The growth of multimedia in education across the world is well documented, in particular the increase in film and animation. Governments and educational bodies in America, Europe, Asia and Australia are encouraging schools to use innovative technologies in the classroom and to boost media literacy. Film-based media courses continue to attract increasing numbers of students at both college and school level. Students, meanwhile, are showing increasing fluency with audio-visual media through their constant engagement with online video services such as YouTube and the ubiquitous availability of basic filmmaking tools such as camera phones and video editing suites included with both Windows and Mac computers.

The problem facing most educational institutions is twofold. Firstly, there are practical considerations. Filming equipment is bulky and costly, so live-action filming is not always possible. It also requires suitable physical space, and cannot easily be carried out in a way that involves an entire group of students. Secondly, animation is a slow, complex process, and the current generation of software such as Maya or Blender require a high degree of expertise to master. There is therefore a need for filmmaking tools that are easy to master, that allow for rapid production, which allow all students to be engaged, and which are affordable.

Moviestorm was originally created to enable amateur filmmakers to make animated movies using typical home computers. In the last three years, the developers have been working informally with institutions from all educational sectors throughout the world to determine whether the software fulfils the needs of both film and media teachers as well as its applicability to mainstream education, and to determine whether it has a discernible effect on learning.

Moviestorm has been trialled in three different educational environments in various schools and colleges in the US, UK, Europe Japan, and Australia:

1. in film education to improve specific filmmaking skills
2. in other media courses to expand students’ creative vision
3. in mainstream education as a cross-curricular tool for general teaching and learning

1. Moviestorm for film education

Moviestorm has been utilized in film courses at university and college level, and also in film and media courses in secondary education (high school). These courses have spanned both film appreciation and practical film making.

Students used it in three main contexts, discussed separately below.

Making movies

Moviestorm provided a useful alternative for allowing students to make short movies. Many students at both school and college level reported that they were involved in no more than one film project per semester, typically involving a film of three minutes or less. Only one in six students took a directorial role on each project, and some students completed their course without ever having directed a movie. Furthermore, students were often limited to what they could film with a hand-held camera using local locations and their classmates as cast. In addition, students had no opportunity to benefit from teacher criticism and re-shoot their completed movies to see the effect of any recommended improvements.

Using Moviestorm, students were able to undertake many more film projects, typically making one or two films per month. On each film, they were able to take on all roles, including director, camera, sound and editor, and thus got wider and deeper experience from each project. Students were also able to be more ambitious creatively, and film scenes involving large crowds, different locations, stunts, special effects, and complex camerawork simulating crane or helicopter shots. As an additional benefit, students could easily go back to their completed movie and re-shoot or re-edit scenes to incorporate specific suggestions from teachers and peers.

Previsualization

As a pre-production tool, Moviestorm can help students work faster and more efficiently and get more benefit from their live action or animation projects. Given that production and post-production time is often extremely limited on these project, it is essential to make maximum use of the time available for both shooting and editing. Students filming live action often reported that they were unprepared on set, and that their completed shots did not edit together well. Animation students reported that they had put a lot of effort in at the early stage on things that did not work or which were unnecessary, and therefore they failed to complete their projects on time.

Using Moviestorm to create an animatic instead of (or as well as) a traditional storyboard can allow students to spot a range of problems at an early stage, such as line crossing, awkward edits and jump cuts, or lack of continuity in placement of characters. It also meant that they could determine exactly what props and set dressing would actually be seen. This meant that filming and editing the movie became an exercise in checking off the previously agreed shots and edits, as all the experimentation was done in pre- production, not during valuable production and post-production time. Students reported a time saving of up to 50% in production and a further 25% in post-production. Students using this technique were also more likely to complete their assignments.

Practicing specific techniques

A recent new approach currently being evaluated is to use Moviestorm to allow students to improve their film making skills by focusing on very specific basic film elements and filming them repeatedly in different ways until they develop fluency. These elements can be as simple as filming a conversation or a walk, or may be more advanced, such as the use of silhouettes or how to simulate a large crowd with a small number of extras.

Using Moviestorm to create short clips very quickly in a rough format, students can film the same thing ten or twenty different ways in the course of an evening working solo, without the need for cast, locations, or equipment. This enables them to compare different styles and get immediate feedback on what works well in different contexts. It also allows them to experiment with different approaches at their own pace. One film teacher likened it to a pilot practicing in a simulator rather than using a real aircraft. Others noted that it was the film equivalent of a musician practicing scales and arpeggios, or an artist’s sketch book. This led to the developers starting to refer to Moviestorm as a “film sketching tool” – a way that learners can get down ideas quickly in the form of actual film rather than written notes or hand-drawn images.

To assist learners and teachers, Moviestorm commissioned a series of booklets of exercises, with the first released in September 2011. Initial responses from film teachers and students suggested that this had the potential to change their approach to film making, although no data has yet been compiled.

