I'd Like to Thank the Academy...

More than anything, this year has been about trying out new technologies to use in my teaching. So, it only made sense that when it came time to report on what I've learned, I did so by learning something new -- iMovie, Flip cameras, and digital recorders.



The goal was to make a fifteen minute documentary-style film to demonstrate all that we (I and two other colleagues) have learned this year and how it has impacted our professional lives. I wanted the works -- moving images, stills, interviews, voiceovers, music -- basically everything you'd expect to see in a documentary. Mostly, though, I didn't want to stand up in front of my peers and talk a lot.

Ultimately, it turns out that everything about this project was really very simple and painless. As a group we worked well together, quickly separating the project into manageable parts that we could all work on individually and piece together later. We did all of our recording individually -- each of us armed with a Flip camera and a digital recorder, both of which turned out to be more than easy to use. Turn them on, press a button to record, and press a button to stop. In fact, with a little practice, I was able to record on each one-handed without even looking at the device. (Very important if you've looked at the video already.) Both the camera and the digital recorder can plug directly into the USB port, so downloading was equally simple.



Using iMovie was a little more complicated (especially since I haven't been on a Mac in a decade), but it was important to use since Windows Movie Maker doesn't allow for layering sound. We wanted to include voiceovers on top of the recorded audio from the camera, as well as a background music track. In total, I think it took about eight hours to edit our 15 minute video, but that also allowed for our learning curve. At my best, I could complete a two minute segment in about 15-20 minutes. What was especially great about iMovie was how easy it was to drag in the video, audio, and music clips. Everything we filmed imported directly to the project, and everything we recorded was held in an iTunes folder. There were also many, many music jingles which we were able to drag into the movie without worry about breaking any copyright laws.

In the end I felt really satisfied with the movie. It accomplished all of the goals we set at the beginning - especially the one about not wanting to speak at our presentation. I especially loved how when we started the movie, everyone looked up from their laptops and stopped typing. It held everyone's attention (at least for a little while), and on a day of "Look at me! Look what I did!", I guess that's the best you can hope for.