Making movies with your phone
By Jo B
One of winter’s blessings is the New Zealand International Film Festival. Spanning genres including documentary, and animation for kids, the festival opens windows onto the world. It is also a wonderful opportunity to talk and make films with students.
Advances in technology mean you can now make great looking videos on smartphones. In fact Director Malik Bendjelloul shot part of his Oscar winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man on an iPhone. By using the 8mm Vintage Camera app Bendjelloul was able to add a filter to the footage giving it a Super 8 retro effect.
Along with apps, specially designed tripods, microphones and other devices can help ensure a more professional production.
Other recommended apps include:
iMovie - easy to use and allows you to do basic editing and trimming of videos. (iPhone, iPod touch, iPad)
Action Movie FX - kids big and small love it. Explosions and cars falling from the sky are some of the effects that come with the free version. ( iPhone, iPod touch, iPad)
Vizzywig allows you to shoot, create, edit and share movies. (iPhone and iPad)
Scriptlyis a free screenwriting app for iPads. My Screenplays is a screenwriting option for Android users, which allows you to import and export into different formats such as HTML, PDF, and Word.
Animoto is a versatile tool that allows you to make movies from still photos and videos. Primary Sources are a great resource for digital storytelling, and students can incorporate them in a number of ways using tools such as Animoto and others.
Find out more about tools for digital storytelling and using Primary Sources.
“I know only one thing about the technologies that await us in the future: We will find ways to tell stories with them.” Jason Ohlar