Be The Star of Your Own Show

Who doesn’t like to be the star of their own show? Most children I have met love to watch themselves “on film” over and over and over. A great activity is to create a short film and let them be the stars. With the wide availability of digital cameras and their video capabilities this can be a pretty entertaining activity for even older children/teenagers. My nieces will spend hours prepping scripts and props and then recording their short film (usually in one take, so they do not have to edit.) It keeps them entertained, gets their brains working and they always love the results!

This is our 1st short film we created and it definitely will not be our last. I captured no more than 3 minutes of video and edited (with software already on my computer) down to 1 minute. If you want to do it all in one take to avoid editing, everyone always enjoys bloopers!

What You Need:

• A digital camera or camcorder
• Actors and actresses
• Props (optional)
• A script/plan (we used a nursery rhyme)
• Editing software (optional)

Directions:

Step 1: Gather your actors and actresses and discuss what you are going to do. Let them gather props they think they need.

Step 2: Practice it once or twice or a lot if you want it perfect. My little ones did not have a lot of patience, so they did it once and then I recorded them right there (personality and all).

Step 3: Lights. Camera. Action.

Step 4: If you would like to edit (cut parts out) it there are usually programs on your computer and sites like One True Media make it pretty easy to edit, too.

Step 5: Have fun. I love hearing them giggle every time they watch this film.

Enjoy!