iMovie: The Perfect Way To End The School Year

iMovie for the iPad is a fun, engaging and relatively intuitive app. It can be used by teachers and students in all content areas and grade levels to create movies or trailers. Movies allow you to combine videos, photos and music to make your own movie from scratch. Trailers, on the other hand, provide you with a template to follow which allows you to create a “Hollywood style” movie trailer. June is the perfect time to introduce your students to iMovie. The integration of the app will keep students motivated and excited to show what they know. Best of all, they will be using technology in the classroom for academic purposes, rather than be distracted by it.

Trailers Vs. Movies: What’s the Difference? There are 14 different styles of trailers to choose from, ranging from 59 seconds to 1 minute and 34 seconds. Some of the themes include “Adrenaline,” “Bollywood,” “Coming of Age,” and “Expedition.”

iMovie trailer options

After selecting a theme, iMovie provides you with an outline as well as a storyboard. The outline allows you to name your movie, identify your cast of characters, and list film credits. The storyboard also allows you to write the captions for the story and add photos or videos, frame by frame. Trailers also come with preset music based on the theme selected (music in a trailer cannot be changed). The result is a high quality, professional looking trailer. An advantage of using a trailer is that it provides an effective way for students to plan their iMovie projects. So, if it is your students’ first time trying an iMovie project, you may want to consider having them start with a trailer. On the other hand, creating an iMovie from scratch gives students total and complete creative freedom. Photos, videos, and audio can be completely customized and movies can be longer and more in-depth. When your students are ready to begin filming, be sure to share with them our previous iMovie filming tips post.

Outline of an iMovie trailer

Storyboard of an iMovie trailer

Saving and Sharing iMovies

To save a finished iMovie, you simply return back to the main screen and the movie will be saved under “projects.” If you want to save the movie to your camera roll, you tap the sharing button and select save video. From this same area, you can share your iMovie via email, Facebook, Youtube, Vimeo, and CNN iReport.

Sharing options with iMovie

Why Students Love iMovie and Examples for the Classroom

Many students like iMovie because it is simple to use, but as stated earlier, it’s FUN. Students learn basic video production and editing skills through creating iMovies. Some students may be motivated to learn additional types of video production applications such as Sony Vegas and Final Cut Pro. Students also use creativity, critical thinking, and get to collaborate with their classmates when creating iMovie projects. So, why not finish the year with a project your students will love? If you teach History, students can create iMovies about significant historical people or events. English teachers could have students create promotional iMovie trailers based on books they’ve read throughout the year. Science students could create iMovies about a wide variety of topics including DNA, cell structure, the periodic table of elements, famous scientists, the skeletal system, and more. Think you can’t use iMovie in math classes? Think again. Here’s a project that uses iMovie to explain the lines of symmetry. Foreign language students can use iMovie to create trailers promoting American films in other countries. iMovie can be used to create infomercials, how-to demonstration videos, public service announcements, and more. Give your students the option to use iMovie and see what creative ideas they can come up with on their own.

A Brief iMovie Tutorial

Below is a walk through of how to use some of the basic features in iMovie. As always, Help Desk students are available for hands-on demonstrations and training sessions on iMovie for students and teachers. Please contact Mrs. Scheffer to arrange for a classroom visit, or you can come to the Help Desk for one on one assistance.