Business Technology Movie Maker Unit

EDISON SILENT FILM PROJECT

PRELIMINARY WORK

DOWNLOAD FILM FOOTAGE--

  1. Locate the following website:

Edison Motion Pictures

  1. Find the movie file called The Artist's Dilemma. Download the MPEG movie file (Right click the link, Save Target As) to your Student Folder.

DOWNLOAD TWO DIFFERENT SOUND FILES—

  1. Locate the following website:
  1. Download two MP3 format songs (30 second clips; you will trim as needed). Use the “feel” box to find a song that describes the mood you want to take with the film downloaded above.

YOUR TASK

You will create a “silent” movie. In the olden days, movies had no sound. They relied on the actions to tell the story. Over time, they evolved to where they had “cards” that said the words that went with the story in between scenes. You will take an old Edison film, add these “cards,” and add music to help establish the tone of the film.

Watch the movie and make notes about “cards” you will create

Open a new PowerPoint presentation; use this to create the “cards” (see back for instructions on how) and give them the old film effect

Assemble your movie; make a new Title screen (can use PowerPoint if you want or just a regular title) that gives you credit (first name only, please) and Edison credit as well. Remove the old title portion of the video.

Cut the video into segments. You may delete portions of the video as needed.

Use “speed up” or “slow down” as one of your video effects

Finished film should be between 1:30 and 1:40 in length (note: the entire film is longer than that AND you will be adding text, so choose wisely!)

Use at least two different sound files (songs) in your finished presentation; be sure to fade music in and out or overlap sound if necessary

BE CREATIVE

Hopefully, everyone in class will take a different approach to this project as the intention is that all projects will be unique. Do not use any transitions in this project, other than to fade in at the beginning and fade out at the end. Divide the film up into segments. You may shorten or extend those segments as needed.

See grade sheet for specifics; finished movies should be saved to USB drive and uploaded to the internet for class viewing
Instructions: PowerPoint Silent Film Cards

Create a new slideshow. On the first slide, right click the Background. Select black. Click Apply.

Take the rectangle tool on the Drawing Toolbar. Draw a rectangle (default will be a blue green color and that is fine). Then, draw a rectangle on the rectangle and fill that rectangle with black (using the paint bucket). It should look like this:

Draw a textbox in the gray workspace around the edges. Type your text. Highlight the text and change it to white. Then, drag it into place in your box. Use an “old timey” font of your choice, size 54. You may wish to align center (up to you).

Click INSERT, DUPLICATE SLIDE to make the next slide. Just click in the box and change the words. Repeat this until you have all your “cards” created.

Save the PowerPoint to your folder. Then, click FILE, SAVE AS. In the box where it says SAVE AS TYPE, choose JPEG. In the Filename box, write silentwords. Click SAVE. Then, when prompted, click EVERY SLIDE. They should be saved in a folder now called silentwordsand will be called SLIDE 1, SLIDE 2, etc. Import these into your project in Movie Maker to use them! Be sure to add an old film effect to them so they match your movie. Drop them into place between your clips (in Storyboard view) AFTER you have your movie split into segments.

DO NOT LOSE!!!! DO NOT LOSE!!!

Business Technology Movie Maker Unit

EDISON SILENT FILM PROJECT

SCORING GUIDE

Requirement / Total Possible / Deductions
Includes new title screen (credits Edison) / 5
Movie is 1:30-1:40 min. in length / 10
Cards are spelled correctly and use an antique font / 10
Cards are on screen long enough to read, but not too long and cards are not too full (don’t go overboard on words!) / 10
Cards have one of the old film effects applied / 10
Movie is edited down to include important parts that go together / 10
Two songs are used for drama / 10
Songs are appropriate and blend well / 10
Effect for speed is used in an appropriate place
Where? / 5
Movie fades in at the beginning / 5
Movie fades out at the end / 5
Instructions are followed and there are no extra transitions, extra words, or closing credits / 10
Project quality/originality / 20
Shown on due date / 10
Final project saved as WMV for broadband and uploaded for internet viewing (TEST IT!)
/ 20
TOTAL / 150

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