Animatography is the creation of multimedia presentations using still photographs, videos, clip-art, music, voice narratives and sound effects. We could have said "digital slide show", but we are talking about the new digital media and wanted a new word to describe it.
This course series helps the budding animatographer produce their presentations with an eye to creating an engaging story with their images and videos. We teach how to use the software to best effect (in this case Photodex's ProShow Gold), how to follow an effective process for creating your shows quickly and a minimum of fuss, and how to produce your final work in various formats (e.g. videos for social networking sites, photo club presentations, DVDs for family and friends, and more). Along the way you also learn soft-skills that help you add emotional impact to your shows, picking up on the little details that most people can't put their thumb on, but take your show from "it's nice" to "that's great!".
The course series consists of three 1-day seminars, and each segment focuses on a different set of specific skills needed to create an engaging presentation. Students are free to take the combination that best suits their needs and skill level.
Need a sample? Check out when the next "teaser" presentation is coming to a club near you!
Storytelling in the Digital Age - Course Series
AN100: ProShow Gold for Beginners — A full day's training on learning ProShow Gold.
This course is for those who are just learning the software and is focused solely on learning the ProShow Gold application starting with project creation,
moving on to placing images, applying basic transforms, selecting transitions, using titles
and captions, adding audio soundtracks and ending with final output of your show.
The course emphasizes a "learning by doing" approach as students create a show in the class. This helps the new user be on an even footing with more
experienced users in the other two sessions of this series. Read the
course outline
AN101: Slide show physiology — learn the mechanics of putting a slideshow together. This session is about
workflow and learning to use the slide show software (Photodex's ProShow Gold) as part of the story telling process.
This course focuses on workflow and the act of creating a slideshow. We learn the solution to the common problem: "I don't know where to
begin!" (those 5000 vacation photos from your last trip to Europe?) and cover the fundamental elements of a show's structure.
Mixed in with the "how" to create a slideshow, we also look at some more advanced features of Proshow when it comes to improving
title effects, transitions, animation and layering of images in a show -- many effects you see in shows made by Producer can still be
done in Gold! The student applies what they learn as they build a show during class.
AN102: Slide show psychology — learn the psychological side of creating a slideshow.
This session is more about story telling and how the way you treat your images can affect your audience's reaction and steps
beyond the simple mechanics of creating a show. The student starts to examine their show's elements that influence the audience's emotional
response to the show.
These are the "soft skills" that slideshow artists often overlook when creating their shows.
We look at some of the symptoms of "death by slideshow" and how to avoid them. We also start to think of shows in terms of their
"story archetype" and how this helps us with image selection and sequencing. We also look at various ways of sharing your show
and how each format should have an impact on the types of images you use and how you structure your show.
Those continuing from AN101 will look at their shows in this new light and continue to improve the look and visual impact of
their show. And we still have some tips and tricks for ProShow Gold left to share!
For a more detailed topic list for AN101 and AN102 (a.k.a. "day 1" and "day 2"), read the
course outline.
If you have questions about this course, contact the instructor: derek@derekcarlin.ca
Note: don't already own ProShow? No problem! Photodex has agreed to give students of this course a 20% discount. On arrival to your course, you will receive a promotional code to use when ordering ProsShow.
Click to read some comments from former students
Student Testimonials
From June 2011 (taught in Vancouver)
Photodex ProShow software is relatively complex and not as user-friendly as many have come to expect from Windows or Mac.
The three Animatography courses presented by Derek Carlin, however, lead you gently and confidently into and through the software.
You come out the other side ready to make slide shows that sing and dance. Derek's courses emphasize that a slide presentation must tell a
coherent story that is appropriate to the intended audience, and that leaves them wanting more. He teaches you to plan your shoots with a show
in mind, how to story-board the show, how to manufacture the structure of the show, then how to bring it alive.
He provides many tips and techniques that are not available in the ProShow manual. I give my unqualified recommendation to
the three Animatography courses. This must be considered "required reading" for anyone wanting to showcase their images.
- Jim (retired engineer, amateur photographer and enthusiastic Animatography student)
It was a great learning experience. Derrick knows the programmes and how to get the best out of a show.
All in all, a great course that I am glad I took. I hope to convince our club to have Derrick out for at least the teaser and
hopefully convince others that there is much more to learn about producing great shows.
