Video Production PSAs

Apologies for this late blog post...been a little busy around here!  But I wanted to share with you some of my video production students' final projects from last semester.

I had them reflect on their semester and all of the projects they did in class, and then create a PSA with what they learned as well as promoting the video production course for others to take next year.

I am super impressed with how these turned out!  Each of the students had to make their own storyboard first before filming/compiling their footage.  I really think this is an essential part to doing any movie, and I hope I've ingrained it in these ladies to always plan out and storyboard first before jumping in to make a movie!

Well done ladies--you should feel very proud of yourselves for all of the awesome videos you made and what you've accomplished this semester!  Bravo!

Show-Me a Movie Contest

A couple years ago, I had my students create videos for the 2012 Show-Me a Movie Contest; however, we couldn't submit them because of my oversight in that they had to be less than 2 minutes long, and all of my students' videos were over 2 minutes.  Woops.

So this year, for the 2014 Show-Me a Movie Contest my video production class each created videos in the Show-Me Your Community category.  One of the groups explored how the St. Louis community is fixated on the "Where did you go to high school?" question, another group explored the Ursuline community and theme of "Serviam" (through claymation), and the last group looked at the new Strange Donuts that opened in the Kirkwood community and how much they give back.

Overall, I am super impressed with these videos and really love how different they all are but still showcase how the community is across these different areas.  Enjoy...I sure did!

UA Video Production

I have blogged recently about mobile journalism at UA, and this being an integral part of my video production class.  Although my students do a large number of mobile journalism projects, they have recently expanded on their creativity to highlight issues that are unique to UA, such as fire drill procedures and "girl code" issues as well.  Another group took their creativity to the next level and created a creepy, short movie in the spirit of Halloween.

I do want to again plug the awesomeness which is WeVideo--all of these movies were shot with iPhones, and edited using WeVideo's online editing software.  I am so impressed with not only the quality of these videos but also the vast editing capabilities that WeVideo offers on a web interface that is accessible across all platforms, PC, Mac, or Chromebook (and mobile devices as well!).  If you're a teacher and looking for fantastic sharable editing software that's web-based, check out WeVideo.  You will not be disappointed!  I cannot speak highly enough to it, and how awesome (and fast!) their customer service response is!  Anyways, definitely check it out and give it a whirl in your classroom (or for your own personal video editing use!)

Enjoy these recent videos produced by my fantastic video production students!  Well done ladies!

Mobile Journalism

In my Video Production class, students have been diligently working on various mobile journalism pieces that are use in our bi/tri-weekly UA Today Broadcasts.  They are currently working on new pieces now, but have finalized and begun to show their first pieces on the Broadcasts that are being aired currently.

Before each group made their digital MoJo pieces using WeVideo, they used this template to create a storyboard for their piece--because you HAVE to do an outline/draft before you do the final product, even with videos!

Each group came up with their own stories they wanted to showcase: the new lunch food program in the cafeteria, a fun US trivia challenge with the students, a showcase of a recent concert event (Loufest), and study skills.

Overall, I am very impressed with these ladies' first MoJo pieces!  I cannot wait to see what their subsequent ones look like--I'm sure they'll keep getting better and better!

Also, students did only use their cell phones AND WeVideo to create these pieces--I'm super impressed with that and how these turned out!

WeVideo Project

When I was teaching at MRH, I loved doing a good video challenge--whether it was in social studies or technology, I really loved challenging the students to create a video using the elements I had provided for them (and a few that they had to provide on their own).

Now that I'm at Ursuline Academy, one of the classes I teach is Video Production--yes, that's right, an entire class dedicated to creating videos!  It's going to be awesome.  To start off the year in this class, I decided to do another video challenge, this time to get the students acclimated to using the online video editing software we will use all semester, WeVideo.

Each of the students got a copy of this doc, which included a folder of images, video clips, and sounds that they MUST use in their video (along with any other ones they wanted to include on their own).  They had to somehow tie all of these media elements together, using WeVideo, to create their final product.

The students had a few days in class to both play around with WeVideo and learn how to use it, and then create their sample project video.  I am loving the way all of these videos turned out!  Check out a few below...and click here for the entire playlist!  Enjoy!