Get started with film production by making an engaging and creative movie-style trailer (video) for a book that you have read.
Steps:
1. Pick a book
Try to pick a book that you both love and that you think you can summarize in a paragraph or two.
2. Create a “Planning Script”
A planning script with help you boil down the book into important parts that will help tell and show the story.
You’ll need to think about:
Tone of the book
Themes in the story
Music
Images/video
Plot
Narration (if needed)
On-screen text
Special effects
Use the Adobe’s Planning Script PDF for Video Book Trailers PDF to help in planning your trailer (in Resources).
3. Create a text-based or visual storyboard.
The storyboard is like a map for the trailer. It's a chance for you to think about what you are going to show in your trailer.
Use the Adobe’s Storyboard for Video Book Trailers PDF to help you create a storyboard (in Resources).
4. Gather all your “assets”
This means you need to shoot any video that you need, plus find and save any video clips from a copyright-free video clip or archive video site. You’ll also gather any music, photos or sound effects that you will need for the video.
Some options for free copyright-free images and videos include Pexels, Pixabay and Unsplash. For images about space, try NASA, the Hubble Space Telescope, or the Jet Propulsion Laboratory sites. They all permit use of their footage without permissions.
For music, you can try Bensound, YouTube’s audio library, Audionatix sites, or make up your own!
5. Pick a video editing application. The most popular and free applications are:
Adobe Rush
You can download it for just about any kind of computer or mobile device. It has a free starter plan that allows you to export 3 videos. If you have an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, there are unlimited exports.
Apple iMovie
Available for Macs and iOS devices (phones, iPads), free
If you already know how to edit with another editing software, you can use that.
6. Refer to your Planning Script and Storyboard to edit your Video Book Trailer together.
The trailer should about 2 minutes long. Use the Planning Script and Storyboard to guide you. It should tell the basic story of the book.
Don’t forget to add titles, including the ones on your Storyboard, and music in the background.
7. When you have all the pieces together, export the video and save it as an MP4 or MOV video. If you have a YouTube channel, upload it there and share it with your friends!
Resources:
Student examples:
Code Talker: https://youtu.be/zf2J0ibrXks
The Maze Runner: https://youtu.be/ARwZ_pjdCqM
The Lightning Thief: https://youtu.be/Fh-e7LTJ6Sk
Handouts:
Adobe’s Planning Script PDF for Video Book Trailers PDF to help in planning your trailer
Adobe’s Storyboard for Video Book Trailers PDF to help you create a storyboard
by Laurie Ralston