Planning a video

Paul Mundy

Planning

Who is your audience? Novice beekeepers

What is your objective? Teach them how to avoid getting stung

What is your message? 6 ways to avoid getting stung

Develop a story idea

Don’t get stung! Bee stings are painful, but not usually dangerous Ways to avoid them when you a working with the

bees Wear protective clothing Use a smoker Stand behind the hive Work slowly and calmly Do not panic Don’t hassle the bees

Draft a script

Use conversational language, short words, short sentences

Decide what will be narration and what will be interview

Don’t use too many words Narration speed

120-150 words/minute 2 words/second 1 line of A4 text in 5 seconds

Example of a script

Don’t get stung!Bee stings are painful. But unless you are allergic, they are not usually dangerous.

How can you avoid getting stung when you are working with your bees?

First, you can wear protective clothing that covers your whole body: gloves, boots and a veil.

You won’t get stung, but it can get hot inside. And the veil gets in the way and makes it hard to see what you are doing.

For most types of work, it’s possible to get by without any protective clothing. Here’s what to do.

Use a smoker. You’ll need this anyway, even if you wear protective gear.

Stand behind the hive. Bees get nervous if you stand in front of their front door.

Work slowly and calmly. Bees can tell if you’re nervous, and they might attack you.

Do not panic. If bees do start attacking you, move out of the way.

Don’t hassle the bees. Be careful not to squash them!

Do these things, and the bees will leave you alone.

But if you do get stung… remember that after you have been stung about 30 times, it stops hurting so much!

Draft a script

Think visually. Think of the visuals that will accompany each section

Divide the sections according to the visuals that will accompany each one

Allow the pictures to talk for you: don’t say it if you can see it

Use Word

Table with 2 columns Video on left, audio on

right Audio: Copy and

paste in right column Video: Print out and

sketch video scene in left column

Or: Write descriptions in left column

Music

Narr: Bee stings are painful. But unless you are allergic, they are not usually dangerous.

Narr: How can you avoid getting stung when you are working with your bees?

Narr: First, you can wear protective clothing that covers your whole body: gloves, boots and a veil.

MS: Beekeeper opening up beehive

MS: Beekeeper looking at bees

Video Audio

Use PowerPoint

Create a set of blank slides with a Title only

Paste the audio into the Title section of each slide

Use PowerPoint

Print out the slides, 6 slides to 1 page

Sketch the video in the space below the titles

Example of a storyboard

Video Audio

Beehive, beesTitle: Don’t get stung!

Music

LS: Beekeeper approaching beehive, wearing protective gear

Narr: Bee stings are painful. But unless you are allergic, they are not usually dangerous.

MS: Beekeeper opening up beehive Narr: How can you avoid getting stung when you are working with your bees?

MS: Beekeeper looking at bees Narr: First, you can wear protective clothing that covers your whole body: gloves, boots and a veil.

CU: Beekeeper looking hot under protective gear, fanning himself, struggling to see bee eggs through veil

Narr: You won’t get stung, but it can get hot inside. And the veil gets in the way and makes it hard to see what you are doing.

Example of a storyboard

Video Audio

LS: Beekeeper taking off protective gear, now wearing just T-shirt and jeans

Narr: For most types of work, it’s possible to get by without any protective clothing. Here’s what to do.

MS: Beekeeper using smoker Narr: Use a smoker. You’ll need this anyway, even if you wear protective gear.

LS: Beekeeper standing behind the hive

Narr: Stand behind the hive. Bees get nervous if you stand in front of their front door.

MS: Beekeeper cleaning excess wax off frame

Narr: Work slowly and calmly. Bees can tell if you’re nervous, and they might attack you.

CU: Bees flying aroundZoom out: Beekeeper moving 10 m away from hive

Wild sound: Bees buzzingNarr: Do not panic. If bees do start attacking you, move out of the way.

Example of a storyboard

Video Audio

CU: Beekeeper’s fingers holding frame carefully, avoiding bees

Narr: “Don’t hassle the bees. Be careful not to squash them!”

MS: Beekeeper replacing frame in hive Narr: Do these things, and the bees will leave you alone.

MS: Beekeeper closing hive Narr: But if you do get stung… remember that after you have been stung about 30 times, it stops hurting so much!

LS, Beekeepers walking away from hiveClosing credits

Music

Use sketches instead of wordsVideo Audio

Beehive, beesTitle: Don’t get stung!

Music

Narr: Bee stings are painful. But unless you are allergic, they are not usually dangerous.

Narr: How can you avoid getting stung when you are working with your bees?

Use sketches instead of wordsVideo Audio

Narr: First, you can wear protective clothing that covers your whole body: gloves, boots and a veil.

Narr: You won’t get stung, but it can get hot inside. And the veil gets in the way and makes it hard to see what you are doing.

Video jargon

ECU: extreme close-up (eg eye) CU: close-up (eg head and shoulders) MS: medium shot (eg head to waist) LS: long shot (whole of subject, with

surroundings) Two shot: shot of two people Over the shoulder: looking over one person’s

shoulder at the other person Cutaway: Shot shifts to another scene in order to

cover a break in an interview

Video jargon

Zoom in, zoom out: camera stays still, focal length changes

Pan: camera swivels horizontally Tracking shot: camera position moves to

follow action B-roll: camera shows a scene while

voiceover Footage: the amount of film or audio you

record

Sound words

Narration: What the narrator says. Narrator may be on-camera or off-camera

Voiceover: Voice heard when speaker is not in the shot

Interview: Interviewee talking Wild sound: Birds, wind, traffic, background

conversation… SFX: sound effects Music

Shoot footage

Go out and shoot the footage you need Arrange shots Conduct interviews Repeat takes if needed Collect wild sound Refer to your storyboard, but change it if you

need to (and you will need to!)

People

Talent: in front of the camera, holds interviews Interviewees: people being interviewed Camera operator: operates the camera Sound operator: records the sound Producer: arranges and directs the production Narrator: records narration

May be all the same person (except interviewees)

Alternative approaches

A. Develop detailed script, then go out and get the video and audio footage you need

B. Develop a general idea for a script, then go out and gather footage. Come back and develop a detailed script based on your footage

C. Reality? Some combination of A and B

Edit your video

Go through and log all your footage (note what is in it) Select the most promising shots Audio

Record the narration Put in the interview material

Video Put the video on top of the narration Add cutaways and B-roll Add initial and final credits Add subtitles

Preview and revise Present, upload, publicize Collect your Oscar

New Media Center. Storyboarding for video production. http://

www.princeton.edu/scienceaction/filming-essentials/Storyboarding-Video-Production.pdf

CommonCraft. Explainer tip: Creating Simple storyboards https://

www.commoncraft.com/explainer-tip-creating-simple-storyboards GoAnimate. What is a storyboard and why do you need one?

http://resources.goanimate.com/marketing/what-is-a-storyboard-and-why-do-you-need-one

WikiHow. How to create a storyboard http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Storyboard