Reaction to Group Video Project

I think having developing the screen shots was essential in building this project from the ground up.  Tina and I began with a concept then tried to tie different screen shots, along with live video into a project about how to apply to college. 
When shooting the video the first scene we took of Selwyn Hall on Albright's campus, I bet we shot 20 minutes worth.  I think we realized quickly that we'd only be using a few seconds of this shot, but wanted to be sure we had the right video.  The incoming darkness made us move quicker on the next shots and we quickly realized that we didn't need nearly as much video for each shot.  We also shot it in the order of slides, which saved time with editing and allowed us to visualize it along the way.

We had decided from the beginning that doing video with live sound was going to require many more takes, so we decided to do voice-overs, which absolutely was the correct way to go for this project.  It also allowed us to learn how to seprately combine audio and video into the project.  The editing was actually the easiest part.  With screen shots, we created a minute and a half video that used audio, video, and web images.

What I would change was probably to add some sound to the beginning.  We couldn't find a lot of sound that we felt went with the video, so we opted not to do it.  If we had more time, I woudl have liked to play around with that.  I'd also focus less time on shooting, and only spend a few minutes at each shot. 

As far as does it work in the classroom?  I don't know.  I know how much planning teachers have outside of teaching, so I doubt many would have the time to create things for their classes.  In regards to studentds doing it, I think it has some value.  It likely gets them motivated and more involved than any other type of project.  You just need to see if your school has the technology needed for this.  It is a good way to develop theirt usage of technology, as well as project management, and group work.

I think regarding Foreign Languages, it would be interesting to have kids create a video, speaking in a Foreign Langauge, then using the scrolling marquee at the bottom to almost use subtitles for the English translation.  It would teach the kids the technology piece, give them experience speaking the foreign langauge, and also seeing the translation into English.