Making and Using Machinima in the Language Classroom

By Christel Schneider and Carol Rainbow

Many language learning situations in the classroom lack visualisation, there is not always the resource you need for an ad hoc grammar point or other illustration, therefore being able to create a video, quickly, easily and cost effectively when needed is a really useful skill for the teacher and learners to know. Teachers could illustrate their lesson focussing on a specific story, grammar point or other topics of interest whereas learners could use such videos to demonstrate knowledge and understanding or as evidence of achievement.

Creating and using machinima in the language classroom is a guide to encourage teachers and learners to create videos in virtual worlds (machinima) for enhancing language lessons.
Although the book is not specifically about learning or teaching in virtual worlds it does help and gives instructions for the reader to access and be able to use Second Life for the purpose of machinima making.

There are some very good reasons to make machinima:
· They are fun.
· They are cheap.
· Students can produce them by themselves.
· Avatars can do the impossible.
· Creators have ownership.

This book is written for teachers, teacher trainers and learners of all subjects, with a special focus on language learning. You do not have to have experience of Second Life® to make machinima though it would help. Learners however may have experience in other games such as MinecraftTM and perfectly good machinima can be made in those too.

Part one of the book shows a range of machinima created in various genres to demonstrate what can be achieved. Part two teaches people how to make machinima in a virtual world such as Second Life. It starts with generating an idea and leads the readers through to completion and publication of their machinima. The book includes some case studies, a scheme of work and some lesson plans to help teachers see how machinima may be incorporated into their curriculum. The pedagogical underpinnings are dealt with, see the sample for details. There is a chapter dealing with challenges and offering solutions, and a further chapter addresses a number of issues such as copyright, licensing, permissions and similar. There are a number of suggestions for developing scripts and scenarios, and a whole set of hints and tips.

More advanced techniques for filming are covered and there are a number of example of ready-made machinima along with ideas for use in the classroom. Resources such as free editing software, free sound effects and background music are shared.

Whether using Minecraft TM, Second Life ® , World of Warcraft or Assassin’s Creed, the techniques of machinima making are the same.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christel Schneider
• Release date: Jun 26, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311904034

Christel Schneider

Christel Schneider is founder and managing director of CSiTrain, a company founded in January 2013. (www.csitrain.net) From 2006 until 2012, she was project manager and director of the international language association, ICC (www.icc-languages.eu). Prior to this, Christel worked as head of the language department for the German adult education association in Schleswig-Holstein (Landesverband der Volkshochschulen Schleswig-Holsteins e.V. (http://www.vhs-sh.de/) and as a lecturer at the University of Hamburg (Dept. of Education), teaching didactics and methodology. Presently, Christel is partaking in an MA in Virtual Education at the University of Western England.Christel Schneider has been a partner in more than ten European-funded projects, some of which had a specific focus on virtual learning; others were designed for people with specific needs or intercultural encounters. She is a passionate machinimatographer.

Book preview

Making and Using Machinima in the Language Classroom

By Carol Rainbow & Christel Schneider

Making and Using Machinima in the Language Classroom

Carol Rainbow & Christel Schneider

Copyright Carol Rainbow & Christel Schneider 2014

Published by the round at Smashwords

This book is devoted with huge thanks to all the people who have helped, often without knowing, as they have made their lands available for photographs and machinima, particularly Heike Philp, Randall Sadler, Chic Aeon, The University of West of England and the wonderful people of the Machinima Creative Club and MachinEVO who have offered support and criticism, were enjoyable to work with, and gave us more than they can ever know towards the journey of us all making machinima! Finally, a very special thank you to HazelDazel – actor, adviser, mentor, designer, machinimatographer and always a wonderful friend!

About the authors

Christel Schneider is founder and managing director of CSiTrain, a company founded in January 2013. (www.csitrain.net) From 2006 until 2012, she was project manager and director of the international language association, ICC (www.icc-languages.eu). Prior to this, Christel worked as head of the language department for the German adult education association in Schleswig-Holstein (Landesverband der Volkshochschulen Schleswig-Holsteins e.V. (http://www.vhs-sh.de/) and as a lecturer at the University of Hamburg (Dept. of Education), teaching didactics and methodology. Presently, Christel is partaking in an MA in Virtual Education at the University of Western England.

