Creating
Image Capture and Manipulation • Digital Video • Authoring
Still Image Capture and Manipulation
Digital Cameras
Before You Buy a Digital Camera - Lots of good information and links to get you started in this area.
Scanners - Useful for capturing student work, old photographs, etc. Very inexpensive. Scanners are also available for film and slides.
Software - This is where th fun begins. These software not only let you improve your pictures and create graphics, but you can distort reality as well. Once students see how easy it is to create realistic looking fake photographs they never look at media the same again - now thats critical thinking.
Photoshop ($299 for educators) - this is the industry standard. Lots of bells and whistles, unless you are serious about this you might be better off with Photoshop Elements.
Photoshop Elements ($49 for educators) - Great place to start. Come bundled with lots of scanners. Look around the building before you purchase.
Fireworks ($99 for educators) - Macromedia's Photoshop competitor. A great tool that is very similar to Photoshop. it is geared for web image development.
Digital Video - The drop in camera prices and easy to use software has made this a reasonable option for educators.
DV Cameras ($600 on up)
How to Buy a Digital Video Camera - Lots of things to think about before purchasing
Videography - Now you have the camera, what do you do with it?
Videography for Educators - A comprehensive tutorial at a lay person's level.
Top Ten Tips for Shooting Better VideosLighting
Lighting Tutorial - An in depth tutorial from CyberCollege
How to Light a scene for Digital Video
Low Budget Lighting SolutionsAudio
Better Audio for Better Video
Microphones and Your Digital Camera
Freeplay Music - Royalty Free Music for your videosSoftware
Digital Video Basics - this is a great place to start
iMovie - simply the easiest and best way to edit your video.
Tutorials and Resources
Official Apple Tutorial
Stupendous Software - Plug-ins and intermediate level tutorials
About - Free iMovie video editing tutorials
Slick - Free iMovie Plug-Ins
Great Shareware Links - Remember to pay the feeAuthoring Tools - While video can stand on its own, much of the power in this area is in interactivity. In the area of authoring the solutions vary greatly in both price and skill level. Here is an overview:
Dreamweaver ($199 for educators - includes Fireworks and Flash) - the industry standard WYSIWYG web authoring tool. Can be intimidating - the secret is close all of the windows you don't understand. Free trial downloads are available.
Assignment
1) Pair up with another student and grab one video camera
2) Take turns with the camera - make sure you both know how it works
2) You have 10 minutes to capture and do the following:- Establishing Shot of one person talking (10 seconds)
- Medium Range Shot of one person talking(10 seconds)
- Close Up of one person talking(10 seconds)
- The Horizon and sky (10 seconds)
- 2 "out of the box" shots (10 seconds each)
- The following narration - "Human beings are naturally predisposed to hear, remember and to tell stories. The problem for teachers, parents, governement leaders is to have more interesting stories to tell."
- Go to Freeplay Music and download a 30 second clip of your choice.
