General preparation

Perhaps the best advice on starting a video production—which can easily seem daunting—is to plan out each stage of the process and begin collecting all the necessary materials. Think about a subject, a working title, which resources will serve as research material, what types of media will be used (images, video, audio—or all three), and who will be a part of the production. Settling on a topic or subject, however, is not permanent; indeed, over the course of a video production major changes may take place. Be prepared to cut out major parts, introduce significant material at the last second, and even revise the main subject or topic of the video. Flexibility is a must when dealing with multiple elements, numerous collaborators, and new technology along the way.

Storyboards

After establishing a basic outline of the video production process, it's time to craft a storyboard. A quick search on the web for "digital storytelling storyboard" produces a useful list of websites with templates that can be downloaded or printed. Jason Ohler and storyboard instructor Karen Lloyd offer some free templates but many more exist online. Don't expect that the final video will incorporate the visuals and dialogue in the storyboard panels exactly as they were initially conceived. Storyboards are a road map, so expect detours in your journey. As the research process helps inform key details of the story, create a folder to collect images, video files, and audio segments. iMovie and Movie Maker are both flexible in accepting different file formats, but think about sticking to JPG (images), MOV or WMV (videos), and MP3 or MP4 (audio) files. [Note: This chart explains the difference between an MP3 and an MP4 file]. Okay, now that you've made all of your preparations, how do you actually make a movie? Here we provide a simple overview of how to use iMovie and Movie Maker.

iMovie

• When opening iMovie on the Mac, the screen will be divided into two parts. The bottom half is the "event" area where you can import images, sounds, and videos. The top half is the "project" work area. Here, items can be edited by clicking on the media item and selecting the "precision editor" (displayed with the gear logo for "system preferences" in a Mac).
• In the middle of the screen is the event task-bar. On the left, the video camera icon allows users to easily import from a camcorder or other video recording device. Users can also import videos by selecting "file" and then "import from camera" (command+I). The second icon on the left allows users to flip the event and project work areas. The icons in the middle of the screen allow users to perform basic functions with any item placed in the "event" work area. Users can add any selected portion of the event to the project, mark or unmark selections as favorites, undo selections, provide a voiceover (using a plug-in or built-in microphone), and edit or crop. On the right side, users will find a third group of icons that facilitate the import of images and audio files, create text, control transitions, and add a map or background design.
• The fun begins once items are placed in the project work area. Users, for example, can control the audio elements in the production so that music can fade in and fade out. Clips can also be cut so that only 20 seconds of an audio track appears in the production. iMovie even allows users to blend multiple audio elements, so that a voiceover can be accompanied by a student-created musical tune that serves as a soundtrack for the project. [Note: Creating an original musical score, as well as recording a voice-over or narration, can be easily done in GarageBand. Once finished, these files can then be imported into iMovie using the audio import feature on the right side of the event taskbar.]
• For images, users can overlay text on top of any image. Slide transitions mimic techniques perfected by filmmakers Ken Burns and George Lucas. Elements in the project work area can also be shifted and relocated at will. So if a scene in the original storyboard appears early in the video, but later seems better suited for the end of the video, clicking and dragging the scene into its new place is simple. The precision editor also makes it easy to select specific scenes in an imported movie and then move the selected portion to the project work area.

Movie Maker

• When opening Windows Movie Maker on a PC, the screen will be divided into three parts. The bottom portion is the "storyboard." Here users can drag imported items into a desired sequence. [Note: When adding audio, the storyboard converts into a "timeline" view. Users can toggle between both views with the control on the left side.] The top portion is divided into a "tasks" sidebar on the left—with a series of tasks divided into three groups (import, edit, and publish)—and the "import" area where users can place their images, audio, and video files.
• Adding transitions and effects is a fairly easy process. Users can right click any image, for example, and choose the desired effect or transition. Another option is to use the "tasks" sidebar and browse through the dozens of options available; users will drag effects to the desired image or place transitions into the small boxes between media items in the storyboard.
• Adding an audio clip or text—in the form of a title, credits, or an overlay for a video or an image—will revert the view from storyboard to timeline. In this view, users can lengthen or shorten clips, and with a microphone record a narration for the presentation. Like iMovie, audio files can overlap to facilitate transitions. In addition, audio levels for videos and music can also be controlled to create layers. This is useful for providing a subtle musical soundtrack to a recorded conversation or dialogue.
• Once the product is finished, users can publish their final product by saving it on the computer, recording it onto a DVD or CD-R, emailing it to a recipient, or transferring it to a digital video camera.

Pre-planning is a helpful first step in creating your video project. Gather all images and video clips and save them in a desktop folder. If a particular soundtrack serves the needs of the project, make sure the sound clip or song is in .mp3 format. Finally, on a piece of paper, sketch out the storyboard for the video—in particular the placement of text in the video. Animoto offers a handful of different account types that vary in price from personal to business.  The "Professional" account priced at $22/month ($264/year) is the most common and offers HD quality videos, more than 25 professional fonts, and pre-built storyboards.

After users open an account, the first step is to upload photos and videos via three options: from files on the computer, from Animoto's own collection of photographs, or from another website. Uploading images and videos from the computer allows users to select multiple files and conduct a batch upload. Once images and videos are uploaded, users can click and drag images at will in order to construct a desired sequence. Other features allow users to spotlight certain images or videos for a more focused display during the final presentation, add text slides, rotate and/or duplicate images, and delete any unwanted selections. It is worthwhile to note that one of Animoto’s biggest drawbacks is the limit placed on text entries. Text restrictions may prove to be frustrating for users, but one simple way to bypass these limits is to create a PowerPoint slide with the desired text, save that PowerPoint slide as a .jpg image, and then import the file as a picture into Animoto. Step two directs users to add a music file, or soundtrack, to the video either through Animoto’s own selection of songs or your own .mp3 files. Users can also select at which point the music begins. The final step is the editing process and finalization, where users can establish the speed of transitions, the design template, and select whether the video is short (30 seconds) or full length. After all selections are made, users go to the final section where the credit information is provided for the title of the video and the creator(s). Here is where Animoto users will find a second frustration: once everything is ready to go, users select “create video” and the process of finalizing the video can often take quite a while. Nevertheless, Animoto emails video creators once the video is finalized . . . so you don’t have to wait around. (Update: Animoto’s site updates may have fixed the speed delay in finalizing videos.)