Awesome Advert

10+yrs

Ease ***

Overview:

This websites motto is “Making awesome easier”! Learners create a 30 second advert on any topic they like. Here, we’ve outlined an activity where learners make a promo video of their school. We wanted to call this lesson Pimp My School… but we weren’t allowed.

Description:

Begin by showing learners videos created by other schools http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7TI-AJi2O8 is fabulous!

Discuss the video with learners and explain that they are going to create their own video to ‘Put their school on the map’, as it were. Explain that theirs (as it is their first attempt) only needs to be 30 seconds long. Have them create storyboards outlining what aspects of school life, locations, people etc that they’d like to feature. When this is done, ask them to go and collect footage and pictures for their films. This is best done in small groups. You could assign roles like actor, presenter, stage manager, director etc.

When their footage is ready, guide them to www.animoto.com and sign up to an account if you haven’t done so already. So long as you select the Lite Package there is no monthly charge. If you get pop-ups asking if you’d like to upgrade just close them down. When you’ve signed up, you’ll be taken to a tutorial, watch it yourself but also watch it with the learners, it’s very short but also very informative.

When their footage is ready, tell them to upload it to the Picture or Video files on their computer and click on Create Video. They’ll be guided through the process of selecting a style for your video. If they get a pop-up asking you to upgrade, tell them to click the link underneath that says ‘I want to create a 30 second video’ and they’ll be taken to the appropriate page. Here, they need to add music, pictures, video etc and rearrange them in the editing pane. They can preview and re-edit their advert at any time, so tell them not to worry about getting everything perfect the first time!

Finally, they should click Produce Video and they will have created the final version of their advert. If they copy the URL they can send it to friends via email or display it on the school website/social media sites.

What do I need?

Smart-phones, photo-camera, laptop / computer
Internet access
www.animoto.com (or similar software)

Added value:

Learners create highly professional looking, fun videos quickly and easily: no messing, no extensive editing! This software is adaptable, so can be used for a wide range of purposes e.g. school-leavers prom, to collate memories of their time in school or just to create their own biography.

Hints and tips:

If you like this software and would like to upgrade so that you can produce longer videos and have access to more features, a year’s subscription to Animoto Plus package is only $30-50!

Other opportunities to use the same software: