Recently, I’ve shared a little bit about my other life as a filmmaker and some of the apps we use when making films. I have another other life as a doting uncle and periodic babysitter. Of course, it’s not just enough to be one of the uncles, it’s important to be the favorite uncle and the key to maintaining that title is preparation. You hear celebrities talk about the need to prepare for talk shows and this is no different. Those who just “show” up, do so at their own risk.
We make movies. Shocking.
Action movies, animated movies, comedies, TV shows, fashion shows. You name it, we’ve done it. There are quite a few apps that make it possible. What’s possible varies from kid to kid, age to age so we do this at different levels. For the short attention span, grabbing a quick sequence might be all that we can do.
My favorite two apps for the quick shot are: Action Movie FX and Demon Cam. Demon Cam comes from VideoCopilot, one of the best training sites on the web for visual effects artists. Demon Cam lets you record a short video of someone’s (or even a pet’s) face and then turn him or her into a demon. It’s a great surprise show to integrate into a video.
Similarly, Action Movie FX is about doing a single shot. This app basically lets you blow things up. You line up your shot and then you can fire a missile, drop a boulder, roll a car, etc. with more disasters available for in-app purchase. A shot is then generated, complete with sound FX.
When you’re ready to get serious, you need a video editing app. A lot of folks use iMovie – it’s quite good and is probably the quickest way to get to something slick looking, and the easiest for a kid to pick up him or herself. As with most things that are easier to use, it’s also a little restrictive so I lean towards an app called Reel Director. Reel Director lets you do all the basic stuff you need to do when editing video including adding title, sound fx and music.
Next you need visual FX. THAT’S the key to holding the title of World’s Greatest Uncle. It’s all about show and tell the next day at school so if you can make kids shrink, grow, fly, catch fire, turn invisible and wield magic, you’ve won them over. There are a number of apps out there to help with VFX but my favorite is Green Screen Movie FX Studio. This app allows a lot of layers, does green screen (removing the background) and has built-in visual FX like fire, explosions, aircraft and dinosaurs. There’s something for everyone: boys and girls of all ages.
There are a couple of non-app things that will help a lot, too. One is a certain kind of tripod and I recommend the Spider Monkey from OCTA. It’s got the most flexibility (literally) when positioning your tablet. Second, you might consider buying a green screen. This doesn’t need to be anything special. Even just some Kelly green cloth from the fabric store. The key is to pick a color not generally found on your niece or nephew.
Finally, if the kids you’re babysitting have toys with which they like to play, consider stop motion animation. With a little patience, you look up at the end of the day and you’ve created Jason and the Argonauts! Whether it’s clay, Legos, toy cars or dolls, there’s a lot you can get done with a decent stop motion app. One of my favorites is Stop Motion Café. Unlike some of the others, it lets you save you work and come back to it which, with kids in need of snacks, can be very important!
So, if you have nieces and nephews and you want the best chance of having your photo up in their room or in their cubbies at school, think about making a movie the next time you get asked to watch them.