Book Trailer Wokshop: Planning Stage

Step 1: Read a book

Step 2: Outline information about the book (See: "What could/should you Include" below)

Step 3: Make a VISUAL plan – How will you present your book? What images will you show? In what order? What words will you say or show on the screen? You need a plan – Use a Storyboard handout to sketch out your plan

Step 4: Collect what you need – images, a song or two for your sound track, etc.

****Save these to your H Drive along with the hyperlink to the file.

Step 5: Edit it all together into a new video in Movie Maker

Step 6: EDIT, EDIT, EDIT

Step 7: be sure to have a frame for credits at the end (where did you get all your images/music from?

Use this template to record all of your planning. This must be complete before you move on to the creating stage.

Here is an example of a working storyboard.

The first step in creating a book trailer is pre-planning. This stage is very important so that all your elements come together seamlessly.

You trailer must be between one minute and two minutes long (minimum) so it is essential that you pull many elements together to meet the desired time criteria. While meeting the time allotment is important, there are many important aspects to think about to make a good trailer.

Consider the following:

1. What will you focus on through your trailer (theme)?

2. What visuals (symbolism) will you use to develop the theme/feel for your trailer?

***you must use free sources for all your visuals/music

3. What text will you have on each slide? What will best suit the mood of the book/trailer?

4. What transitions will be best for your trailer and how will you incorporate them/?

5. How will you put in the the book, author and the book cover without breaching copy right?

What should you include in your book trailer?

• The book title & author’s name
• the genre fantasy, mystery, science fiction, historical fiction, adventure, realistic fiction, etc. & is it non-fiction/fiction?
• the problem the main character has to overcome (the main conflict)

***DO NOT provide too many details as this will create a SPOILER

• summarize a few details about the action of the novel (3-4 sentences; NO SPOILERS!)
• What was your favorite part of the book, or a connection you personally made to the story or characters?
• at least THREE descriptive adjectives to describe the book (not a vague “interesting”)
• What books are similar to this one (“If you liked x, y, z, then you’ll like this book!”)?
• essentail or mportant quotes from the book
• What would be a good song, or good music to play with your book trailer?
• What could be a tagline for your book?
  • Armageddon (1998) "Earth. It was fun while it lasted."
  • Dumb and Dumber (1994) "For Harry and Llyod, every day is a no-brainer."
  • Finding Nemo (2003) "There are 3.7 trillion fish in the ocean. they're looking for one."
  • I Am Legend (2007) "The last man on Earth is not alone."
  • The Matrix (1999) "Reality is a thing of the past."
  • Office Space (1999) "Work sucks."
  • Alien vs. Predator (2004) "Whoever wins, we lose."

Your last two frames should include:

  1.  Your name(s) & year & class completed for
  2. Source(s) for the photos & audio you used, name of the song and singer, etc.

****Be sure that you trailer is between 1 to 2 min. in length!!!!