Another lively training for the DOLCHE team took place on October 3 at the district office. With Krishna Harrison-Munoz at the helm again, the teachers explored the importance of sound – the most important aspect of a movie production. Krishna’s top 5 tips for ensuring good-quality audio:
- Make sure the “talent” is audible
- Anticipate uninvited sound from the environment
- Use microphones and headphones
- Add music and sound effects
- Work with voice-overs
Part of the audio topic also included a discussion of copyright and fair use issues, and the importance of modeling for our students. Our rule-of-thumb (though not a stated law!) is that educators may insert up to 30 seconds or 10% – whichever is less – of a song into their videos, being sure to give credits at the end. Fortunately there is a growing bank of royalty-free resources for music. In addition to the resources included under the Copyright & Fair Use links (right nav bar), free sound effects are available from stonewashed.net.sfx.html and partnersinrhyme.com/pir/PIRsfx.shtml.
Oh, and if you’ve included a talking dog as on of your “talents,” tossing popcorn may be just the trick to match his/her mouth movement with a narration.
Kristen’s tips for “lighting like a pro”:
- Work with existing lighting
- Make simple upgrades
- Apply three-point lighting
- Use reflectors
- Be aware of backlighting
- White balance your camera
Check back soon for links to lighting tips.
For tips on making a documentary, check out dohistory.org (this website has been going strong for almost 10 years now!). George Lucus joins Nikos Theodosakis in praising the documentary work of Marco Torres’ high school students. http://www.edutopia.org/node/980, another great resource for samples (see more at http://www.sfett.com/).
Next DOLCHE training = Movie Maker 2, Monday, October 8, 4:00-7:00, Tech Services.
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