Christel Schneider has been a partner in more than ten European-funded projects, some of which had a specific focus on virtual learning; others were designed for people with specific needs or intercultural encounters. She is a passionate machinimatographer.

Carol Rainbow has been a teacher and teacher trainer for many years. She worked in local government as an ICT Consultant for over 15 years, helping teachers enhance teaching and learning through the use of technology. She has spent the last six years teaching in Second Life®, alongside her online tutoring work for The Consultants-E www.theconsultants-e.com. She has spent three years working as a moderator on the MachinEVO project, supporting teachers who are learning how to make machinima for their language learners. She has been a teacher on the Avalon course and taught English at the Second Life® school Language Lab™. She has also taught e-safety for teachers from all over the world in Second Life®.

Using and Creating Machinima in Language Learning

Table of Contents

About the authors

Introduction

A virtual world: a MUVE?

What is machinima?

Avatars

Why teach in a virtual world?

What this book is about

Who this is book for

What if I don’t have experience in a virtual world?

Pedagogical underpinnings

Experientiallearning

Lim’s Six Learnings ofSecond Life®

Situated learning

Section 1

Chapter 1 Examples of Machinima in Different Genres

Documentaries

Poetry

Storytelling

Grammar

Idioms

Conversationpractice

Heritage

Humour

Instructional machinima

Informative machinima

Project-based machinima

Roleplay

Sketches

Intercultural issues

Advertising

Chapter 2 A Case Study of Making and Using Machinima in the Language Classroom

Using machinima to give feedback

The teaching steps are as follows

Integrating quizzes

Further ideas for roleplay and filming locations

Section 2

Chapter 3  How to make a Machinima in a virtual world

Six stages

1. Finding the idea

2. The script

3. The machinima plan

4. Filming

5. Editing

6. Post production

Machinima group management

Case study: the making of the Two Travelers and the Bear

Stage 1 Getting an idea

Stage 2 The script

Stage 3 The machinima plan

Stage 4 The filming

Stage 5 The editing process

Stage 6 Post production

Chapter 4 Making your First Machinima in a Virtual World

The software needed

Deciding where to film

Studios

Holodecks

Getting ready for filming

Set the window for HD video

Check the lighting for your scene

Prepare your shot

Hide the buttons

Use an invisible avatar

Capture video

Check continuity

Add interest to your machinima

Use animations

Using a pose ball

Use gestures

Use different clothes

Obtain and use props

Editing your video

Adding transitions

Adding titles or call outs

Adding audio files

Making a vocal recording

Music andsound effects

Publishing your machinima

Sharing your machinima

Chapter 5 Challenges

Virtual world video is not accessible

Dialogue andscript writing

Other ways of generating ideas for student-created machinima

Addingtext to your machinima should you or shouldn’t you?

Dealing with copyright issues

Copyright

CreativeCommons licensing

Finding Pictures to use in Machinima

Second Life® permissions

Things don’t always look right

Griefers or griefing

Chapter 6 More Advanced Machinima Techniques

Graphics card settings

Drawdistance

Depth offield

Getting the light right

How to make lights in a virtual world

How to use thewindlight™ settings

Green screen or chroma key

Creating aphotobox or photosphere

A demonstration of usinggreen screen

Using a 3D mouse

Chapter 7 Machinima in Other Contexts

Machinima in transmedia

Inanimate Alice

The Cavendish Chronicles

Transmedia Storyteller

References

Appendix I

How to use pre-existing machinima in the classroom

Before watching the machinima

Whilst watching the machinima

After watching the machinima

Appendix II

Second Life® and other virtual-world shortcuts and settings

Appendix III

A scheme of work – using machinima in a language class

Appendix IV

Lesson plans

Dog idioms

Simple past talk

Past Talk - Simple Past - Self Study or Revision  

Talking about the weather

Appendix V

Machinima resources

Video hosting sites

Story starters

More machinima for use with students

Machinima web links

Appendix VI

Downloadable resources

Other video editing software

Free sound effects and music

Appendix VII

Areas of interest to machinimatographers

Machinima Festivals and competitions

Research into machinima

Projects Involving machinima

Euroversity

MachinEVO

The CAMELOT Project

I f you are reading a paper version of the book, or an e-reader that allows pictures but not videos, and have a mobile phone or tablet, use the Augmented Reality program ‘Aurasma’, to make each machinima image play the machinima as you hover over the picture in the book. Subscribe to the Machinima Book http://auras.ma/s/FkL0m or use the QR code to subscribe to the channel on your mobile device.

Introduction

Many teachers are sceptical about using virtual worlds for teaching and learning. This book aims to demonstrate to teachers and learners how they might become more confident using virtual worlds by getting engaged in making machinima.

What is machinima?

Machinima is simply a word composed from ‘machine’ and ‘cinema’, and it has become the collective name for films or videos made in virtual worlds and gaming environments. A machinima can be very simple – just a recording of a scripted narration, a dialogue or a roleplay. Machinima can also be very elaborate, with several film clips or images woven into the action. Call-outs, subtitles, blocks of text, speech bubbles, music and special effects can also be added to produce a more complex and satisfying machinima. Examples that the authors have created of the simplest to the more complex will be used to demonstrate techniques through this book.

We produced a series of machinima which aimed to:

promote learning in virtual worlds

make access easy through simple and visual instructions

trigger interest in learning and teaching in virtual worlds

demonstrate what can be achieved by learning in virtual worlds

help teachers and learners understand the benefits and challenges of learning in 3D worlds.

One of the machinima that we made called ‘It is never too late to learn something new’ was produced to encourage potential users to get involved in using a virtual world.

A virtual world

A virtual world is a 3D environment, where people from all around the world can come together in space, regardless of their geographical location. Second Life® is one of numerous virtual worlds. At the time of writing, Second Life® has the equivalent of about 24,000 square miles of developed landscape in nearly as many privately-owned regions of every conceivable design, with thousands of free artefacts. Virtual worlds can be rewarding places for language learning, where learners may mix freely with native speakers of their target language. Virtual worlds are also known as MUVEs (Multi User Virtual Environments). The experience which can be obtained from a MUVE is summed up in the following quotation:

MUVEs like SL have unique affordances that can provide opportunities for a richer embodied social presence, sensory immersive experiences, hands-on activities, and authentic contexts for experiential learning. (2)

Table of Contents

Avatars

A person in a virtual world is presented as an avatar – a graphical model of him- or herself. People can choose to look like a human, an animal or almost anything imaginable. The avatar can move around the 3D world, flying, walking and talking to others. When people set up an account in any virtual world, the first thing they do is to create or choose a starter avatar. The avatar is controlled by the mouse, the trackpad, arrow or letter keys. What we see on screen is from just behind the avatar looking forward.

Why teach in a virtual world?

The virtual world offers something quite different from conventional teaching and learning. It can create an immersive environment which is not possible in the physical classroom. Below is a list of ‘affordances’ (opportunities that present themselves and are good for learning and teaching) of a virtual world.

Teachers and learners can interact with people both within and outside the virtual world at the same time.

People with different language and cultural backgrounds are able to meet, interact and learn collaboratively, regardless of their geographical location.

People can take part in simulations of events which would be impossible for many in real life – such as going into space in a rocket, sky-diving, flying aeroplanes or helicopters, working on an oil rig, or mending a pipeline under the sea.

People can do things which are physically impossible in their physical life such as flying or walking under water, and, in fact, anything imaginable.

People can visit places such as virtual Morocco, take part in the virtual Hajj, fly to the top of the Eiffel Tower, visit Berlin in the ’20s or climb Big Ben, either alone or in groups.

People can completely change their identity, personality, gender, size or shape, and