What are “In Plain English” Videos?
In Plain English videos (sometimes called Common Craft videos) are made using simple paper cutouts and dialogue that focuses on explaining concepts “in plain English.” This style of video utilizes a white background and will have all elements planned out to make a complex subject simple. Another key to the video style is that it is short, usually around two to four minutes. Each student will be responsible for a certain task for their group’s video. These tasks are listed below.
STUDENT TASKS FOR THE PROJECT (refer to the rubic as well)
STORYBOARD a script for the video
This will help in explaining how something works, or why it was important. You will want to time your explanation in order to reduce it to its most simple form. The story board will be completed on actual storyboards and should be used along with the written rough draft to practice from.
Create GRAPHICS/PROPS for the video
Props in this case will largely be paper cutouts of simple drawings. You can plan to use printed words as part of your props as well if you choose. Ideally, printed words should be used for a title slide and a bibliography slide.These may take a few extra minutes to type, but will result in a more professional-looking product. For the other images, you can use clip art or hand draw images IF you are a good artist.
SHOOT and EDIT the video
If you are familiar with recording and editing a video, you should take on this task. We will use phones, cameras or flip cams to complete this activity. The student in charge of the recording is also in charge of the editing that occurs to make the project the best it can be on screen. Many groups added background music to their video.
WRITTEN Script
Students will use the storyboards and research to create and type up a script so the video can be narrated. Students should complete this task using a Google Doc. The script will have to be long enough to last for the entire one to two minutes duration of the video.
NARRATE the video
This task can be completed by more than one student. Students can narrate as the action is taking place, or narration can be added on a separate voice-over.
Presentation Specialists
Two or three students should be involved in manipulating the paper cutouts in sync to the narration/explanation of the historical event. This will not be a graded portion of the project, but is just as important as any other task. If the images don’t match the script or the cutouts are mixed up, the entire video could be ruined.
In Plain English Video Project 