AAM 2014: Tech Tutorial: Principles of Effective Video

AAM 2014 Seattle, WA

Anna Chiaretta Lavatelli, @annachiarettaEmily Lytle-Painter, @MuseumofEmily

Peter Argentine

TECH TUTORIAL:Principles of Effective Video

WHY VIDEO!?!

• Time• Space• Movement• Sound effects• Close ups• Archive images• Process images

• STORIES!

Anna Chiaretta LavatelliAssociate Director of Digital MediaMuseum of Contemporary Art Chicagoalavatelli@mcachicago.org

THE BASICS OF VIDEO PRODUCTION

ANNA CHIARETTA LAVATELLIASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL MEDIABALBOA PARK ONLINE COLLABORATIVEaclavatelli@bpoc.org

What is this video you speak of?!

Video Production can look like this…

Video Production can look like this…

Footage from a video made with an iPhone 4s

Behind the camera of that great shot

Phases of Production

Pre-Production• Planning meetings• Scripting, Storyboarding

Production• Shooting footage• gathering supplemental content

Post-Production• Editing the acquired materials

into a final product. • Montage, graphics, color,

sound mixing, etc.

Basic Elements of Video Production

SOUND

LIGHT

STABILITY

CAMERA

WORK LIGHT

CAMERA

STABILITY

SOUND

Sound

MICROPHONE

Audio-Technica Omnidirectional Lavalier Microphone ATR-3350 $18-24

Sound

MICROPHONE

Audio-Technica Omnidirectional Lavalier Microphone ATR-3350 $18-24

KV Connection iPhone Mic adapter $24

SOUND

ALWAYS USE HEADPHONES!

Light

Stability

TRIPODS

Velbon EX-330 ($40)

Joby GorillaPod ($30) 

Canon 3Ti ($600)

Canon 60D ($800 used)

Panasonic GH3 ($1500)

Camera(DSLR)

Camera(smartphone)

KV Connection iPhone Mic adapter $24

PANASONIC V520 ($250)Also can livestream

Canon 8GB VIXIA HF R40($250)Has built in memory

Check that it has a mic input!

Camera(consumer camcorder)

Sound

2 Microphones for interview recording

Audio-Technica Omnidirectional Lavalier Microphone ATR-3350+ Headphone Splitter

X2

Sound

ALWAYS USE HEADPHONES!

Alternative Methods

Cameras are everywhere! Why not use them?

• Quicktime Screen Capture• YouTube Broadcast/Hangout• YouTube Capture Now• Google Hangout

Google Hangout

Anna Chiaretta LavatelliAssociate Director of Digital MediaMuseum of Contemporary Art Chicagoalavatelli@mcachicago.org

Thank you!

Emily Lytle-PainterEducation TechnologistJ. Paul Getty Museum@MuseumofEmily

THE BASICS OF VIDEO CONTENT

DIGITAL STORYTELLING

• Surprise the viewer• Make sure it is accessible• Participatory Discussion• Identify with the viewer’s story• Connect with the viewer’s everyday

• These all interconnect!

DIGITAL STORY“The story is told in the public space, in ‘active communities’. The streets, Facebook, general media: all the places where the story happens are easily accessible for most people and designed to foster discussion. Unlike your own website or Tuesday night discussion group people come to these places for stories and are, therefore, more likely to respond to them.

The story is about the audience. The most important lesson I took from Nancy Duarte’s brilliant book Resonate is to treat your audience as a hero whenever you tell them something. People should not only be involved and directly addressed, it should be their story, the thing they are telling, to make it stand out. People usually listen to themselves.

The story helps create real life connections, has a physical component. The most heavily discussed issue in Leuven, I believe each great story in the digital age needs a physical element to really turn people from simply interested into highly enthusiastic.”

From the Museum of the Future Blog “Digital storytelling: How to tell a story that stands out in the digital age?“ by Jasper Visser

CONTENT PLAN

This is the most important step of the process. If you have a clear vision before going into a project it will be much easier in all the other phases.• VISION

How does it fit into your larger media goals?

