Dvolver: make your own movie!

Dvolver Moviemaker!



    1. What is it?

 

Dvolver is an online software that allows you to make customized animated videos. According to Dvolver, "People have a lot to say, and they like to say it with animated characters." Dvolver is easy to use, free of charge, and you don't even need to sign up.

      2. How to make a movie with Dvolver?

Click the link:
http://www.dvolver.com/moviemaker/index.html

 

 

• Select the background and sky for your first scene. Each style has a fun description of the climate and culture of your chosen setting. Next, select a plot for your scene. "Rendez-vous," "pick-up," and "chase" are made for two characters, and "soliloquy" is made for one.

• Choose the characters for your scene. Similar to the background and sky options, each character has a fun written profile. Characters include normal-looking folks, celebrities lookalikes, aliens, animals and more. 

• Add dialogues if you want. Add up to three lines for each character. The dialogue will appear in a thought-bubble above the character's head in the finished movie.

 

•  Select the music for your scene. By clicking on the options, you can preview the sound and its recommendations for use. After making your selection, you'll have the options to add a new scene, or to finish the movie.

• Select a style for your titles. During this last step you can also add your name and the title of your choice. These will appear in the title sequence of your video.

     3. How to use it to foster language learning?

Teachers can use this tool in the classroom, such as asking the students to work in pairs, to stimulate communication between students. Moreover, it can also be done as a homework for the students so as to train them to learn language autonomously.

Reading Comprehension: Middle-High School. Students can transform the novel into a summary play. The students could create an alternative to something that happened in the story as well. This will have to depend on the type of story, of course, as there is a limit to 2 characters per scene.

Writing/Presenting: Have the students work on a documentary, summarizing a recent coup! You can assign a minimum number of scenes and ask students to create their own stories.

     4. Advantages:

• It is funny and attractive to students because of the music and animination, especially to younger learners.
• It is free.
• It can accelerate students' creativity and enhance their motivation. 
• It guides the students to choose and identify appropriate words and expressions to be used in appropriate context.
• It helps students to improve their communication skills through creating conversations in a movie.

     
     5. Disadvantages:

 

• Length limitation: there is a limit of words in a conversation, why brings much more difficulties for young learners.
• Only 2 characters can be chosen per scene. In a situation where a child is recreating a story, this won’t work.
• Voices can't be embeded.