Book+Trailers

=Creating Book Trailers using Photostory 3=

What is a Book Trailer?
You know what a movie trailer is, right? You sit in the theater, anxiously awaiting your movie to start. But the first 15 minutes or so are "advertisements" for upcoming films. These are called movie trailers, and their purpose is to introduce you to the main characters of the movie, along with the exciting things the characters do in the movie, leaving you wanting to come back and watch the show when it comes out.

Book trailers are the exactly the same. But instead of advertising a movie, they tell you about a book. Some book trailers are produced by book publishers and look exactly like a movie trailer. Here is an example of a great one for a book called //Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.// media type="youtube" key="XWrNyVhSJUU" height="315" width="560" align="center"

Since most schools don't have professional movie making capabilities, student produced book trailers are a little simpler. However, the basic elements that they contain remain the same: an introduction to the main charcters, the setting (where and when in time the story takes place), and the main conflict or problem the characters face in the story. Of course, it wouldn't be complete without the title and author of the book mentioned. In fact, a picture of the cover is almost always included in the book trailer.

The trailer should leave the viewer wanting to read the book. You need to leave them wanting more-so don't tell them everything that happens. Movie makers also use music to create the mood of the book-frightening, adventurous, romantic, dangerous. Music should not have words to it as that detracts from the story you are trying to tell in your movie.

Here is an example of a student-produced book trailer using a program called Photostory 3. media type="custom" key="12014981" align="center"

Required Elements in a Book Trailer:

 * 1) The title of the book and the name of the author. Including a picture of the cover of the book is always recommended as well.
 * 2) Introduce the main characters of the book. A picture representing what you think the main character would look like would be great. Be sure to include the main character's name--it's not just about "a boy".
 * 3) Information about the problem the main character has in the book. Solving the problem is often the main thing that happens in a book. Books often have lots of problems, so focus on the problem that starts the book off.
 * 4) If the setting is critical to the book, make sure you have pictures representing the setting. Is it a future world? A different culture? A story that takes place in a big city or in the country? Your picture should give us an idea of what we can expect.
 * 5) Music will set the mood of your book trailer. Make sure that if the story is exciting, that the music is, too. The music should reflect the book as much as possible.

Additional Resources:
Here are some resources that will help you as you work on your book trailer.

Digital Booktalk website has lots of student created book trailers that you can watch for more ideas on what should go into a good book trailer. Book Trailers for Readers also has lots of sample book trailers to get ideas from Naomi Bates blog gives some good information on the steps you will need to use to create a great book trailer. How to use PhotoStory 3 to make a book trailer. Copyright Friendly Images and Resources has lots of links to images that are not protected by copyright Video Tutorial on how to use PhotoStory 3 Google Images is an excellent resource for pictures media type="file" key="PhotoStory1.wmv" width="300" height="300" media type="youtube" key="m0luFs4g8Ro" height="315" width="420"

olid Backgrounds for text slides:
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Photostory 3 Download link (In case it isn't installed on your computer)