Illuminated Text Tutorial Center
Lessons AND Videos CREATED BY LISA DANFORTH
"The best teachers are those who show you where to look but don't tell you what to see." Alexandra K. Tranfor
All of the tutorial handouts and videos were created by Lisa Danforth - some of the handouts (after the tutorials) were created by Joe Scotese
WHAT IS AN ILLUMINATED TEXT? For more on WHY do Illuminated Text Projects - go to the Illuminated Text Page
An Illuminated Text is a video (usually accompanied by music) that takes a text (a poem, a prose excerpt, or even an entire short story or novel) and creates a new and different media that explicates that text through the video (the colors, movement, etc) and the music.
Video Tutorials on Creating Illuminated Texts by Lisa Danforth
The great thing about these handouts is tutorials is that though the technology has changed - it is for the most part still backwards compatible AND the ideas and the work flow still remains pretty much the same.
ppt2003lesson1_14955.mp4Power Point 2003 - Lesson 1 Video Tutorial
ppt2003lesson2_0_14959.mp4Power Point 2003 - Lesson 2 Video Tutorial
ppt2003lesson3_0_14958.mp4Power Point 2003 - Lesson 3 Video Tutorial
Illuminated Text "How To" - Handouts and written directions for Power Point & Keynote
Power Point 2010 Illuminated Texts - Lessons
Illuminated Texts - General instructions, evaluating, and Grading Handouts
Illuminated Text Grade Sheet Docx PDF - Illuminated Text Grade Sheet (for Teachers) - a rubric to help grade student Illuminated Texts
What Makes a Great Illuminated Text? Docx PDF - A handout to help students watch - and see what makes a great Illuminated Text BEFORE they being their project.
World Literature Illuminated Text Project 1 Docx PDF - The handout for students in World Literature to do their first Illuminated Text project.
British Literature Illuminated Text Project 1 Docx PDF - The handout for students in British Literature to do their first Illuminated Text project.
Some Notable Examples
catintherain2.mp4Cat in the Rain (the one that started it all) Jenny Lee
It really did start it all! Jenny came up to me after we were studying Hemingway's In Our Time and she handed me a CD with this video on it. She said she had done it as a response to "Cat in the Rain" and wanted to know what I thought. I thought and think it was one of the most creative things that I've ever seen.
SummerIsGone_14625.mp4"Summer is Gone" by Lisa Danforth
Done as an example by a fellow teacher, I show this incredible Illuminated Text as an example of what an Illuminated Text can aspire to. It is - in a word - perfect. Based on a short Anglo-Saxon poem from the Exeter Book, this Illuminated Text uses words, colors, movement and music to bring the poem alive. It is short and focused. Like all great Illuminated Texts it is not about the technology - but the ideas that make it great. Oh and Lisa wrote and performed the music as well!
icarryyourheart.mp4"i carry your heart" poem by e e cummings Illuminated Text by Joe Scotese
This is actually the 2nd version of this poem that I created an Illuminated Text for. The first was done using Power Point - and this was done using Adobe Flash (now long gone). I would like to believe it shows - again - that it is not the technology know-how but the ideas that make for a successful Illuminated Text. It also helps when you love the poem dearly - as I do this poem.
House - A House on Mango Street Illuminated Text by Norberto Rivera and Dan Chan.mp4The House on Mango Street - Norberto Rivera & Dan Chan
A great Illuminated Text can be simple - in other words it is about the ideas and not the technology or the flashiness. This beautiful contemplation on The House on Mango Street proves that.
TheWhale_JacobAbrahams_BerniceCai.mp4"The Whale - An Anglo-Saxon Riddle" by Jacob Abrahams and Bernice Cai
This Illuminated Text breaks a few of the rules that the students are given in their handout - but it doesn't matter. The rules (see the handout) are their really for guidance and to keep the students from going overboard. For instance, they are to use only one true image - with the rest of the "picture" being created by the words. However, the creators do such an amazing job with the pictures that they use that they are certainly not in excess. The music, the picture, the timing - everything is done well here and shows the power of what an Illuminated Text can do.