Results

Both teachers and students reported improvement in student engagement and in the quality of their work.

“It’s animation, but you don’t have to be an animator. It’s about learning to tell stories and learning traditional film techniques. My class includes cinematographers, editors, writers, and video producers. They’re learning about their own role in film production, but they’re also learning to see the bigger picture and understand what everyone else does. There was a lot of skepticism at first when I proposed using Moviestorm to teach film, but the students who are already using it are really happy with it, and now I have more students wanting to get into this class than I can handle. The students didn’t have to be sold on the software very much because they recognized how much they would be able to accomplish without the need for lots of crew, equipment and locations.” (Professor James Martin, Digital Storytelling, University of North Texas.)

“My Level 2 students’ work got moderated yesterday and their Moviestorm projects took all the plaudits. This resulted in helping most of my students get distinctions for their overall coursework. Some of my students are now working their lunch breaks because they’re so inspired!” (Steve Thorne, Creative Media, Long Road Sixth Form College, Cambridge)

“It’s incredibly refreshing to be able to make something spectacular on a very limited budget without having to deal with the day to day hassles of live-action cinematography. If I didn’t like how a shot worked in the editing booth, I could very easily slide into the program and change the camera angles or the screen direction on the fly, whereas if I wanted to do that in a live-action context, I’d be forced to spend quite a lot of money and time on a re-shoot.” (Ed Lie, film student, University of North Texas)

“I like how you can easily try the same thing in lots of different ways to see what works.

If it comes out bad, it doesn’t matter: you’ve only spent a few minutes on it, you haven’t wasted anyone else’s time and you’ve learned something anyway!” (Dan Horne, film student, Full Sail University)

“A really good primer for any film student. The practicality of learning these techniques in Moviestorm, rather than just the theory, gives you an easier way to fix these concepts in your head.” (Andrew Segal, Carshalton College & Norwich University of the Creative Arts.)

Examples

Ed Lie at the University of North Texas used Moviestorm to create a science fiction film as part of a digital storytelling course. He noted that it would not have been too expensive and time- consuming to make the film in live action or traditional animation. He also noted that using Moviestorm allowed him to focus his efforts on the storytelling rather than the technical aspects of production.
http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/student/student_case_study_Ed_Lie
Video: Transmission http://vimeo.com/23826738

Long Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge, UK, used Moviestorm as part of their Level 2 Diploma, Media National Certificate course in their moving image unit and short film project, Students were tasked with creating a 2-3 minute film in Moviestorm. Working with Moviestorm allowed the students to film action sequences safely and cost-effectively, and gave them a wider range of cast and locations. Students liked how easy it was to use Moviestorm. They also liked the large library of ready-made customisable props, sets and backgrounds, and that they could get fairly realistic movies out of it.
http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/teaching/teaching_case_study_long_road
Videos: http://cramlevel2.blogspot.com/

FML Film Club was an extra-curricular group set up at Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida. Students make extremely short comedy sketches each month in order to get practice with going through the entire production cycle. Some groups used Moviestorm to previsualize their films. These groups were more likely to complete their films each month, reduced the time taken to complete their film, and were happier with the results.

Wan Smolbag Theatre in Vanuatu used Moviestorm to train students at their Film Club. Some students used it to create content that was broadcast nationally, and others went on to full-time jobs with the national television channel. This demonstrates that Moviestorm can be used in a very wide range of contexts: Vanuatu is one of the poorest countries in the world.
http://www.moviestormblog.com/index.php/moviestorm_- _launching_television_careers_in_surprising_places/
Video: I bin gat wat taem http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hcQ7xbojkw

2. Moviestorm for teaching other media

Although its primary application has been for teaching film, some educators have experimented with using Moviestorm for other creative media, including games, music, art, and writing. In some cases, this has been directly related to the course content; in other cases, using animation allows students to put their work into a different context and see it in a different way.

In games courses, Moviestorm allows students to create video segments and to improve their understanding of visual narrative. This allows them to develop their critical focus on the differences between interactive and linear narratives.

In courses such music and writing, Moviestorm allows students to integrate their work with other media. Instead of creating work in a single isolated medium, they can create a soundtrack to a movie or write a screenplay which then becomes a film. This can act as a spur to creativity as well as giving them new creative options and developing new skills. Furthermore, by acquiring a basic understanding of what is involved in creating a film, they are better able to appreciate how to adapt their chosen medium to work with film.

Results

Teachers were satisfied that using Moviestorm allowed their students to achieve more and broaden their creative scope.

