8 Tips For Making Movies with Google Photos

Since discovering how easy it is to make movies with Google photos at the start of the school year, I've made several movies. Most movies were made to capture a day of learning with other innovative educators. I also made a movie to capture a vacation getaway. Another to commemorate an award a colleague received. And another movie to share with a friend the fun day her puppy had with my pup while I was pet sitting.

In a relatively short period of time, I've made more than a dozen movies.  

Here is what I've learned.

1) Opening Shot

Your first picture should set the tone for what the movie is about.  Try to find a sign, banner, sticker, book, welcome message, etc that let's people know what they're about to see.

2) Mix it Up

A mixture of photos and videos works well. 

3) Camera Direction

Capture everything in the same direction: portrait or landscape. This will make for a better, more consistent viewing experience. 

4) Pan

Capture a quick video (<5 seconds) panning the whole experience.

5) Closing Shot

Capture a photo or video that wraps up the experience. Think people waving goodbye, a cake with a message about what is being celebrated, a group photo.

6) Descriptive Title

When the video is complete you have an opportunity to give it a title. 

7) Edit

You can change the music, theme, and remove, trim, or reorder clips by tapping on one of three icons that appear on the bottom of your movie.

• Theme: At the bottom, tap Themes . You can change the themes while the movie is playing to see how they look.
• Music: Tap Music . You can change the music and also turn it off so you can hear audio in the background.
• Reorder , trim, or remove clips: Tap Edit .
• Tap the clip you want to remove  Trash .
• Touch and hold a clip and drag it to a different order.
• To change the length of a clip, select the clip and tap the scissors icon. 

When you're done editing, tap Done .

8) Share

Share your creation on your fave social platform. Don't forget to tag people who were there and check in to indicate the location.  

What do you think? Were these tips helpful? Were there some you already incorporate into your movie making? Were any of these tips new to you? Is there something you do when making your movies that's not here?