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Windows 10 embraces its movie-making roots, bringing storytelling to life with a new app Windows Story Remix that takes the place of the old favorite Moviemaker. Although not due out until later this year, Windows Story Remix boasts some features that should get educators excited. Let’s do a quick review of three exciting features.

Feature #1: Cloud-Based Creativity

The new program has students start online using the mobile device of their choice (Android, iOS, and Windows) and then save their work to the cloud. Images and video from all of those devices gets mixed into their creation. That means that if a student makes a story on an iPad, they will be able to finish it on their Windows 10 device later on.

Feature #2: 3D Virtual Designs and Digital Ink

With Paint 3D, a re-designed Paint program, students can create designs and then import those into Windows Story Remix. They can take objects and pin them to scenes. Those pinned objects can also follow throughout a scene. Students can also import content from Remix 3D, an online warehouse of user-generated 3D designs, and they can take advantage of digital ink to write text directly on their creations, dropping in 3D graphics and adding special effects.

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Feature #3: Add a Soundtrack

Adding soundtracks to a video is easy with Windows Story Remix, allowing students to pull royalty-free content from a variety of places:

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Watch the Video

To get a grasp of the possibilities of this new software, check out this video. Then start planning how you’ll have your students don their filmmaking hats and tell their own stories!

Looking for a way to engage students with video and video creation? The Apple iPad’s rich ecology of video editing apps empowers students to be directors of fantasy and science-fiction flicks by using special effects. Educators like TCEA member Lauren Houser (@lauren_houser) have also taken advantage of Do Ink’s Green Screen app (see example) to create amazing videos. But you can also combine green screen with movie FX apps to get startling results.

Lesson Connections

When writing a story, students often want to take their tale to the next level. One approach involves converting it into a movie script. Then they can record that script as a movie to be shared. Imagine your students creating a story, converting it to a script, then making a movie replete with special effects. The apps below will make illustrating a movie possible. Students can shoot their video, whether they rely on clay animation, action figures, or real people. Younger students can be introduced to digital graphics/animation aligned to TEKS Chapter 126.25, as well as TEKS Chapter 110.31 English Language Arts.

Effects Apps

Here are several apps that enable you and/or your students to add special effects to photos and videos. All apps include in-app purchases to expand the range of effects available to you. Save these enhanced clips and/or photos to your iPad’s Photo Gallery, then drop them into another app (e.g. iMovie, Tellagami).

Action Movie: This incredibly easy to use app assists in adding Hollywood FX to iPhone and iPad movies that you record. And you can share your creation as a video or animated GIF. (View example of video. View animated GIF.)
FxGuru: Add horror, sci-fi, or action effects to a video you record. Available for Android, too. (View example)
Super Power FX: Enable your students to add super power effects to their clips. You are able to “shoot fireballs from your hands, lasers from your eyes, or control the elements, teleport, and more!” (View example)
Extreme Movie FX: Snap a picture, select the effect you want to apply to it, then save the still image to your Photo Gallery. From there, you can import the picture into a movie app like iMovie or Videorama. There are various effects you can apply, including shark attacks, UFO attacks, and more. Some effects are free, but others require in-app purchases. (View example)
Videorama: Unlike other apps, this one allows you to combine photos and videos, add effects, adjust the speed of the video, and more. It’s less about the effects and more about video editing. Combine clips you create in other apps in Videorama. Easily add text, music, and transition effects to your video.(View example)
Prisma: Although less about action adventure and more about art, this app allows you to apply nine different styles to videos, as well as photos. The astounding result resembles a work of art. (View example)

Teach the Language of Sound and Images

“If students aren’t taught the language of sound and images,” points out George Lucas, “shouldn’t they be considered as illiterate as if they left college without being able to read or write?” With these apps and imagination, you can enable students to engage in scripting and digital graphics/animation at a younger age. The sooner they begin, the better they will be. After all, who doesn’t have a budding filmmaker in their family?

Moviemaker Is Dead; Long Live Story Remix