“It was an interesting experience that produced a broad scope of ideas. It’s important for games designers to understand different creative disciplines to help with idea generation. It was a valuable experience in building interactive assets for a professional platform. Moviestorm’s a versatile piece of software and a valuable addition to the game designers tool-kit.” (Philip Jackson, Computer Games Design, University Campus Suffolk)

“It’s a great way of encouraging kids who are new to music to switch on their creativity. A film gives kids a canvas onto which they can ‘paint’ sound and that gives them confidence to write music in a way that they might not have done if they were faced with a blank page.” (John West, Music Technology and Creative Media, Faringdon College, Oxford)

Examples

Philip Jackson at University Campus Suffolk used Moviestorm in his Computer Games Design course as part of the machinima module for first-year students. Students were required to create a short film. This helped them to develop transferable skills they would later use to design cut-scenes, game walkthroughs or to assist them in developing their narrative, storyboarding, scriptwriting and modelling. Advanced students went on to create Moviestorm content packs as a way to develop their 3D modeling and animation skills.http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/teaching/teaching_case_study_philip_jackson

John West at Faringdon College, Oxford, initially used Moviestorm in his music classes for ages 11-18. He provided students with film segments which they then used as inspiration for original compositions, or for which they were required to compose a score. After using Moviesrtorm successfully in this way, he has now begun involving his film students by getting them to create the videos which the music students then score. He has also extended it to other non-media classes he teaches (see below). http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/teaching/teaching_case_study_john_west
Video: soundscape http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/teaching/education_lesson_plans/soundscapes

3. Moviestorm in mainstream education

A key area that the developers were interested in was whether Moviestorm would have a valid application in areas of education not directly related to media of any form. Moviestorm was adopted in a range of schools starting with children as young as nine. In some cases, students used Moviestorm directly in the classroom or for homework assignments; in other cases, teachers used Moviestorm to create video-based teaching resources.

The primary objective was to help learners to become more media literate. With the growth in video as form of communication, the teachers recognized the need for students to be able to understand and analyze video in the same way that they understand written communication. By encouraging students to present work in a video-based format, they develop a deep understanding of the medium. Video creation also becomes a useful life skill that can be applied in many different ways in both professional and personal contexts.

In addition, teachers wanted to find out whether the use of video in the classroom would help student engagement, both by making learning more fun, and by increasing retention of information.

Moviestorm was used in many different courses, including PSHE (Personal, social, health, and economic education, a required part of the UK curriculum covering a range of topics including citizenship, drug awareness, and sex education), folklore and mythology, languages, mathematics, history, geography and computing. It was also used for working with autistic and other disadvantaged children to give them an alternative to written work. Finally, some schools used Moviestorm to create school announcements, involving both pupils and teachers in the production process as an extra-curricular project.

As with the other groups of students discussed above, Moviestorm provided an attractive alternative to existing video or animation tools. Its simplicity and rapid production meant that all students could benefit and were able to create finished work, even at a very young age.

Results

Teachers and students at all ages and courses reported increased engagement. Students were more enthused about projects, and would spend longer on Moviestorm-based assignments because they enjoyed them. In some cases, teachers reported that this resulted in higher quality work and improved grades.

“The best thing about Moviestorm is that the children want to use it to learn about other subjects such as history and geography. It makes them want to learn and be creative.” (Alison Leaver, teacher, Spaldwick Primary School)

“Moviestorm just makes learning more interesting and fun – it makes us want to be creative! We have recently been studying a lot of history and it would be really good if we could create history movies and present them to the class.” (Emma, 10, Spaldwick Primary School)

“Moviestorm is an exciting alternative to existing animation software that is currently available. Its intuitive interface, richly textured environments and characters plus its fully functional directorial suite makes it an impressive tool for planning, directing and editing animated movies. My students are already discovering new ways to utilise Moviestorm for class assigments, choosing this over other presentation styles. Who wouldn’t want a fully made animated movie to communicate your understanding on a given subject? The tutorial support provided is a neat addition to an already impressive package.” (Steven Caldwell, MLC School, NSW, Australia)

“The students have loved the videos and there is a lot of laughter. The Moviestorm videos make a welcome change from the standard textbooks and CDs. I have found that the students are motivated not only by the movie lessons themselves but how the animations are made.” (Paul Carr, Sakuragaoka Junior and Senior High School, Japan)

“After creating the movie, the [autistic] student was “tickled pink” with the results and it gave him the chance to show his work with pride despite having a problem with presentation.” (Mark Fulcher, McGee Middle School, Tucson, Arizona)

“I created a video where a character was presenting the topic (drugs awareness) in front of relevant images and played that to the classroom. I could just as easily have done that in real life but somehow being on film meant that the content engaged the kids completely in a way that a simple classroom presentation couldn’t have done. A handy practical side effect is that it fixes the amount of time that the presentation will take – knowing that the video will use exactly 10 minutes means that I can plan the rest of the lesson more accurately. There are also really clear applications in areas such as languages and science that we’re keen to explore as a school.” (John West, Faringdon College, Oxford)

