This is my short, stop-motion video I mentioned in the PLIX community call today:
I like to create short interludes between readings in our virtual storytime videos like this dancing Pete the Cat. My goal is to create fun, imaginary scenes featuring different areas of my library. Other examples are transforming our toddler area into a fish tank, giraffes hanging out in the children’s department, and a bird tweeting hearts to our library:
I currently use iMovie on a Macbook Pro to edit all of my videos. I also use an app on our iPad called DoInk for some green-screen layer touch ups. I screen record greenscreen motion backgrounds on YouTube and remix them to create scenes in my library. I’ve only screen recorded videos that state copyright free in their titles (however, there is no way for me to actually verify those claims).
Here are links to the storytime videos if anyone is interested in viewing them: https://youtu.be/aJvurLok6Ko https://youtu.be/t_aS0HBgsyo
Dave, thank you so much for sharing these! Fantastic work! I especially loved the breakdancing Pete, but I am astonished you could remove backgrounds in iMovie, as with the giraffes. It’s been a long time since I looked at that app!
Have you heard any comments from your patron families about these, by chance?
Thanks, Michelle!! iMovie has a green/blue screen feature that removes those color backgrounds pretty well. The iOS version of iMovie does not have that feature, though. I like iMovie but it is only possible to create one layer at a time, which makes for a time-consuming process to create these vids.
I haven’t had a whole lot of feedback from patrons yet. We did get a compliment on our FB page and a few of the regular storytime parents have visited the library to get the storytime take-home crafts and said they were excited to recreate the storytime experience at home.
Dave, this is really fun! Using these to break up the storytime sections is an inspired idea. I don’t have a Macbook Pro, but am using iMovie on an iPad, which loses a huge amount of the functionality. Not giving up on spinning off your awesome idea, but definitely going back to the drawing board to see what might be a more time-efficient video editing choice (without an impossible learning curve).
Thanks, Audrey!!
I should also say that the DoInk app for iPad I mentioned is good for editing short video clips because I’ve found that it crashes when rendering a video at 1080p longer than like 2 minutes (not sure about file size).
Virtual Storytime Activity w/ Video Template Download
I recently made a fun activity video for my virtual storytimes using the song “Jumping & Counting” by Jim Gill. I used to do this activity when we were still hosting face-to-face toddler storytimes. It’s so fun!!
I wanted to share these video templates I created so that storytime librarians everywhere could use them in their virtual programs. One video template includes jumping cartoon characters and the other video does not. This should make it easier to customize with your own green-screen/chroma-key videos.
So feel free to download, remix, and share! Jumping & Counting Video - Google Drive
And here is the original version of the video activity I used in my virtual storytime last week: https://youtu.be/TQL1lPBK_uA?t=561
Update:
I did get permission from Jim Gill to use his song for my virtual storytimes and he also said it was okay for me to share the video template+song with other librarians to use in their virtual storytimes. He did state that his permission for use will expire once the pandemic is over and specified that the videos should then be removed from the hosting sites/platforms. He also specified that his name and work be given a spoken citation (like any author & book title) in addition to having his name and song title appear on screen while the song is playing. I don’t know Jim Gill but I always hear great things about him. It’s pretty cool of him to grant that permission for use. Also, he said he liked my video!
