1) What went well or not well?
This was another very frustrating project for me. In all, I spent 8 hours working to create a three-minute book trailer. When I was finished, the product didn't seem much better or different than that which I could have created using programs like Smilebox or Animoto (i.e., a fancy slideshow). Because I had never made a digital movie before, I had no experience with this type of software. I found that iMovie was very touchy, in that it was sometimes difficult to highlight what I wanted or move the intended object without affecting other items. I also had problems (as did at least two of my classmates) with the program not saving text changes that I made. When I uploaded the file to YouTube, it would play a version that did not match what I saw on the screen. I also had trouble editing a music clip using the tools included in iMovie. Despite these complaints, I am grateful for the experience of working with this program because I now have a better sense than I did before of what's involved in producing a digital movie.
2) How will you use this tool in your professional practice and/or instruction with students?
Even with the problems I had with this project, I know that students and teachers alike can do great work with this program and others like it; I just need to learn the skills to be able to use it more effectively so I can use it as a teaching tool. In my future classroom, given student access to computers and appropriate software, I can see myself creating assignments that ask students to make live-action videos to share with the class, such as a dramatic reenactment of a scene from a play we're reading. I might use this as an assignment that everyone must partake in, or it could be an alternative option for creative students who like less traditional work. To avoid worries about copyright and fair use, I would expect students to create live-action videos with original content instead of slideshows with images taken from other sources.
3) What will you do differently next time?
If I work with iMovie again, I will come prepared with a music sample that has already been edited to the needed length and I will come prepared with a larger amount of patience. I would also want to work in another program, such as a PC-based application, to see how it compares to using iMovie. Since many schools will not have fully-equipped Mac labs available, I think it would be important to have familiarity with a variety of programs that do similar work. I would also want to work with video clips, instead of still images, to learn how to edit and manipulate them into a finished project.
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