Animoto Book Trailers
Created by Stacy Kitsis, Arlington High School Librarian. Last updated: May 4, 2016.
How to Create an Animoto
Style (choose a theme and music)
Create (add pictures and text)
Produce (render and share your video)
This process will go very quickly if you storyboard your ideas and find and download your images in advance. Don't forget to write citations for those pictures!
Note: You only get 30 seconds, or about SIX slides, with the free version of Animoto so plan accordingly!!
How to Make an Awesome Animoto Book Trailer
Check out these tips from the Animoto blog for making your book trailer the best:
A beginning, middle, and end: In short, just like a movie trailer, a book trailer needs a story. The beginning sets the stage — perhaps introducing the characters or setting the tone of the book. The middle introduces the twist or complication. The ending tells people where they can buy your book.
A concise script: Since you only have 30 to 60 seconds to grab a potential reader’s attention — that’s the length I recommend — the script is crucial. All the words and images have to count, moving your trailer’s short story forward. You don’t need a voiceover, because using words on the screen is very effective. Just make sure that the phrases explain enough without being wordy — and without giving too much away. It’s great practice to write a summary of your book in a short sentence, too.
A tone that reflects your book: Combining one of Animoto’s themes with music from their library makes it fun to create a trailer that reflects your book’s tone. Is it a suspenseful thriller? An uplifting romance? A how-to nonfiction book? Try different blends of themes and music until you capture the feeling you want your book to evoke in the reader.
Appropriate images and/or video: With Animoto, it’s easy to create exciting videos with still photographs. In addition to your book cover, you’ll probably need a few — but not many — images or video clips to help illustrate your book trailer’s story: maybe an image the shows someone resembling your main character or the setting. Whatever you use, make sure you own the rights, or consider purchasing stock imagery whose license allows commercial usage.
Source: 4 Elements of an Awesome Animoto Book Trailer
Project Resources
Animoto Book Trailer Unit (storyboard and other planning docs)
Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes (sample book trailer)
Beauty Shop for Rent (sample book trailer)
Finding Copyright Friendly Images
Did you know that YOU are a copyright holder? According to US law, you automatically hold the copyright to papers you write, pictures you take, and so on. But what if you want to make it okay for other people to use those images, words, or sounds? That's where Creative Commons licensing comes in. It's not about what you can't do, but what you can.
For this project, we recommend using the advanced search feature in Flickr to search for Creative Commons content:
Just conduct any search to see these filtering options or go straight to the advanced search page.
These sites provide more information and resources for copyright friendly media:
Creative Commons Search (includes music sites!)
Picture Collection Online (New York City Public Library)
Remember, all of these images still need to be attributed! But this way, you can publish your amazing book trailer online without getting in trouble.
Citing Images
Do I need a works cited page? Absolutely. You need to give credit for the images you use, even if they are Creative Commons licensed. Create a works cited page in Google Docs and make it visible to anyone with the link. Then when you produce your Animoto video, paste the link to your works cited into the notes field so anyone watching your video can see your sources.
How do I write an MLA citation for a Flickr photo? Here's MLA format for a photograph:
Last, First M. Photograph Title. Year Created. Photograph. Museum/Institution, Location. Website Title. Web. Date Month Year Accessed.
Here's a sample of a finished citation:
Butterfield, Stewart. Library. 2006. Photograph. Flickr. Web. 31 May 2016. <https://www.flickr.com/photos/stewart/99129170/>
There is no museum or institution for Flickr photos, so we leave that part out.
Help, I don't know the name of the artist? If the real name is not provided, use the Flickr username. Keep the capitalization used on Flickr. Here's another sample:
dilettantiquity. Stockholms Stadsbibliotek. 2013. Photograph. Flickr. Web. 31 May 2016. <https://www.flickr.com/photos/flyingblogspot/15361704293/>
But mine is a huge ugly link! What do I do? Don't worry, we got this. Take a look at this Flickr link I just copied from the address bar:
Yuck! This URL includes some other metadata ... probably relating to how I accessed the photo, what size is displayed, etc, etc. You can actually shorten it for your works cited entry and it will still work. The part I highlighted above is all you actually need:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jdhancock/15455219752/
Cut it off after the directory and number designating the specific photo. How do you know you did it right? Copy and paste the link back into your browser and make sure it takes you where you meant to go. Be sure to double-check, since we can't guarantee that all Flickr links are created the same!
Questions, comments, concerns? Email me at skitsis@arlington.k12.ma.us.