Movie making is about making a story come to life on screen. There are different types of movie making: Documentary, which is story telling about real life; Drama, which is fictional story telling or a story based on reality, but changed or exaggerated; and experimental, which is usually based on a concept, theme or idea. (Often there is no story line or narrative in these films and they can be very abstract visually.)

What is a Public Service Announcement???

A Public Service Annoucement (PSA) is essentially a mini-movie or commercial.

A Public Service Announcement, or PSA, is typically a 30 to 60 second video (we’re giving you 90 seconds). Its goal is to persuade an audience to take a specific action or adopt a particular viewpoint on a cause or social issue. This may seem short, but think about what TV commercials can communicate in 30 seconds!

You’ll need some special equipment to do this project

Required Equipment:

• MiniDV digital video camera OR HD Digital Camcorder (harddrive) OR Digital Camera with a Memory Card  (SD or XD)

• MiniDV tapes OR Memory card (1 or 2 GB)

• Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2, (which includes Movie Maker 2.1) OR Windows 2000 with earlier versions of Movie Maker OR other video editing software

• FireWire OR USB port on your computer 

Recommended accessories for camera (not essential):

• Tripod
• Wide-angle lens
• Spare battery
• On-camera light (Many cameras and camcorders do not have this feature. You can use natural lighting or a bright lamp )

Recommended accessories for computer (not essential):

• External USB (Universal Serial Bus) hard disk drive
• DVD burner with writeable DVD media
• Headphones

The link below provides examples of required equipment: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/getstarted/whatyouneed.mspx

For the most current version of movie maker, the follow this link (view system requirements before downloading): http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/moviemaker2.mspx

Use this link to help assist you with using Movie Maker: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/getstarted/default.mspx

There are three phases of movie making:

1. pre-production
2. production
3. post-production

Pre-production:

• Decide on a script, story line or theme for yourvideo. Write out your idea on paper and then plan out what scenes or shots you will need to tell your story effectively. You can create storyboards to help you with this. Think about all the different types of camera shots you’ll need to make your movie interesting visually i.e. close-ups, wide angles, shooting the same subject from different angles etc. When developing a story idea, it’s best to stick with something very simple for your first attempt. Remember - you only have 90 seconds to tell your story. A complex story takes much longer to tell!
• If you are interviewing people for your documentary style video, prepare your questions in advance.
• Organize: props, actors costumes (if needed), shooting location or locations.
• Get permission/waiver or release forms from people appearing on camera.** Arrange times for interviewing people or shooting a particular scene.
• Rehearse any scenes involving actors.
• Develop a shooting schedule, if needed.
• Assign roles to each person on your team i.e.

  Writer: creates the story for the screen.

  Director: responsible for telling the story in a way that is visually clear and interesting and is in charge of camera crew, actors etc.

  Camera/lighting person: responsible for operating the camera (lighting if necessary) and making sure, along with the director, that he/she gets the shots needed to tell the story well.

  Producer: responsible for the overall communication, organization and supervision of all the video preparations.

  Editor: responsible for putting together the individual shots to tell the story, so that it makes sense and is interesting to watch.

  ** Recording video of club members can be a sensitive matter. Waivers must be provided for anyone appearing on camera, and please respect the individuals that cannot be recorded. There are lots of off-camera ways to be involved: ie: script writing/ lighting / editing/ and or directing.

Production:

• Make sure your equipment is working and camera batteries are fully charged before you go out on your shoot.
• Go on location, set up equipment and “block the scene” (i.e. pretend to shoot each scene without rolling the camera). Then, if necessary, rehearse with actors etc. before shooting and then shoot your video. 
• Make sure the location is safe and close to resources such as bathrooms, phones and food. Limit your locations to three or four for this length of film
• Once you have all the shots you need to make your movie, prepare for editing

Post-Production:

• Edit the video together using computer and a film/video editing program such as Microsoft’s Movie Maker
• Choose and add sound such as voice-over and/or music
• Burn a CD ROM of completed video and Submit it to Digital Arts Contest
• Hold screening of the movie for friends
• Have a wrap party

More great tips can be found on everything from script writing to making a soundtrack at: http://www.cbc.ca/theoutlet/writeascript.html

For tips on lighting your shoot, go to: http://video.about.com/desktopvideo/Lighting--Three-Simple-Setups.htm

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