Amazon Storyteller
Key Features: Amazon storyteller is an application from Amazon Studios that lets you turn a movie script into a storyboard. A successful storyboard can tell the full story of a script, or capture its essence in a short form, like a trailer. Amazon Storyteller comes preloaded with “thousands” of different backgrounds, characters, and props, where you can customize backgrounds and images to create visualizations of screenplays. Where to Access: http://studios.amazon.com/storyteller Reasons for selecting Amazon Storyteller: It is illustrative, in that it provides a visual representation or example of something in the text and is designed to support, supplement or extend comprehension of the text. This matches ULD guideline checkpoint 2.5, illustrate through multiple media. Using storyteller will increase engagement of students and help extend learning by visually describing parts of a story or further expanding a topic. Critical Analysis: Amazon Storyteller is an easy to use tool to help teachers and students visualize text through the creation of storyboards. Storyboards are free to create however, publication is required. Positive Elements - Storyteller offers an easy-to-use tool to visualize a screenplay, especially for writers who can’t draw - Storyteller scans a screenplay for scenes, locations and characters, then automatically creates storyboards from its existing library of templates - Users can change elements in the automated storyboard, reposition characters, and change facial expressions - Users can upload their own images, including photos, to use in their storyboards - Free to use on Amazon Studios Drawbacks: - Users have to post their scripts on Amazon Studios to use the storyboard tool for their own screenplays - Amazon Studios claims a 45-day exclusive option for free for each screenplay when it is uploaded to the site, and Amazon Studios claims another free 45-day exclusive option extension for a screenplay with the publication of storyboards via Storyteller (these free options are used by Amazon to review the screenplay and storyboards to determine if they want to pay for the rights to develop a story further) - Storyboards cannot be exported; rather, they can only be seen on Amazon Studios (though there’s no reason why you couldn't take a screencap) - Others cannot view storyboards for a screenplay on Amazon unless the storyboards are public |