Video Basics

CHECKLIST: check Search for existing content on your topic. (Do you need to create or can you curate?) check Identify potential impact (Why am I doing this? Who will benefit? What will it change?) check Define objectives (What will people learn?) check Develop assessment plan (How will I know if I achieved my goals?) check Gather equipment (see What Do I Need? section) check Create a test file to practice using software or camera and audio quality, camera angles, lighting requirements. check Export test file formats and import in editing software to ensure you can work with the files. check Determine format, budget and timeline.

Considerations: Before You Start

Curate or Create?

If a good quality learning resource already exists online that will help you meet your goals, you may want to consider adopting it and creating the learning wrapper around it (like self assessments, questions for reflection, in-class problem sets, case studies or other activities which will engage learners in using what they've learned by watching the video. Here are some questions to ask when considering curation/creation:

• Does a high quality learning resource already exist on this topic?
  • You may want to check creative commons licensed sources as well as resources in the public domain to start.
• Can I build context around said resources specific to my goals?
  • In other words, can you curate content by building some activities or context around a video that already exists or do you need to create something new?
  • Here's an example of curated content (discussion question, self-assessment, etc) around a YouTube video describing MOOCs.
• What's the value of having my voice and emphasis in the video?

Impact on learning

Consider the potential impact your project will have on the learning environment.

• What role do learners have?
• What do I expect people to learn?
• What goes with the video to support learning? Will I need to create guiding questions, a list of things to watch for, or follow-up activities so learners can use what they learned?
  • You may want to consider what activities the video may replace (eg. lab, lecture) and how you can use that time for other activities to support the learning from the video.
  • In addition, knowing the needs of your learners helps you target the content and approach to them - making it more likely that you will be producing a useful learning resource.

Objectives

Consider the problem you are attempting to address by creating video for your students to learn from. Identifying broad goals can help you define what you intend students to learn or gain from watching the video. Identifying specific learning objectives help you identify what you need to assess to determine whether or not the video supported the learning you hoped for. (Gagne, Wager, Golas & Keller, 2005 in Frey and Sutton, 2010).

• What do I want students to to learn while watching my video?
• What approach is best suited to support that learning?
  • i.e. expository video using visuals and diagrams, interviews, experiments, and/or live demonstrations.

See: UBC's Design Principles for Multimedia. An overview of Mayer's principles (and Muller's research findings) for effective multimedia design within a practical framework.

Assessment

• What measures will I use to see if my video had the desired impact on learning?
  • Test scores, performance in collaborative activities, and post-video quizzes are some possibilities.
  • A good instructional design principle is to ensure alignment between goals and objectives, the learning activities (associated with the video) and the assessment method you select.

Test

Once you have gathered your equipment and software, experiment with it. Test everything, create a test video and export a test file to your editing software to familiarize yourself with the process and surface any issues with sound or lighting that you'll want to fix before production.

Format, Budget and Timeline

The format you choose for your video should (ideally) support the objectives you are trying to achieve. That said, sometimes time and budget constraints dictate format. Check with colleagues who have done this projects like the one you are planning to get a sense of timeline, budget and impact and go from there.

Planning Resources

• Plan It! section of the DIY media website.
• A Model for Developing Multimedia Learning Projects Frey,B; Sutton, J. (2010)
• UBC's Design Principles for Multimedia. An overview of Mayer's principles (and Muller's research findings) for effective multimedia design within a practical framework.
• The Media Scholarship Project: Strategic Thinking about Media and Multimodal Assignments in the Liberal Arts :an excellent overview of the process of designing multimodal projects from a faculty perspective. Full of good, practical information.
• Plan Your Project Worksheets:Video, Audio, Screencast: Guides to help you work out the learning objectives, content and associated learning activities.

TIPS: Consider the aim of the video and limit to what's possible in a 3-5 minute time frame. Consider what your viewers will need in order to learn from the video. Plan out the timeframe for scripting, recording/shooting, and editing, and add an additional 20% to account for unexpected delays or issues. A good rule of thumb is "...for every minute of a completed project, several minutes will be required for production. These times include all relevant tasks from planning to publishing and assume familiarity with the necessary software(from Penn State's Instructor's Guide to Media Activities." Test out your equipment beforehand at the filming location to ensure that filming goes smoothly. You may catch lighting, audio or file format issues which then you can solve before filming as well as ensuring that you have all necessary equipment and that all work properly together.

CHECKLIST: checkGroup your content into 3 to 6 minute segments. check Review principles for learning, instruction and multimedia development. check Create script and storyboard. check Set up your recording environment. check Visit your location check Coordinate with subjects and assistants

Every minute you spend planning your project is worth two or three minutes of designing, recording, and editing. Before you do anything else, download and fill out this worksheet. Try to be as detailed as possible: it'll make life easier later on.

