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Say What?

Activity 1: What if Animals could Talk?

(5 minutes)

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What do you think it would be like if animals could talk? Watch this video, and this one too, to get an idea. Which type of animal would you like to “make” talk?

Activity 2: Find an Animal

(15 minutes)

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What animal(s) can you find to film? Take a look around and don’t forget about the little critters, like ants, spiders, and caterpillars. You might be able to film a squirrel, bird, or something even more exotic! If you have a pet at home, you could film a video of your pet and use that for this module! If there are truly no animals to be found, you could use a stuffed animal.


Think back to the videos you saw in the first activity. Were the shots close up or far away? In other words, did the animal fill almost the whole screen? How do you think you can achieve the same effect without getting too close to the animal?

Activity 3: Film an Animal

(20 minutes)

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Spend a few minutes shooting the animal. How can you get a variety of shots? If you notice your footage is shaky, try shooting while the camera or smartphone is resting on the ground, a table, or a tripod.

 

While you’re filming, you don’t need to “speak” for the animal. Just film the animal and you’ll be able to add the words later!

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Why do you think it is a good idea to stay quiet while you are shooting the animal? You will add the voice over later. While you film, start thinking about what you might want it to “say.”

Activity 4: Edit your Shots Together

(30 minutes) 

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Upload all the footage from your camera or mobile device into a video editor.

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Now that your footage is loaded into your video editing program of choice, its time to make your animal talk: 

  1. Play the footage a couple times and identify a few seconds of footage that you want to use for your animal talk video. Trim the footage. Here is a tutorial for iMovie and one for Windows Movie Maker.

  2. Brainstorm what you want the animal(s) to say. Write down several ideas. Sometimes it helps to bounce your ideas off someone else. You could try something funny, cute, literal, or even off-the-wall.

  3. If there is background noise or you want to mute the animal's actual vocals, mute the audio in your footage. To learn how to do this, read this tutorial for iMovie and this one for Movie Maker.

  4. Record yourself "speaking for the animal." Experiment with how to record the voiceover yourself, or watch a video on how to do it in iMovie or Movie Maker.

  5. When you like the way your video is looking, save it. 

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If you're using YouTube's video editor, you'll follow a similar process: 

  1. load your video content into https://www.youtube.com/editor 

  2. change the volume of your video to low or mute

  3. record yourself speaking for the animal 

  4. add your audio track and then save your video + audio creation

Activity 5: Ask for Feedback, Iterate, and Submit!

(20 minutes)

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Share your clip informally with others. What do they think? Do they have other ideas for what your animal could “say?”

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Want to earn a few digital badges in video production? Send us an MP4 file of your video, or send a link to your video. 

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To share your video online, you could upload it to Vimeo with the following information:

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Email the digital media you created to BGCAmediamaking@gmail.com or send it through instagram to @BGCAmediamaking 

Still Interested? Take a look at these resources: 

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Article: How To Make A Talking Dog Video That Will Be Seen And Shared By Millions

Video: Voice-Over Actors

Article: How to do a Successful Voice Over

What You'll Need: 

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or

Make Animals "Talk"

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