Online Surgery Session

Making better videos: Planning Your Video Production

Session date: 23 November 2011

This 60 minute session starting at 1pm provides an overview of the video production process and highlights the basic areas that should be considered before starting to shoot.

For more information

Links from the session.

Recording of the entire session [opens a Blackboard Collaborate session]
Planning Your Video Production 1 - Introduction [JISC Digital Media article]
Planning Your Video Production - Location Planning [video]
Jack KoumiGuidelines for Pedagogic Video Production (PDF)
Office for Disability Issues - Commissioning Accessible Videos (PDF)
JISC Legal
JISC TechDis
Advice & Guidance for content developers working with video, JISC TechDis

Transcript of questions and answers

48 people joined the session at or around 1pm. We asked what video production activites they were normally engaged in. Of the 20 people who responded, most were involved in mulitple activities. 6 engaged in lecture capture, 6 made demonstration videos, 5 produced interview-based videos. 4 were involved in promotional production and 3 recorded student activites - digital storytelling, fieldwork and musical performances.

Accessibility

We emphasised the importance of planning for accessibility early in the presentation.

Matt made a recommendation: "Universal subtitles site is quite good for captioning".

Jason (JISC Legal) said that, "The duty to make reasonable adjustments applies not only to employers - also to service providers - see Equality Act 2010 s.29(7)".

Oliver from BCU T-SPARC said, "This session is great for us, we are working collaboratively...developing some video resources for programme teams developing new provision and reapproving existing provision. Encouraging them to think of inclusive learnning as a primary rather than secondary consideration. We had some help from media students last year but its good to be able to speak the language and structure the projects better."

Zak stated that "Regarding captioning and/or other features, there isn't a rule about having to use 1 or the other. It is good for usability to provide as many helpful ways as possible" and provided a useful link: http://www.jisctechdis.ac.uk/techdis/resources/detail/learnersmatter/Video_AGS

Time issues

Matt asked, "What is the maximum length of a video you would recommend, thinking about the attention span of the audience?"

Jason added, "if it only has a few key facts I keep things under 5mins."

Matt suggested, "...someone said 7 mins for say for a video case study or interview."

Oliver from BCU T-SPARC said, "We were aiming for 12 different topics and around 3-4 mins each. Is there a minimum time or maximum time you would recommend for a specific persons comment about a topic?"

Zak Mensah replied, "My least favourite answer.... it depends.Context is key. When and how is the video being viewed? is the design of the video such that it should be watched start to finish in 1 sitting."

Eduardo asked, "Do you think a 10% rule applies where 1hr of footage for 10 minutes of final edited video?"

Steve Bowles replied, "Depends on the type of project - interviews can often run for ages for just a single sound-bite."

3rd party contributors

Julian asked, "If you have a budget should you consider employing a production company or would you advise a DIY approach?"

Steve Bowles replied, "Doing it yourself - if you dont have the expertise - may be a false economy."

Jason (JISC Legal) asked , "Can you give indicative rates for getting a freelancer in?"

Tim O'Riordan suggested that going rates depend on the experience of the freelancer - anything from £200 to £400 per day for a cameraperson. The Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU) provide indicative rates for various crew members (see: http://www.bectu.org.uk/advice-resources/rates).

Feedback

Matt asked, 'Would you have a look at videos we produce and provide some feedback?'

Zak Mensah replied, "Yes. Email us."