Behind the Screens: Movie making for kids

As parents (and especially as parents trying to maintain social distancing) it is easy to worry that our kids are spending too much time in front of their screens. One way to combat this is to get them to use those devices creatively – to get behind the screens! What I am talking about is movie making for kids. Phones and tablets provide all the technology needed your child to become a film maker.

Making movies is not only fun but is a truly enriching activity for kids of a wide variety of ages. The process requires lots of creativity. Coming up with stories and scripts provides writing opportunities and working out lighting, sounds, and other details encourages technical problem solving. If kids are working in a group, they will have to give and/or follow instructions and the process fosters cooperation.

When deciding to make a movie you must start with an idea. Your story should have a beginning, a middle and an end. Think about what kind of problem your character(s) will have to overcome. Once you know your story, you should make a list of your characters and come up with your script. It is also helpful to plot out your story in scenes. Decide what scenes you will have and what you need for each. Writing and drawing all of this is called making a storyboard. Finally, you will want to gather up the props and costumes needed.

There is more than one way to actually make your movie. If you have enough actors, you can do a live-action movie. If you do not have actors, another option is a stop motion movie. Stop motion means you use things you have, like LEGOs or action figures, as your characters and props. You can also make your characters out of clay. This way is called claymation. You take photos or short clips moving the items slightly each time. Putting all the shots together makes an animated movie. You can also do stop motion animation with drawings, making the drawing slightly different in each shot. Here’s a link to an example of some stop motion short movies put together by my 12-year-old.

The only technology you need to make simple movies is a phone, tablet, or computer. If you are doing a short, simple film that can be done in a single shot, all you need is your device’s camera. If you want to put together multiple scenes and edit your movie, you will need to use some movie making software. There are many free options. Your phone or computer may have come with movie making software already, such as iMovie, iMotion (for stop motion) or Windows Movie Maker. Some other free apps and software include Magisto, Wondershare FilmoraGo, and Splice.

So, tell your kids to unleash their inner Steven Spielberg and get using the technology creatively! Lights, camera, action!

- by Christine C. Hopewell Branch