Implementation of “Cooperative Story telling”(SOI-IT-330)

Author: Emma Abbate, teacher

School/Organization: Liceo Scientifico Statale Armando Diaz di Caserta

The scenario implemented was the “Cooperative Storytelling (LS-ES-229)”, I have chosen this LS because it is focussed on movies and film education and I often exploit the cinema’s strong appeal and impact during my lessons to stimulate students’ creativity and vehicle study contents. The idea of the LS Author was to let students visualize short silent movies in order to design digital stories inspired to them and add their voices so that each story is told by its protagonists.
For the implementation we used other films than the ones suggested in the LS; also the digital tools indicated are different from the ones suggested in the LS: to personalize the short silent movies adding voices, music background and sound effects, students employed Artificial Intelligence tools in the freemium version.
Aims of the SoI were as follows:
– To develop students’ creativity and storytelling skills by creating a short movie with voiceovers, sound effects, and music using AI-powered apps.
– To familiarize students with AI and its potential applications in the field of arts and entertainment.

The learning scenario, for its cross-curricular nature, can be implemented in various subjects: computer science, visual arts, English as second Language (if we ask students to use English instead their mother tongues to create film dialogues), media studies, and social studies. By encouraging creativity and storytelling skills, you can use this project to teach various subjects across the curriculum while also fostering digital literacy skills.

The age range of the participants can also vary: It can be modified to fit middle, high school, or even college-level students, in our case the age range of participants was 15-16 and it was implemented in a class of 25 students. The students were familiar with Europeana Archive resources and with film education because they are acquainted with the European Film Factory platform.

Aim: Creating a digital soundscape for silent movies using AI

Project name: Silent movie speak up!

Group size: Small collaboration groups (3-4 students) that work on the same movie

Prior knowledge: Basic familiarity with video editing 

Materials: Computers with internet access, headphones or speakers, AI apps: (https://beta.elevenlabs.io/, https://www.audyo.ai/, https://soundraw.io/, and https://www.beatoven.ai/) for adding sounds and music, AI movie posters software (https://deepdreamgenerator.com/ or https://docs.midjourney.com/), AI screenplay software (https://www.nolanai.app/)

Introduction (30 minutes)

  • Begin the lesson by showing students a silent old short movie , La Guerra e il sogno di Momo (The Momo’s war and dream) and ask them to describe how they feel about it.
  • Ask students to identify the emotions and actions portrayed in the movie
  • Explain that in the past, movies were often silent, and music and sound effects were added later. Today, we can use artificial intelligence apps to add voices, sound effects, and music background to silent old short movies.
  • Introduce the topic and goals of the project.
  • Briefly explain the concept of a digital soundscape and its importance in storytelling.
  • Provide an overview of the AI tools to be used in the project.

Demonstration of the project (30 minutes)

  • Allow students to access the artificial intelligence apps in the free version (enough to implement the project): Eleven, Audyo, Soundraw, Nolanai, deepdreamgenerator, midjourney, and Beatoven (see the links above)
  • Instruct students to explore each app and select the one they want to use for their movie’s editing project. They can practice the AI tools at home in order to understand their very intuitive use. 

Assigned work time for the project completion (3 hours and 45 minutes)

  • Distribute students into small groups (4-5 students for each group)
  • Instruct students to choose a silent short movie from this list: https://www.europeana.eu/it/collections/organisation/1482250000004375580-eye-film-museum . Students  should take into account the visual narrative, the genre, and the mood of the movie when making their selection.
  • Let students watch the movie they have chosen (15 minutes)
  • Brainstorming and scriptwriting: (30 minutes). The groups brainstorm ideas for the sound design and script their concepts. They should consider how to use sound effects, music, and voices to complement the visual narrative and evoke the mood and emotions of the movie.
  • As first output of the project, asks students to create a movie poster using the provided AI software or platforms (deepdreamgenerator, midjourney). The movie poster should include the title of the movie, the name of the actors , and a visual representation of the movie with a catching sentence to captivate the audience’s interest. (60 minutes)
  • As second step,  students are asked to create the screenplay for the movie using the provided software or platforms (Nolanai). The screenplay should include the dialogue, actions , and emotions in full coherence with what is portrayed in the movie. (60 minutes)
  • The last step is the creation of the sound effects: dialogues and music. Students should experiment with different sound effects, music tracks, and voice-over. (60 minutes)
  • circulate and provide assistance as necessary

Wrap-up (60 minutes)

  • Allow each group to present their digital soundscape project to the class
  • Provide feedback and encourage discussion on the impact of digital soundscape on storytelling
  • Wrap-up the lesson and encourage students to develop their video editing, AI, and storytelling skills further.

