Skeleton Walks Pet Brain - Promoting Literacy

I finally made the YouTube video I've been dying to work on for rmonths. Maybe it's best that I didn't get around to making it until now because I just discovered some special effects for iMovie, and they sure came in handy for this clip. I think the fast forward effect worked well. See what you think!

It's only 42 seconds long and I hope you'll get a kick out of it. 

I tried to add child appeal to the important message of promoting literacy for kids: 

"Funny Bones says...

Exercise your brain...

Read to Succeed." 

It has a snazzy little tune (from iMovie) and a cameo shot of Curse at Zala Manor,
 first book in the Monster Moon series. I never did make a book trailer for it, so this will have to do!

For those who can't view the video, here are some still photos mixed in with the clips:

One thing I've learned about vlogs and YouTube videos is that the shorter they are, the better, although if it's a tutorial, viewers will watch a longer clip.

As I explained in my earlier post with the Dancing X-Ray Skeleton video, I turned my daughter's room into a studio when she moved out. Then I had to hurry and shoot the videos before we downsized and move into an apartment. 

Here are some pics of the room decorated with props I have for book signings and school visits:

I used cloth tablecloths, plus plastic throwaway tablecloths from the dollar store. Right before Halloween you can find lots of spooky good deals. My Monster Moon co-authors and I have collected props to use at author events. They sure came in handy for setting up my makeshift studio!

My son moved out and got married, but he left a lot of stuff in his old closet, like a blinking crystal ball and these stacked skulls that light up. They're kind of scary looking for little kids, so I added eyeglasses, some weird eyeballs, a clown nose, a pirate patch, a corn cob pipe, and a beaded Egyptian-type head-dress to make it funny. Or not?

The ghost scene is from the dollar store, as was the skull tote bag hanging on the left.
The bird cage has a dollar-store crow inside it, but you can't see it well in the picture.

This is Brain on a leash. When my co-authors and I do school visits,
we like to take it along and tell kids Brain likes to sniff out good story ideas.
I made my Brain out of papier-mâché. Unfortunately, the shape isn't quite symmetrical.
I think I need to fix my Brain!

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The stuffed dummy is wearing my werewolf mask (Wild Hairy). That Frankenstein climbing through the wall is another prop from the dollar store, as is the spider web background and the caution tape that reads "Beware. Enter if you Dare!" 

A fringed purple throw blanket hanging at a slant looks kind of cool, huh? That psychedelic poster is from a party we threw for my husband's 40th birthday, almost 20 years ago. I'm glad I saved it because it sure came in handy for this funky setting!

Good thing I shot plenty of videos before I had to tear down my studio to move. I have lots of clips of Funny Bones telling jokes for kids. Now I just need some time to work on editing them. Gotta get them loaded on YouTube well before October rolls around.

This past year I've discovered how much fun it is to make videos. It's another wonderful creative outlet for me. To view my other video creations, you can see them on my YouTube page.


What creative outlets do you enjoy? Do you find that you have many, or do you like to focus on one?