Examples

Paul Carr at Sakuragaoka Junior and Senior High School, Japan, used Moviestorm to teach English to students aged 11-18. He created videos to use as teaching materials. Students used these to increase oral comprehension and to stimulate conversation exercises. Some students created their own videos in English in the form of both narration and drama.http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/teaching/teaching_case_study_paul_carr

Mark Fulcher in Mcgee Middle School, Tucson, Arizona, assisted an autistic student in his wife’s class to present a class report on the history of rock’n’roll. The student felt unable to deliver the report in person or on video. Mark recorded the student’s report, and then helped him to create a video presenting this as an animated character. The student received an A+ grade.
http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/teaching/teaching_case_studies

Alison Leaver at Spaldwick Primary School used Moviestorm to help young children develop a range of computer skills. The pupils responded by suggesting a range of ways in which both students and teachers could use video in school, which demonstrated how comfortable they were with video-based education and assignments, and how quickly they adapted to the software.
http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/teaching/teaching_case_study_Spaldwick_Primary.html

Larkspur Middle School in Virginia used Moviestorm to create school announcements that were broadcast on screens throughout the school. These provided an entertaining alternative to text-based slides. Both students and teachers were involved in production, which helped to promote direct relations between school administrators and pupils.http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/teaching/education_lesson_plans/school-announcements

John West at Faringdon College, Oxford, uses Moviestorm to present sensitive topics such as drugs, alcohol, bullying and sexual awareness. He found that using video made it easier to address students, and they were more comfortable watching a video than listening to a teacher.
http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/teaching/teaching_case_study_john_west
Video: Natural Family Planning http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvOPaW0bYXM

Conclusions

Moviestorm can be demonstrated to have a beneficial effect in a wide variety of educational contexts. While the most obvious application is in film teaching, it is also relevant for both other media tuition and non-media subjects. The use of this technology gives students new skills, improves their media literacy, and stimulates them to put more effort into both solo homework assignments and collaborative classwork.

Further references

Free learning guides and e-books

Making Better Movies With Moviestorm series:

Vol 1: Camerawork http://cloud.moviestorm.co.uk/edu/ Making%20better%20movies%20with%20Moviestorm%20-%20Vol%201%20-% 20Basic%20Camerawork.pdf

Vol 2: Staging http://cloud.moviestorm.co.uk/edu/ Making%20better%20movies%20with%20Moviestorm%20-%20Vol%202%20-% 20Staging.pdf

Vol 3: Lighting and Sound http://cloud.moviestorm.co.uk/edu/ Making%20better%20movies%20with%20Moviestorm%20-%20Vol%203%20-% 20Sound%20and%20lighting.pdf

Moviestorm guide to previsualization http://cloud.moviestorm.co.uk/edu/ Moviestorm%20guide%20to%20previsualisation.pdf

Using Moviestorm to create storyboards http://cloud.moviestorm.co.uk/edu/ Using%20Moviestorm%20to%20create%20storyboards.pdf

Collaborative movie-making with Moviestorm – A guide for schools http://cloud.moviestorm.co.uk/edu/ Making%20Movies%20with%20Moviestorm%20-%20A%20guide%20for%20schools.pdf

Using Animation in Schools – A practical handbook for teachers http://cloud.moviestorm.co.uk/edu/ Using%20Animation%20in%20Schools%20-%20A%20practical%20handbook%20for%2 0teachers.pdf

Case studies

Film-based courses http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/student/student_case_studies.html

Other courses http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/teaching/teaching_case_studies

Downloadable lesson plans, teaching resources and lesson ideas

Index & full listing http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/teaching/education_lesson_plans

Storyboarding 1 http://cloud.moviestorm.co.uk/edu/MoviestormLessonPlan_Storyboarding_Lesson1.zip

Storyboarding 2 http://cloud.moviestorm.co.uk/edu/MoviestormLessonPlan_Storyboarding_Lesson2.zip

Narrative and Scripthttp://cloud.moviestorm.co.uk/edu/MoviestormLessonPlan_Narrative_And_Script.zip

Camerawork 1: shotshttp://cloud.moviestorm.co.uk/edu/MoviestormLessonPlan_Camerawork_Shots.zip

Camerawork 2: static v moving camerashttp://cloud.moviestorm.co.uk/edu/MoviestormLessonPlan_Camerawork_StaticVsMoving.zip

Articles

SecEd: using Moviestorm in the classroom (June 2011)http://cloud.moviestorm.co.uk/edu/Animating%20the%20Classroom_John%20West_Sec%20Ed.pdf

About Moviestorm

Moviestorm software is available for both Windows and Mac computers. Educational discounts are available, and a special edition, Moviestorm Schools, is available for younger students. Seehttp://www.moviestorm.co.uk/ for further details.