Tabletop Moviemaking equips participants with a relevant set of 21st century technology skills by centering the experience on media rich hardware and software. Tabletop Moviemaking seeks to engage the creative authoring capacities of today’s young people by using digital video.
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Tabletop Moviemaking uses freely available digital video editing programs on both Apple and PC computer systems along with consumer level digital video and digital still cameras.
Tabletop Moviemaking is a project-based approach to teaching media rich authoring skills using digital video. Whether it is the basics of camera work, or the process of trimming and sequencing clips, they are learning the necessary skills that will help them produce and share their movie.
Participants are exposed to camera skills and digital video editing in the context of producing their Tabletop movies. This is a tremendous advantage in transferring skills because participants internalize what they need to know in order to get the job done. The technical problems they encounter and solve are a means to an end to help them create their movie.
There are three versions of the same sample movie on the DVD, and each version uses different levels of camera work to help tell the story. The aim is to provide a visual reference for important vocabulary used for shooting a movie. The video below is an excerpt from the explanation of camera work used in the Intermediate movie.