Want to make a 90-Second Newbery movie but don’t know where to start? Are you a kid (or a teacher, drama coach, home school coordinator, or librarian) who wants to get a group together to make a 90-Second Newbery, but you’ve never made a movie before? We are ready to help! I wrote a series of posts that outline a step-by-step method on “How To Make A Great 90-Second Newbery”:

Step 1: Watch Great Previous 90-Second Newberys

Step 2: Read The Book And Start Planning

Step 3: Breaking Your Story And Writing The Script

Step 4: A Crash Course In Cinematography

Step 5: Top Mistakes To Avoid (DEFINITELY READ THIS)

Step 6: Shot-By-Shot Analysis Of A Wrinkle In Time

There is also A Powerpoint presentation that I often use when explaining the 90-Second Newbery at schools, libraries, etc. If you’re looking for that, you can find it here.

Free Sound Effects and Music

You video will be a lot snappier if you add sound effects and music! Of course, you can use the audio effects that come bundled with iMovie. But what if those programs don’t have the sound effects or music you’re looking for? Or what if you don’t want to use the same sounds every other movie uses?

You can find some great free-to-download, free-to-use music at Filmmusic.io and BenSound (you just have to attribute them in your credits).

Two recommended websites for free-to-download, free-to-use sound effects are FreeSound and SoundBible.

Great Video Tutorials on Moviemaking

The 90-Second Newbery Film Festival is partially inspired by Channel 101 and its offshoot Acceptable.TV, which mostly feature amateur, audience-created videos—often by people who are making their first video ever. People like us!

For low-budget beginners who have never been to film school (and don’t intend to), here are some non-technical, helpful, and pretty funny videos that give advice that will improve your movie immensely. They feature Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland (who went on to create Rick and Morty) and actor Jack Black. The starred entries are probably most relevant for 90-Second Newbery moviemakers, but they’re all only about three minutes, so you should watch them all.

Acceptable.TV Tutorial 1: Story Structure

Acceptable.TV Tutorial 2: Writing Your Script

* Acceptable.TV Tutorial 3: Shooting

* Acceptable.TV Tutorial 4: Props and Costumes

Acceptable.TV Tutorial 5: Sound

* Acceptable.TV Tutorial 6: Editing

Acceptable.TV Tutorial 7: Rejection

Once you’ve learned these basics, try the many free video tutorials at the RocketJump Film School.

Octane Seating has also compiled a useful “Resources for the Student Filmmaker.” 

Special Effects

Ever wanted to put a lightsaber battle in your movie? How about a zapping laser shootout? This video is really helpful. Want to see an example of that advice in action? Here’s the 1987 Newbery Medal Winner The Whipping Boy done in the style of Star Wars, complete with lightsabers and space battles. Pretty snappy effects … and they don’t cost you a penny.

Want to put crazy explosions, crashing helicopters, or murderous robots in your movie? Use green screen! You can find a million green screen resources to use for free on YouTube. Here’s a collection of tons of crazy green screen effects to get your started. Want to see how these particular effects were used in a kid-made video? Here’s a perfect example.

Case Studies: Behind-The-Scenes on These Great 90-Second Newbery Movies!

A step-by-step description of the Wilmette Public Library’s creation of a stop-motion puppet version of Grace Lin’s 2010 Honor Book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.

A blog post detailing the creation of the Zenz family’s award-winning 90-Second Newbery for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.

Behind the scenes of the Zenz family’s 90-Second Newbery of E.B. White’s 1953 Honor Book Charlotte’s Web.

Behind the scenes of the Zenz family’s 90-Second Newbery of Arnold Lobel’s 1973 Honor Book Frog and Toad Together.

More Resources

You should also check out Deb Ross' detailed curriculum that will help folks create their own awesome 90-Second Newbery video. It also includes meeting instructions, tips on video creation, and worksheets to keep you organized. You can download the free PDF from this page.

The Highland Park Public Library put together a good page of resources for kid filmmakers. Edutopia also put up a page of links of filmmaking resources. If you’re new to editing with iMovie, KidLit.TV has a good tutorial.