The main learning outcomes achieved were:

  1. Understanding the importance of sound design in media production: Students  learned how sound can enhance the emotional impact of visual storytelling and how to craft a cohesive sound design that complements the visuals.
  2. Familiarity with AI tools for sound design: By using various AI apps, students deepened their knowledge of how AI can accelerate the sound design process and explore the potential of AI collaboration in the field of media production.
  3. Collaboration and communication skills: The project involved group work, requiring students to communicate effectively, brainstorm ideas, and delegate tasks to create a shared digital soundscape product.
  4. Media production skills: Students practiced their video editing, scriptwriting, and poster design skills using different software and platforms. The use of AI tools was not passive but creative and active: they co-created contents employing AI as a catalyst of their action. 

My advice for other educators planning to implement this learning scenario is to provide enough guidance in the beginning while still allowing room for creativity and exploration. Also, it is essential to allow students to experiment with the AI tools, make mistakes, and learn from them since part of innovation comes from trying new things. Finally, educators should encourage students to reflect on their learning process and celebrate their achievement, which can be an excellent source of motivation for future projects.

Adaptation tips: 

  • To make the project more achievable in the given time, you can limit the length of the short silent movie to be between 1-3 minutes asking students to work on extracts of the film and not the whole film.
  • You can recommend preselected silent movies that are in the public domain to avoid copyright issues; 
  • You can also provide a guide sheet that outlines specific steps to follow for the project and some tips for troubleshooting technological issues that may arise.
  • While watching and analyzing silent movies is a valuable exercise in and of themselves, it is also important to connect them to a broader curricular goal. The movies can be used to teach history, language skills, film analysis, and critical thinking skills. Educators should be aware of and plan for how the chosen movies will connect to the broader curriculum

The LS was implemented using Europeana resources from the EYE FILM MUSEUM COLLECTION, but other silent movies can be added, I also proposed to my students the ones in the open  gallery created on purpose.

For the digital AI tools employed, this story of Implementation can be easily combined with the exploration of AI Europeana Subtitle platform and the Subbit tool that provides automatic subtitling of audiovisual materials from the Europeana collection. Educators can encourage students to use Europeana Subtitle to compare the AI generated subtitles with the ones created for their final “silent movie speak up” project. Educators can incorporate a reflection activity in which students evaluate the accuracy of the subtitles and discuss their potential impact on the overall viewing experience of the video. It is important to keep in mind the limitations of automatic subtitling and encourage students to seek feedback from individuals with expertise in the language used in the video to ensure accuracy.

In this lesson, the difference from conducting more traditional educational activities is that students are using artificial intelligence apps to add voices, sound effects, and music background to silent old short movies, rather than learning through more traditional methods such as lectures or worksheets. They are also collaborating in groups to create a digital soundscape, which enhances their teamwork and collaboration skills. Additionally, they are evaluating the effectiveness of their final product in relation to the visual narrative of the movie, which promotes critical thinking and analysis. By using AI apps and focusing on sound design for films, students are engaging in a more creative and interactive learning experience.

Conducting this type of activity with artificial intelligence apps allowed students to engage with technology in a way that is fun and interactive, which is usually more engaging for students than traditional educational methods. Secondly, it encouraged creativity and collaboration among them, as they work together to develop their own soundtracks for the silent old movies. Thirdly, it provided students with a hands-on experience of using artificial intelligence to manipulate and enhance media content, which is an important skill in today’s digital world. Finally, the use of these apps provided an opportunity for students to learn about the history of cinema and the evolution of sound in movies, which is an interesting and relevant topic for many students. Overall, this type of activity is more engaging, interactive, and relevant for students than traditional educational activities, which can make it a more effective way of teaching and learning.

Did you find this story of implementation interesting? Why don’t you read about the related learning scenario? Cooperative Storytelling (LS-ES-229), created by Francisco José Orosia Salvador

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Public Domain Mark 1.0: the featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana and has been provided by the Rijksmuseum.

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