A wide range of key tips to consider when shooting a video.

1. Tips for making a VIDEO (by Karl Gude)
Begin by asking, “Who is my audience?”
How can I construct my narrative so that it is
interesting and entertaining?
What are my goals?
What do you want people to do? Generally, you
want to educate them, and then persuade them to
take some sort of action.
How will I get there? What little stories do I
need to tell that will make up the bigger story?
How do I get my shots? What are my
locations, interviews, etc.

2. Tell a Story.
Outline the key points you want to make.
Have a beginning, a middle and an end.
1. Identify the issue
(toxic site next to school)
2. Is the issue with it?
(it’s leeching into the water table)
3. So what? (Kids are getting sick!!)
4. What can be done? (Remove the threat)
5. What will it take? (Resources)

7. Tell your story from the macro to
the micro:
What is the big picture here. If talking about
breast cancer:
The macro: the total number of people
who have it, how many die each year and
the demographics of who gets it.
The micro: One person’s story.
Personalize it. Bring it home.

8. Pacing: Pace your video appropriately, depending
on the subject.
If it’s a fun story about a carnival clown, then
have lots of fast cuts to different shots and scenes.
Keep the story lively, flowing, fun.
If it’s a sad story about someone’s battle with
cancer, then make your scenes longer and pause
on someone to add drama and create mood, even
if they’re not saying anything.

9. How will you organize your story?
Keep the editing process in mind when shooting.
Chronologically: Narrative moves from
beginning to end.
Mix it up: Start with the end and work toward
how you got there. Or start with the present
and mix in flashbacks.
Thematically: Group interests and activities.

10. Key visual elements to video storytelling:
Shoot wide, middle and tight shots: Wide sets
the overall scene, middle comes in closer to someone
talking and tight shots show details, like the person
fiddling with their glasses.
Shoot B-Roll: Shoot scenes to that will illustrate
what someone is talking about, and for filler while
you’re narrating (like a river flowing, a bee on a flower, a
street scene, etc.)
Interviews: (next slide)

11. When interviewing someone:
Shoot them early. You may want to go back and
illustrate what they say. How much of the story will
they tell in their voice, vs. your narrative. Let them tell
the story whenever possible.
Let the person interviewed do the talking:
Don’t ask, “Are you feeling well today?” because
they’ll answer, “Yes,” which is useless. Instead, ask
them to talk about how they are feeling. Don’t you say
a word while they’re talking, like, “Uh huh, yeah, right.”
Get in close for good audio. Don’t conduct an
interview in a loud coffee shop or on a busy street
corner. Take them somewhere quieter.

12. Think about these things when shooting:
Use a tripod. If you must hold the camera, don’t!
Set it on a wall or a table. Jittery film looks
amateurish.
Avoid slow (boring!) pans and zooms!!!
If you do shoot one, chop the middle out when
editing. Jump from close to far, left to right. Don’t
drag us along on a slow moving pan/zoom.
Get good angles. Put your camera on the
ground and let people walk by. Get up high.
Shoot a scene several times if necessary

13. Choose your shots carefully. Pick your
shots. What tells the story, what would make good
B-roll? Do you really want to edit all that footage?
Lighting: Make sure you’re not shooting into the
sun or in the dark. Is your subject squinting? Bring
them into the shade.
Composition: Before you start shooting, ask if
the shot is interesting, well composed. Is there a
phone pole coming out of someone’s head?
Action: Show movement.
Keep it short! Three minutes is long for most
attention spans.

14. News report parody link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtGSXMuWMR4
Karl’s free visual tools wiki (video hosting, etc.):
http://freevisualtools.wikispaces.com/
An interview of me shot by a student. Notice the B-roll
shots of the monitor, etc. as I talk:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjHYmkq_biw
Student work:
Brace yourself:
http://jrn203-fs10.wikispaces.com/Video+Storytelling