Chunk content

One of the most important features in the planning worksheet is the 'Generate Concepts' section. This will help you break your content down into easily digestible sections, a technique also known as chunking content. Chunking content involves breaking down large themes into manageable chunks or concepts: for example, if you intend to cover 4 concepts in a single video of 20 minutes, breaking the long video into four five-minute chunks will make it likelier that the material will be watched and effectively absorbed. Recent research indicates that the optimal length for student engagement is 6 minutes or less. (Guo, 2013).

Review principles

UBC's Design Principles for Multimedia provides an overview and basic framework for considering evidence based principles when designing multimedia for learning.

For more depth, Carnegie-Mellon's principles for learning, Merrill's First Principles of Instruction, Gagne's 9 events of instruction and Mayer's principles for multimedia development are useful references for helping you think about how to approach your presentation as a learning resource.

Storyboarding

After you've selected one chunk to start with, you can fill out this storyboarding worksheet. You can fill this out however you want to: for more traditional video projects, storyboards usually include sketches of each scene with notes attached, but you can feel free to use text, draft your script, draw each slide, sketch diagrams you might use, or some combination of those and other techniques.

• Storyboard template (from Penn State Media Commons) along with storyboarding tips and examples.
• For storyboard pointers check out storyboarding for explainer videos by Common Craft.

Create a script

Writing a script will save you time in the long run. Creating a storyboard can help you see where you may want to add additional content, like b-roll images, to provide examples and raise interest. Once your storyboard is complete, you will get a sense of the flow of your project and can make decisions about editing more easily. Once your script and storyboard are complete, you'll get a sense of the flow of your project and can make decisions about editing more easily.

• Make sure to rehearse your script(s), to avoid unnecessary pauses or verbal stumbles when you're recording.
• Note which slide will be on-screen while you're speaking. Some people find it useful to include pictures of the slides in the script, to remind them of what the viewer will see while they're speaking.
• Time your script to ensure it fits within the 3-6 minute timeframe you should be aiming for.
• Try to write naturally: not only will people learn better (Mayer's 10^th principle) but it'll be easier to read from: encountering the words it is when you'd usually say 'it's is distracting, and can throw you off.
• Review your presentation for extraneous material, and remove it: the occasional anecdote or tangentially related point is fine, but the shorter your video is, the likelier it'll be watched to completion, and staying focused on your topic is important. (Mayer's 1^st principle.)

• For scripting pointers look at Scripting for explainer videos by Lee Lefever at Common Craft.

Prepare Your Subject and Shoot Location. You will need to consider who will be involved in your production, arrange schedules, permissions, and any other needs ahead of time. You will also want to check out the location for things light conditions, power sources, noise and travel.

Pre-Production Resources

Storyboard/Scripts

• Storyboard template (from Penn State Media Commons) along with storyboarding tips and examples.
• For storyboard pointers check out storyboarding for explainer videos by Common Craft.
• For scripting pointers look at Scripting for explainer videos by Lee Lefever at Common Craft

Forms

• You will require a release from any subjects who will appear on-screen in your production. UBC's Consent Form.

TIPS: Try to keep to the 3 minute mark per concept with a total video length of not more than 6 minutes. Planning will save time later Take time to prepare a storyboard and script. Keep it simple and remember your objective.

CHECKLIST: check Obtained signed consent forms from anyone you record. check Set up lighting and test for sound. check Consider a pre-interview (if interview is your plan). check Record your video. check Source any additional content that you will be editing in (b-roll). check Familiarize yourself with copyright resources and guidelines.

You will have tested your equipment and planned your shoot or screencast with a storyboard before you begin filming.

Location

• Reduce echoes by filming in a room with soft surfaces such as your living room. Reduce or eliminate electrical sounds such as computer fans and other appliances.
• Avoid rooms with echoes or fans (even imperceptible fan sounds may be picked up by an external mic).
• Test your sound for quality in your location with equipment. Improving the audio even marginally will far improve the perceived quality.
• Ensure that you have permission to film in the space.

Audio

• Use a noise-reducing microphone and keep the mic close to your voice.

Lighting

• Prepare your lighting if you will be using your webcam.
• Create basic three-point lighting so that your focal point (person) is not flat (2D instead of 3D) with lighting fixtures.
• Utilize natural light appropriately when videoshooting outside such as having your lighting being lighting up the front of what you're filming and usually to one side and above rather than head on (so not mid-day but preferrably sunrise and sunset). Also best shooting happens on overcast days. Here are 3 quicktips for shooting outside.
• Lighting arrangement for recording yourself or someone else - DIY for web capture or more advanced DIY greenscreens.
• Mixig together different light sources is a bad idea as studio lighting is generally reddish-orange compared to daylight and normal flourescent lighting can be quite greenish.

