The Basics of Video Storytelling By Abi Gleckler
Dec 31, 2015
The Basics of Video Storytelling By Abi Gleckler
Components of a video story
An effective video has 3 important aspects • Clear story line • Good audio • Good video
Factors to consider when selecting a story
Visual appeal • The strength of a video is that can
show motion, if there is action happening video is the only way to capture that
• Highlight the only the interesting, most important parts of a story to keep viewer watching
Factors to consider when selecting a story
Emotion • Go beyond the facts to tell a story • The emotional appeal or subjective
point of view will get the audiences attention so they want to watch your video
Factors to consider when selecting a story
Character • A story should feature someone your
intended audience would want to spend some time with
• Someone who the viewer might not encounter in their daily lives
Factors to consider when selecting a story
News Value • Always consider the journalistic value
of the story • Know the facts especially with
breaking news • The viewer should take something
away from the story
Factors to consider when selecting a story
Others:• Location • Time • Community • Web traffic • Shelf life of the story
Audio
• Practice how to capture good sound because it will be a vital part of the video
• Use a microphone or a lavaliere mic to avoid the natural sound from the background causing white noise
Audio
Vosot: voice over sound on tape • Script read by news anchor live while
video is shown is a voiceover (VO)• The anchor will stop reading so an
interview clip will play• This clip is called a soundbite or SOT• The SOT is added to the VO to create a
vosot that will be included in the video
Audio
• Vosots are usually used for stories that can be told quickly but need the soundbite from the authority figure or eyewitness
• Soundbites are usually 10-15 seconds
Audio
• The audio is often laid down first in a sequence and then the video is placed to match • Music can be added to a video to make it
more entertaining
Shooting video
• Video footage should enhance and illustrate the story told by the audio
• The video should also always match up with the audio at any given moment
Shooting video
• A good video is about someone doing something • The action is what will hold the
audiences attention • Follow a noun/verb/object formula
Shooting video
• Hold still while shooting • Zoom with your feet • Move-point-shoot-stop
Shooting video
• Keep it short • Cut by 2/3
Shooting video
• Shoot what interests you • Pick a specific topic and show every
aspect of that subject in depth
Shooting video
• Keep the brightest light behind you • The camera needs light to capture the
subject, so get as close as possible • If you are father away from the
people you’re shooting, so is the light bouncing off of them
Shooting video
• Don’t shoot until you can see the whites of their eyes
• If you’re too far away you won’t capture the nonverbal communication such as body language
• Eyes tell half the story so if you miss the eyes you miss half the message
Shooting video
• Think in shots • Short bits of video 1-10 seconds cut
together to make a scene • We process visual info quickly and get
bored quickly so shoot short shots
Main points
• Too make a good video you must first plan video and gather resources
• Shoot the video making sure your shots have a subject and action
• Edit your footage to make sure each shot is cut to its best and shortest
Main points
• And remember every good video story has 3 things!• Clear story line • Good audio • Good video