Digital Video Production and Editing for Preservice Teachers SITE 2006 Created by Jeffrey Bauer, Ph.D. and James Gall, Ph.D. Univ. of Northern Colorado SITE 2006 Created by Jeffrey Bauer, Ph.D. and James Gall, Ph.D. Univ. of Northern Colorado

Part One Working with Preservice Teachers

Preparing to videotape  Have the class brainstorm topics for instructional videos  Divide class into groups of 4:  Director  Talent  Camera operator  Extra  Have each group settle on a topic  Create a schedule for recording  It can be spread out through the semester if necessary  Each group can record during their week

Preproduction  Each group should prepare the following  Goal statement  Learning objectives  Learner analysis  Storyboard  Script  Shot list

Resources for Scripting and Storyboarding  d/ d/  d.html#intro d.html#intro

Basic Video Production Techniques  (aimed at kids, but great information)  (from ASU)  (excellent resource including information on fair use)  school.com/Production%20Center.htm (great website, but a slant toward the Hollywood crowd. You could spend hours on this one) school.com/Production%20Center.htm  (includes information about working with kids)

Working with the Computers  Create secure logins on the computers so that students can save video files without the fear of having them deleted  Computers should have Firewire (IEEE 1394) capabilities  Windows Movie Maker (for Intel computers)  iMovie (for Macintosh)  Both programs are free with appropriate OS

Firewire connections Determine which type of connections your camcorder and your computer have; get the proper cable.

Capturing and editing video  Online Tutorials  imovie   Windows Movie Maker 

Windows Movie Maker

iMovie

Working with students  Make sure that everyone in the group is involved, especially in the editing process  Show clips of commercially made films by great directors;  Hitchcock  Jean Renior  Kurosawa  Show how they use the CAMERA to tell the story  Make sure that students pick topics that can be depicted VISUALLY

Visual Literacy  Students can benefit from instruction on visual literacy before they begin their videos.  Definition of Visual Literacy:  The ability to understand and produce visual messages  Visual literacy will help students employ effective visual cues in their videos

Visual Literacy Resources  vlehome.html vlehome.html   Dr. Lohr is a faculty member in Ed. Tech. at UNC  serelated/classprojects/Visual- lit/intro/intro.html serelated/classprojects/Visual- lit/intro/intro.html  s/visual.htm s/visual.htm

Processing the video  Students can save a small version of their videos on a jump drive or CD-ROM  All videos can be cataloged on CD or DVD  Videos can be processed and stored on a web server for others to use

Part Two Digital Camcorders

Digital Camcorders--Questions to Ask Yourself   Please review the above website for answers to these questions:  Which media?  Hard disk, mini dv tape, digital 8 mm, DVD-R etc.  Expandable battery?  Manual control?  Automatic control?  In/out ports?  Auido in, S-video out, Firewire, USB, etc  Continued on next slide

Digital Camcorders--Questions to Ask Yourself  What about the model above or below the one you are looking at?  Accessories?  Warranty?  Store return policy?  Make sure you try out the camcorder that you are thinking of buying:  Are the switches easy to get to?  Is it quiet?  Is it comfortable or awkward to hold?  Is it easy to load/unload tape or disc?  How does the picture and sound quality look?

Digital Camcorders  If you have a PC with a Firewire connection (<$100 to add one to a Windows computer; Macs come standard with Firewire) you can edit your video.  Free editing software:  Windows Movie Maker (Windows)  iMovie (Macintosh)  Professional editing software  Allows much more control and effects  Most full versions start at $500  Mac: Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere  PC: Pinnacle, Adobe Premiere

Digital Camcorders  Many have still cameras built in:  Usually 1 or 2 megapixels  Does not replace a good digital still camera  Can come in handy if you want to shoot mostly video, but would like to have still photos for titles or suppelmental materials  Some utilize memory sticks for storage of low quality video or still images  Most camcorders come with basic editing software that may have more features than Windows Movie Maker

Prices for Digital Camcorders  < $300  Usually tape media  Cheaper transport mechanisms and lenses  Have limited zoom ranges  Optical zoom--important for getting close-ups  Digital zoom--less importand, simply expands the size of the pixels, so it can look fuzzy or “pixelated”  $300--$600  Better lenses  More features  Better sound quality (condesor mics built in)  Quieter, smoother transport mechanisms  16:9 widescreen format options

Prices for Digital Camcorders  $600--$1000  Hard disc recorders  Direct to DVD camcorders  More features  Titles  Special effects  In-camera editing  Audio dubbing  >$1000  Semi professional  High definition formats  Larger lenses and microphones  Exceptionall quiet and high quality images