Recording

• Record in small chunks so that you can edit them more easily later.
• Record the same height of your subject and get more than just your object i.e. surroundings in the shot.
• Take more than one footage of the same scene and from more than one angle (follow storyboard as well).
• Control your lighting and use lighting as best you can or adjust what you're filming when you can't.
• Use a tripod to ensure a steady shot but don't lock the tripod position so you can follow moving subjects.
• Ensure filming device is on auto-focus and experiment with camerawork.

Production Resources

Software

• Software: Camtasia downloads (Camtasia for Mac, Camtasia Studio for PC). Note: UBC has a campus wide license key that you can enter after downloading the trial versions. Tutorials (Techsmith): (Mac, PC) or in-depth estimated 6 hour Camtasia PC Lynda.com tutorial.
• Final Cut Pro
• iMovie

Techniques and Approaches

• How to Shoot a Good iphone video - Part of a great series from the iphoneographers. They also cover editing and app reviews for iphone moviemaking.
• Penn State's Video Production Tips
• Video Techniques from kdmcBerkely (School of Journalism) for more depth and detail.
• YouTube Tutorial Videos Video to help you with all phases of production.
• Indy Mogul's YouTube Channel Great Resource for DIY Video support for things like lighting, special effects.

B-roll Content

• Find OER : Open Professionals Education Network
• UBC's Image Sources Guide
• UBC's Public Domain Guide

Copyright

Do you need to find copyright safe sound or images for your project? The following resources can help:

Image Sources: UBC's Copyright resource provides an excellent list of various "copyright safe" image databases and also includes some discipline specific ones as well.

Creative Commons Guide: UBC's Copyright Guide provides lists of databases for free and "copyright safe" sounds, music and video for your digital media projects. It also helps you understand Creative Commons licenses and how and why you may want to apply one to your work.

Public domain resources: this page provides an overview of what public domain is, how material in the public domain can be used, and much more, including quick tips to check if something is or is not considered public domain in Canada, as well as links to public domain sources.

Students and Copyright

Why should I care about copyright?: this student-centered guide, put together by the UBC Learning Commons team, answers questions on the subject of copyright and addresses a number of myths and misconceptions surrounding copyright.

Forms

• You will require a release from any subjects involved in your production. UBC's Consent Form.

TIPS: Add media to enhance interest - This is referred to as b-roll content and can include examples, still images, videoclips or freely available content licensed for re-use or in the public domain. Make sure to focus on audio quality - high quality audio is the single most important thing that will elevate the professionalism of your video. When recording, start with the end in mind, and aim for that in your production. Make sure you video footage is of good quality (resolution and audio quality) as there is only so much magic you can do in editing.

CHECKLIST: check Assess for clear and balanced audio throughout with good pacing. check Asess for pace of the action appropriate (not too fast or too slow. check Assess for flow. check Ensure all graphics, sounds and effects are necessary. check Eliminate any extraneous information. check Review against Mayer's principles for multimedia design. check Get feedback on roughcut from learners (if possible).

This is where you will be adding your intro, your credits and acknowledgements (including references to any source material, images, music or video clips you have included) and assemble your project.

Software

• Final Cut Pro X Essential Training

  Final Cut Pro X is a powerful video editing program widely used by professional videographers and filmmakers. It is available for use at various Mac Workstations in UBC Vancouver Library locations. This course will help you with the full editing process, from preparation to exporting. Or, for students: Basic Tutorial for iMovie and Final Cut Pro.

• Camtasia for PC and Camtasia for mac: Using Camtasia and need some training? These short (2-5 min) videos offer excellent training support for beginners to advanced.
• Auadacity is a fairly powerful program to help with audio editing.

TIPS: Don't use too many transitions especially flashy ones Utilize the Remove Noise filter in your editing software to take out background noise. Pick one primary editing software and stick to it for consistency. Learn the basics of color correction because of lighting, sunlight or just the way your camera works, your film can turn out more blue, red, or green. Ensure you have enough computing power and hard drive space for editing.

CHECKLIST: checkConsider reach. If you want a wide reach for your audience, choose an open hosting environment (like YouTube). check Consider privacy. If you need a certain amount of protection around your content, choose a locally hosted option (like Kaltura). check Consider useability - if videos are long and you need to be able to search the content on key words consider a tool like Mediasite.

• YouTube: is an option if your project relies on open sharing and wide audience reach AND if you are not REQUIRING students to set up their own accounts. Setup your own youtube account or you can upload to the UBC youtube account with this documentation.
• Kaltura: a UBC hosted service and thus offers a layer of security and content moderation. Offers an option for learning activities that require students to record, upload and share video content through Connect. These videos will be transcoded for easier viewing on multiple devices, stored in a central platform, and will be available for searching and viewing. Compared to Youtube Kaltura offers more granular control over content and contributors. Here is the documentation for adding Kaltura in Connect and uploading video.

TIPS: Review your final product with colleagues and double check if your video is delivering the message or story you would like it to. Seek audience feedback about the resources you produce and use it to evaluate and improve.