The iPad is a great learning tool and that includes being equipped with a brilliant camera. Just hold it steady and you can record high quality footage to help tell a story. When you’re ready to take your film to the next level, try editing using the iMovie app.
Any video you shoot using the iPad, automatically appears in iMovie, ready for you to edit. The basic controls are: tap to add photos or video; drag to trim clips; and slide to preview your entire project. You can even add themes to help set the mood for your video. There’s a travel theme for documenting the school trip or a colourful theme for the end of year summer party. In addition to the themes, there are also a number of fantastic transitions that seamlessly blend cuts in the footage to a Hollywood-like standard.
iMovie also gives you lots of ways to add a soundtrack to your videos. You can add background music, fun sound effects using the built-in library or import a song from iTunes. If you’d prefer to have pupils narrate the action directly, you simply use the microphone on the iPad and speak over the video as it’s playing.
One of the most fun features of iMovie is the trailers. This feature allows you to create a professional movie trailer that you’d expect to see at your local cinema. The app has 12 templates and they all convey a different theme, such as documentary, action and fairytale. Each one comes with customisable titles and even your own credits screen where you can add everyone that was involved. It’ll even tell you what kind of shot would work best in a particular scene.
Using iMovie in the Classroom
- Explaining a maths problem
- Summarising the main events in a book
- Describing the stages of plant growth
Nowadays, we film so much video and never really do anything with it. iMovie gives us professional editing features but in a way that we can understand. We can now edit the class play and have it beautifully displayed for all to see on our class blog. It motivates us to polish up our videos, and make them unforgettable.
Download iMovie on the App Store