Creating a film is not horribly difficult to do, especially in a very basic form, but the more that you learn the more you will be able to add to the film and the more professional or fun, depending on what you are looking for, you can make it.
Step 1: Choosing A Program
The first thing you want to do is get a program that allows you to do a slideshow. You can use these programs as a basic building block to build your film from. There are many different programs to choose from, base your decision on price as well as functionality.
Step 2: Get Everything On Your Computer
Download everything onto your computer that you are going to want to use in your film. This includes pictures, audio files, and video files.
Step 3: Get Started
Now that you’ve chosen your program, open it up and start with a blank slideshow presentation. There are many different slides that you can make. First you have the ones that only contain words, next you have slides that you can put words and content (ie. pictures and videos) onto, and of course, content only slides.
Step 4: Choose Your Designs
There are many different Designs and Backgrounds that you can choose from for your slides. If you want each slide to have the same background, font and word coloring, then place your mouse over the slide and right click, then select Slide Design. Whichever design you select will automatically be filled out in as you add new slides. This is your easiest option.
Step 5: Choose Backgrounds
If you would rather choose the background for each individual slide, follow the above steps except choose Slide Background, select your background, and then make sure that you apply it to that slide only. Then you can go through and choose the coloring for the words and the fonts that you want.
Step 6: Add Your Slides
To add slides to your slideshow, at the top of the program click on Insert and then add new slide.
Step 7: Switching Slides
If you want to go back to a previous slide, most programs will have them on the left side of the screen for you to scroll through.
Step 8: Including Text
To include text you must first make sure you are using a layout that includes text. If you want to change the layout of your slide, right click while on the slide and go to Slide Layout. Once you have a layout that allows for text, simply click on the text box and start typing.
Step 9: Including Content
To include content, make sure you have picked a layout that allows for it. Once you have that layout, in the content box there will be the options for the different types of content that you want to upload. Select the type that you want on this slide, whether it be photo or video, then you will want to click import and then find the file on your computer, then select ok to use the file.
Step 10: Including Audio
To include audio files into your film, go to insert and select movies and sound. Find the appropriate file that you want to include, whether it be a certain sound or a song, and insert it at the place that you want it to start. You can tell it when you want it to start, when you want it to stop, and if you want it to loop so that it will play the song over and over again.
Step 11: Slide Transition
Now you want to do is set up the slide transition. Right click on the slide and select Slide Transition. Choose the way you want the slideshow to go from one slide to the next, the speed with which you want it to go through each slide, and the sounds if you want specific noises as a certain slide comes up. You can choose to have the same transition between each slide or set each one different.
Step 12: Final Touches
Once you have added all the slides you want, you can go through and add all your final touches. Watch it to make sure that it’s doing what you want it to do. Always watch it all the way through once you’ve completed it.
Now that you’ve gotten your film completed, save it to a disc and show it off to your friends and family!
