From Jay Cut to We Video

I'm sure there are many of you out there that are upset that Jay Cut was taken off the internet just as I was. This year, at ISTE in Atlanta, I was introduced to Bjørn Rustberggaard, the co-founder of We Video. This is a free web based movie making program that is easy to use. There is a catch...in order to use the green screen effect, you must have a paid subscription. It may seem that $250 for 50 licenses is a lot, but it is worth every penny. I am an avid Mac user and use iMovie a lot in my classroom. I have been having trouble, lately, because my classroom computers are getting older so iMovie freezes sometimes. I am switching to We Video! Now you don't have to assign your students to specific machines to do movie making. Your students can work on their movies anywhere, anytime.  So rest in peace Jay Cut and welcome to the world We Video.

Greenscreen in Miniature

DEN Star, Conni Mulligan has downsized the idea of green screening in to a miniature version.  This teacher has taken her passion with puppets and brought it into the classroom. She has her students create hand, finger and stick puppets, then use them to tell a story on camera. What does she use as a green screen you ask? She uses pizza boxes, tri-fold boards, cardboard boxes, whatever she can. She then covers them in green contact paper, green felt or even green construction paper. Her students learn the idea of movie making without getting in front of the camera.
Check out her website at: http://conni-workshops.wikispaces.com/Green+Screen+in+Miniature

Green Screening On A Shoesring Budget

Shawn Westcott presented Tuesday about green screening. He shared his passion for teaching and explained ways of using this technique in the classroom. He showed examples and explained about the quality of the screen and the lighting. He showed the use of greenscreening using Photobooth. He showed how to set the background in Photobooth and gave us a sample. He then talked about iMovie and I was able to aid him in the sample by reading the script. Shawn showed us how to edit in iMovie and enable the green screen effect. This was a great presentation. Feel free to check out his Moodle or visit him on the PETE&C Ning.

There Is An App For That!

There are a few apps in the iTunes store for green screening.  The best one I've used is Green Screen by DoInk and it is $2.99. You can also load DoInk Animation and Drawing for $4.99. With this program you can add animations to your  DoInk green screen video.

Another is called, "Green Screen Studio".  It is $2.99.  This app only does pictures.  You can use the backgrounds it gives you or use your own background that you save into your picture album. Once you choose a background, you just rub away the old background and the new one appears.  It gets a little difficult around the edges, but it's fun to use.

Another is called, "Green Screen Movie FX". It is $1.99.  I haven't tried this one out yet, but will real soon.  This one allows video, as well as, pictures.  There is a tutorial on you tube, so check it out.

The PC Blues, or Greens If You Will

Okay, so I wanted to throw my borrowed PC onto a fire pit today.  I was very frustrated at Windows Movie Maker, because I couldn't get the chroma key to work.  I asked many experts, me being at PETE&C in Hershey, and they all told me that chroma key sometimes works and most of the time it doesn't in Movie Maker.  Through my hours of frustration, my friend, Jan A, puts Adobe Premier Elements on the PC.  This program has the best of Jay Cut and the best of iMovie all in one!  It takes about 10 seconds to learn how to chroma key!  Love it!!

Trouble With Windows 7 and Chroma Key

Although I am a Mac person, I am trying to learn how to do green screening on a PC.  My husband and daughter have PC's with Windows 7.  I sat down at my computer and researched how to use the chroma key feature in Windows Live Movie Maker (Windows 7) and ran into a little snag.  It seems that when Microsoft went from Vista to Windows 7, they changed many of the features.  You can't do green screening with the new version. 
Solution: Download the old Vista version on your Windows 7 machine.  I found in a Movie Maker forum a blogger named Blaine who explains what to do.

Yoostar Green Screen

No need to go out and get a cheap green screen out of cheap fabric or a green shower curtain then have to figure out how to mount it somewhere in your classroom.  There is Yoostar!

Check on ebay for the better deals!  It is made for PC users but can be adjusted for Mac users.  If you have Photobooth, the camera works.