I have to say, in the classroom setting, I usually get children to create movies from scratch. I've been using iMovie software, found on apple computers, for years and never really looked at the movie trailer option.
That was until I discovered the
iMovie app on the iPad. This is so much more user friendly...imagine trying to walk around with you laptop or having to record all the footage on a camcorder. Then importing this footage into iMovie and then drag and dropping the footage into the right frame.
With the iPad its so much more portable.
So why use iMovie trailers in the classroom?
I think it comes down to your purpose and reason for using them. My class created their trailers at the beginning of the school year, so my purpose was to focus more on social skills. I wanted different pre-selected groups to work together, problem solve and work collaboratively to create their movie trailer.
What did we do:
I shared the iMovie trailers with the children.
I gave them the option of choosing from the following iMovie trailers because they could have 2 - 6 characters...
Superheroes - 2 - 6 characters
Expedition - 2 - 6 characters
I have to say I felt redundant...I walked around and checked up on each group, and took some footage for children, for instance if they needed a group shot.
The children were managing themselves and working out their problems. I called them in part-way through their project and they shared their work with others.
Tips for children:
The person filming needs to say
Action, once the counter counts down. No voice is recorded for the movie trailer, so it doesn't matter how much noise they make while filming.
Props - some children brought different clothes and created props for their movie trailer. This was much better than children wearing their school uniform.
Storyboard -
Click here if you want to use storyboard help sheets. You can print these out. Some groups used these, other children planned their ideas on paper.
Other ideas....
I think you could also use movie trailers as a way in for children to create their own movie trailer from scratch. Why not use a movie trailer and get children to create on about a book they've been reading or for an original story they've written.....
Below is and example of one movie trailer my class made.
