Objective:

At the end of this lesson students will be able to:

• Conceptualize an idea that can be turned into a video
• Organize ideas into sequenced events
• Create a storyboard for visualization
• Write a short script
• Gather video footage using a VHS, 8mm, or digital camcorder

• VHS, SVHS, 8mm, or Digital camcorder
• Video Tape
• Text:  How to Shoot a Movie Story
• 11 X 24 paper for story boarding

Grade Level Assignment:   K-3  teacher will determine the idea or theme for the video. 
At this level, an extension or an enrichment project is recommended.  Scriptwriting and 
video taping can be done by the teacher with the students serving as narrators, actors, 
or commentators.  Example, students studying Kings & Queens of Africa can bring 
objects from home and act out character sketches. Books, posters, and other
visuals can be shot and included as part of the video footage. If a tripod is available, 
under teacher direction, students can be shown how to line up a shot and press the 
record/stop button or the teacher can elect to shoot all the video footage once the students 
have put their ideas together.

Grade Level Assignment:   4-8.    Group students into teams of 4 or 5. Teacher will provide 
students with directions for the theme or idea for the videos.  Assign a role to each student 
in the group:  Director, producer, art director, writer, editor. The producer will also function as the
recorder and write down group suggestions. The director will oversee the entire project, the art 
director will be responsible for the final storyboard and other props, sets, and locations used 
in the video, and the editor will align the titles, video sequences, etc. before the project is shot. 
The teacher will function as facilitator and assist students in areas of the project where needed.

Getting Started

The key to any successful Web page project is planning.  Since your students will be working with moving visual images have them to think of the project in terms of sequences.  What will come first, second, third, and so on.  Tell them to visualize the content as they would like to see it presented in its finished form and write ideas down on paper.  Now to manage the project, have students put their ideas into a workflow chart which we will call a Storyboard When creating film and video, storyboards allow you to organize the the sequence in which each scene will appear
in your movie.

Have students write a rough draft script for their movie. Working from their script, students will create an outline of their shots (video images they want to capture) and organize them into a storyboard which will show the sequence of events.
 

Sample Storyboard
 

Title Graphic  Welcome to Ancient Egypt	Rulers   Great pharoahs	Writing   Hieroglyphics	Symbols   The eye, hawk and other symbols
PICTURE	PICTURE	PICTURE	PICTURE

Images for the storyboard can be hand drawn pictures, words, or pasted in graphics which represent the content of each scene.  To keep the project manageable for you and your students, try to keep movies short, no longer than 1-2 minutes.  If the final content will be used later for inclusion into a Web page, the shorter length will keep file size down and conserve space on your hardrive.

Once the storyboard is finished, students will be ready for the actual video shoot.  At this stage, the rough draft should be edited and revised before the actual video shoot.  Working from the storyboard, have students videotape each scene. The director will be responsible for timing scenes and making sure the final cut stays within the :15-:20 time frame. To eliminate the need to edit the tape, have students rehearse any speaking parts and do rough practice sample video shots.  If your camera has a fade or digital dissolve feature, you can have students include this effect as a transition between sequences.  When the final video is shot, students should attempt to do only
ONE total take of all sequences in order.  If a mistake occurs, reshot from the beginning.  Otherwise, you will need to assemble the various sequences together using either in-camera editing techniques, analog editing systems, or digital editing computer software.

Grade Level Assignment:  9-12  For high school students the same procedure can be followed as grades 4-8.  The teacher will function as an advisor instead of facilitator and students can be given more autonomy as groups.  The producer will  assumes the role of facilitator and should communicate any special needs or concerns regarding the progress of the project with the teacher.  If guidance is required, the teacher can provide assistance as needed to the groups.  Students should be given the independence of developing their own ideas which must have final approval of the teacher. The group will be responsible for sequencing and shooting their own footage.

Presenting

Once the final video is complete, you have various options for presenting your student's work.  With the emergence of new technologies, several interesting ways of saving and presenting videos now exist:
 

• Traditional VCR playback
• Creation of CD-ROM's
• Inclusion into Web Pages

Web Ready

For a more advanced project following this tutorial, your students can digitize, compress, and code their footage for inclusion into a Web page. Click here for the tutorial on capturing video movies and adding objects to your Web pages.

Congratulations!  You have now entered the world of multimedia..