6 Word/Shot Story - ELA

 

This post was created to help create powerful 6 Word Stories.

How do you tell a whole story in just six words? 

Example - Google: How to fly an airplane? or Watching radar. Sleeping in. Cozy Day.

The assignment requires you to:

• create a video that is 60 or less seconds
• no words are spoken
• six words must appear in the video
• use symbols, images, music to communicate the message
• use multiple angle and lighting techniques

Example Videos

We watched the video to find examples of how they used lighting and symbols to tell the story.

How did the lighting and symbols help tell the story?

The band of trust between Dad and Keith.

The other labeled bricks leave some wondering. 

A wide establishing shot.

A fantastic angle, close to the bricks so you can see all the way down the line.

A great example of symbolism, the breaking of trust.

A wide shot at an angle.

The cascade of lies. One leads to the next.

A close up of the bricks.

It falls off the table leaving some wondering of what is next.

The trust between Dad and Keith, is it broken forever?

They use of angles, sounds and lighting are unique.

Over the shoulder to establish what the subject is doing. The task lighting is helping you focus.

The lights go out with a big crash of thunder. Lighting and the sound effect makes it more dramatic.

If you are not allowed to speak, let your face tell the story. The scene is very shallow due to the lighting.

The sounds of the door opening with the outline makes it dramatic.

Six words with tons of meaning.

Six words most people can relate to.

The first words appear as they wide pan to the right.

Pan up to the student and the flag pole.

A slow zoom down a long hallway to display something we can all relate to.

A wide shot showing the emptiness of the café.

End of the day. The sun and exit signs point towards the end of the day.

Planning

We created this graphic organizer to help you plan your shots. If you plan your shots your workload is lighter and the end product is much better.

Editing

All high school teachers and students have access to the premium version of WeVideo. Your teacher will give you the code if you have not already activated your account. In this section we will highlight a few ideas on how to edit on your Chromebook. While you can do this on a mobile device the screenshots below are from a browser.

You must use your school Google account when you log into WeVideo to get the premium version.

Prior to importing your clips, create a Drive folder. This folder is where you should upload all your videos. It will make the whole editing process much faster. Please make sure you name your folder something easy to remember like ELA Video 22.

Importing

I am assuming you have already shot all your videos on your mobile device.

Pro Tip - Name and number your video clips in Drive before editing them. This will make editing a snap saving you time and effort.

Open the camera roll on your mobile device. Select your images and click Share.

Select Drive.

Find your Drive folder. Make sure all your files and selected. Click Save.

Check notifications. Make sure it shows you are uploading all the files you selected. Every once in a while it will only upload one of the selected videos.

Basic Editing

You must log in with your school Google account.

Click Projects on the left side.

Click the plus symbol in the upper right.

1. Fill in the blanks. Be super specific.

2. Click Collaborative.

3. Click Next.

Choose Invite with link, then click Next.

Click Next.

1. Copy and share the link.

2. Click Create Video.

Importing Your Clips from Drive

Click Import.

Click the Drive icon.

1. Shift + Click to select all your clips.

2. Click Select to begin the import process.

The import process will take a few seconds to a few minutes. When they are fully imported images will replace the blue square.

Start Editing the Imported Clips

Drag the clips in order to the Video 1 track.

Trimming and Adjusting Clips

To trim, or split, a clip move the play head into position.

Click the scissors.

To delete, click and hit backspace or delete on your keyboard.

Double click on a video clip.

Click the 1/2 circle icon along the top row.

You can adjust the color of a clip to add needed effects.

Click Save Changes.

Adding Transitions

If you want the clips to immediately appear one after the next, do not add a transition. If you are looking to softly move from clip to clip, keep reading.

1. Click Transitions on the far left.

2. Drag one in-between two clips. Transitions can only be added between clips.

Double click on the transition to edit it. Most often people adjust the duration.

Adding Audio - Music and Sound Effects

1. Click Audio.

2. Search for a theme - like sad.

3. Click a clip that looks interesting.

4. You will hear the clip play, use the controls to pause/play.

5. Like what you hear? Drag it to the Audio track. You can trim the audio just like you did with the video.

To add a sound effect.

1. Click the plus symbol to add Audio Track 2.

2. Search for a sound you want to add.

3. Drag it to the timeline and line it up to where you want it to appear.

Adding Images

1. Click Images on the far left.

2. Search for an emotion. Find the image and drag it to the timeline.

Adding Text

1. Click Text.

2. Choose the text style you want to use.

3. Be mindful, not all text will work well with your clip. Make sure you can see it well.

4. Drag it to the text section of the timeline.

1. Double clicking will open the editing section. Edit the text.

2. Make sure you can see it on your video.

4. Click Save Changes.

Black & White

To change a clip to black and white, start by clicking the clip. Then select FX.

1. Click Black & White.

2. Click Apply.

If you want to really spice it up, double click and adjust. You can a real layer of grunge to the clip. Don't forget to click Save Changes at the bottom.

Publishing

1. Click Finish.

1. Name your project.

2. Click Set.

1. Leave it set to SD, it will save you time.

2. Select Drive.

3. Click Export. You will receive an email when the process is completed.

Be advised... sometimes publishing can take more than a few minutes. It is not a good idea to wait until just before the project is due to publish it, there might not be enough time.

Need More Help?

Check out the WeVideo YouTube channel. 

Other great examples can be found on real estate websites. Selling a home is kinda like shooting a documentary. There are a ton of great examples, especially how they use text to highlight the best parts of a room. 

WeVideo created this page to help answer some of the most common questions and issues.