• AUDIENCE Who do you want to tell your story to?

• PLATFORM Where will your video live?

• VOICE AND CONTENT TYPE How will your video look and sound?

TONE: CONTENT TYPES

This can be dictated by the tech and help you have access to and the story you want to tell:

• Formal Documentary• Documentation• Conversational• Casual/DIY/How-to• Family-Friendly• Social/Informal

DOCUMENTARY

DOCUMENTATION

MARKETING

SOCIAL MEDIA

SCRIPTED: HOW TO WRITE

Start with a list of the facts that have to be in the video, and then…

• WRITE FOR YOUR AUDIENCE Write a rough draft of your text.

• REVIEW OUT LOUD Read through with your voices ~20 times.

Refine, refine, refine.• ADD IN VISUAL NOTES

What do you want to have on screen during each line?

UNSCRIPTED: HOW TO INTERVIEW

● DO YOUR RESEARCH● KNOW YOUR INTERVIEWEE

A famed scholar will require a different form of questioning than an emerging artist.● BE RESPECTFUL

but ask the hard questions.● MAKE IT CONVERSATIONAL

Your interviewee will be more comfortable!● MAKE STEADY EYE CONTACT

Smile, but don’t be creepy. Don’t make noise.● LISTEN

TIPS FOR INTERVIEWEES

Nobody likes to be on camera, so how can you mitigate the pain?

• SEND THE QUESTIONSbefore so they can think about

talking points• PRACTICE OUT LOUD

Before your subject is on set, talk it through

• FOCUS ON THE INTERVIEWER(not the camera) and have a conversation

• LUCKWear a favorite clothing item, or lucky charm.

Emily Lytle-PainterEducation TechnologistJ. Paul Getty Museum@MuseumofEmily

THANK YOU!

EDITING THE VIDEO

Peter Argentine

POST-PRODUCTION

• iMovie

• YouTube editor

• Premiere Pro

• In camera editing

"What is drama, after all, but life with the dull bits cut out.”Hitchcock

Editing Basics

Editing is selecting portions of an event(s) and putting

them into a meaningful sequence.

Edit to tell a story that makes sense and has impact.

Plan from Day One

Continuity Editing: Creating seamless transitions from one event detail to

the next so the story flows

Non-linear Editing:

Phase 1: Capture/File Transfer

Transfer your source media to your hard drive and your project folder,

naming everything

Phase 2: Editing

Combining the recorded shots in the timeline

Phase 3: Export

Online, Videotapes or DVDs

Collapsing Time

To collapse a story that might span many years into a

realistic time length for a film

Flashbacks, flash-forwards, completion of sentences in

two separate times, showing the same happenings with

different outcomes (breakfast scenes to show time

lapse of marriage), etc.

● Paper edit/transcribing● Pacing--creative ways to move story

forward● Assembly● Rough Cut● Fine Cut● Finishing--Narration, Sound design, Mix

“There are no rules in filmmaking. Only sins. And the cardinal sin is

dullness."

What you should know when hiring a contractor for

a video production

Link for av & accessibility:http://www.nps.gov/hfc/products/av/av-accessibility.cfm

Key to successful Mediahttp://www.nps.gov/hfc/pdf/imi/media-success.pdf

Media Development Process

http://www.nps.gov/hfc/aboutus/mediaDevelopmentProcess.cfm

RESOURCEShttp://www.creativecow.net/

https://castingwords.com/

http://museumvideo.blogspot.com

http://conservationreel.org/content/how-get-started

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/create-your-own-content1.html

http://storycorps.org/great-questions/

Watch more museum videos, take notes!

http://artbabble.com/

THANK YOUAnna Chiaretta LavatelliAssociate Director of Digital MediaMuseum of Contemporary Art Chicagoalavatelli@mcachicago.org

Peter ArgentineArgentine Productions Inc.peter@argentineproductions.com

Emily Lytle-PainterEducation TechnologistJ. Paul Getty Museum@MuseumofEmily