- Jeff M.
I learned so much from the courses on Anamatography that Derek presented. His presentation and materials were well organized, informative,
and professionally presented. Derek was very patient in answering all questions and helping the student to understand the material.
He was also most generous in sharing his personal techniques and providing additional files for our future use. Anyone interested in
producing or improving photography slide shows would greatly benefit from these courses.
- anonymous student
From Nov 2010 (taught in Kelowna)
The AN101 course was phenomenal. I had never used Pro Show Gold before the course and I came away with a three minute slide show that is polished and interesting to watch! Derek presented each concept in an easy to follow manner and followed up with a small manul that gives step by step instructions for future reference. I would highly recommend this course to anyone wanting to learn the theory behind "telling a story" and the basics of how to use Pro Show Gold.
- Mandy H.
I had done several slide shows on Pro Show Gold and Producer and originally took the course because the group needed a few extra people to make up numbers. I wasn't as "smart" as I thought I was, learned a ton and I'm really excited about playing more and forming our own little group in the Okanagan. Derek was an excellent teacher and really knows his stuff!
- a student
I'm not very "techie" and was surprised at how much I was able to absorb over the 2 day course. I knew there were more advanced students attending and I really appreciated the individual time Derek took with each student.
- a student
From Oct 2010 (taught in Burnaby)
Derek provides an unique and very useful perspective to developing interesting presentations with ProShow Gold. Moreover, his course materials and handouts are quite professional and very useful as resource materials.
- a student
From earlier runs of this course...
I highly recommend Derek's animatography course to anyone who is interested in creating slideshows
from their photos. I have taken lots of photos over the years and always wanted to know how to
share these with friends and family. The course showed me how to do this. I learned how to
organize photos using a story line, add motion, visual effects, music and interesting sound
effects to my slide shows. Derek is an excellent instructor and made the course very
interesting and easy to follow.
- Jonathan M.
I had used ProShow Gold to create photo slideshows before taking Mr Carlin's class, but wow, I had only touched the surface. I didn't put any thought into the story I wanted to tell. I also could just use the basic functions of ProShow.
After Mr Carlin's course, I'm better at selecting images for a slideshow, selecting appropriate music and telling a story that works for my audience! I also know many additional tips and tricks in ProShow that I use to create my shows.
- David E
Derek introduced me to the world of AV-show-crafting through a seminar he ran last winter,
and I couldn't be more pleased. He started with the very important concept of "story-telling
with images". That session has been, perhaps the most important to me. He provided tools,
guidance and encouragement ... to get us to think about the story we wanted to tell with our
images, before we so much as opened a software package. Probably the most important concept
of the whole seminar. Derek also provided a great overview of the use of Pro-Show Gold, ...
information and hints about the use of music and other sound,
and guidance for turning our shows into files or DVDs to share. All in all it was a very
useful and creatively stimulating seminar. And, it was fun!
- Nancy M
As a person who has never put a slideshow together I found Derek's classes to be very informative. He really loves what he teaches and he teaches with care, catering to every learning level. Not only did Derek teach us how to create a slideshow but he also taught about work flow, the amazing task of sorting your abundance of photos is just the start of what you will learn in the work flow part. My first slideshow was for my husband of our honeymoon and he loved it. So whether you want to share your photos of a special day in your life with your family and friends or from an amazing two month trip through Europe, you will find Derek's course to be extremely helpful. You will find that at the end of showing your newly formed slide show you will have captivated your audience. Derek's class is interactive and informative - I highly recommend it!!
- Leigh F
I dreamed to have my own slide show, but I had no idea of how to create it. Thanks Derek to show me how to use Proshow. I learned a lot of useful tools to make my own slide show. I also learned how to organize my photos and chose music to be coordinate with the show. Derek is ... detailed oriented, well knowledged, a lot of creative ideas and very very patient...
The instructor is available to present a 30 minute teaser at local photography clubs (or other interested groups) -- free of charge! The presentation raises awareness of this course but
also gets your members thinking about the quality and content of their shows. If you
are interested in booking a presentation for your club, contact the instructor at: derek@derekcarlin.ca.
This year's teaser message is: "Slideshow First Aid: avoiding death by slideshow"