. • Students must wear badges when filming.

Editing • Students download into iMovie on a daily basis • Students cut out unusable clips on a daily basis

iDVD • Download entire movie from camcorder to iDVD • Download Bloopers, Behind the Scenes, and the Director’s Narration as separate films • Create Menu in iDVD • Burn DVD’s

Create DVD Cover • Students created and designed their own covers in Appleworks. • They designed them in landscape view and printed on a color laser printer. • Included on the cover • Title • Movie Summary • Movie Credits • Pictures from the film (taken in iMovie)

iMovie Academy Awards • Presented in the Auditorium • All movies were shown • Students evaluated all films • 3 guest judges • Awards given • Best Picture • Best Sound/Music Editing • Best Cinematography

Evaluation Process • In groups students do a narrative evaluation on camera. • Individually students do a self-evaluation. • Students sit down with the Teachers and discuss their role and evaluation. • Group Evaluation according to assignment

Self-Evaluation Form • __20 points Scholarship • Did you meet all the requirements for your role? • Was anything late or left unfinished? • Was there room for improvement on the product? • Did you correct any mistakes?

__/20 points Initiative • Did you do your job without being asked? • Were you self motivated? • Were you willing to help others when they needed it? • Did you do what you had to do to get the job done (work after school or during lunch…etc)? • __/20 points Attitude • Did you whine or complain about your assignment/role? • Did you have a positive attitude about correcting mistakes?

__/20 points Cooperation • Did you work well with everyone in both classes? • Did you cooperate with your assigned partner(s)? • Was your product better as a result of your cooperation? • __/20 points Individual Improvement • Did you learn more about your particular role? • Did your product get better and better as you progressed?

What I learned… • More and shorter deadlines • Give students the responsibility and let them deal with the consequences….this is THEIR product, not mine. • Always do a sound check and a preview. • Always give students an extra mini DV tape, a charger, a table tripod and a microphone.

Imovie Samples Apple Computer’s sample imovies and lesson plans from K-12 Students • http://www.apple.com/education/dv/gallery/ • http://ali.apple.com/ali_sites/ali/ilife.shtml Examples of I-Movies that Springfield City School’s students made. • http://www.springfield.k12.il.us/movie/list.html

iMovie resources The most concentrated site with links to tutorials and tips, sample iMovies,and resources • http://www.floydcalderwood.com/imovie.html

iMovie Sound Files • http://www.apple.com/imovie/audio_effects.html • http://findsounds.com/

Teach Me Something!