Nuts and bolts of how to make a cheap video unit for your school or college

1. How to build a cost-effective media
unit in your school
Leon Cych @eyebeams
http://www.L4L.co.uk

2. http://bit.ly/L4Lvidcourse

3. How it came about
Reasons for creating the resource
• After Teaching worked in a SuperIndie
• Filming LiveStreaming TeachMeets
• Teachers TV Channel
• MOJO
• https://youtu.be/QKeFmapBn20

4. News consumption UK 2015
Source Ofcom interpreted by
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/

5. News consumption worldwide
Source http://www.liftigniter.com/reuters-digital-news-research-report-2015-6-trends-to-watch/
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism recently released their fourth
“Digital News Report” for 2015. They surveyed more than 20,000 people in
12 countries, “which makes it the largest ongoing comparative study of
news consumption in the world.”

6. Bentley Ad – Filmed on iPhone 5s
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyYhM0XIIw
U

7. Colleagues will be skeptical
Picture attribution by carbonNYC on FLICKR

8. Opportunity Cost
How will it benefit the school?
What are the risks and the benefits?
How much will it cost in terms of financial
staff and curriculum time?
What are the hoped-for outcomes?

9. Uses?
• document good practice by both students and
teachers
• make "official" films of school events and
assemblies
• film sports and school productions
• film science experiments
• field trips
• flipped learning tutorials
• news channel

10. Plannning
• PAPERWORK
• Release Forms
• AUP on Filming
• Online Access
• Health & Safety
• SEND
• Copyright

11. Implementation
• Minimal Equipment
• Core team
• Digital Leader Schemes

12. Basic Kit
Basic
Smart phone or Tablet + Apps
Tripod
Case for ipad / iphone or android phone
Light
Microphone
Advanced
An iRig pre / pro
A XLR mic and lead

13. Phone or Tablet
The faster the better
iPhone 5 upwards
Android – Nexus 5 upwards
iPad – depends on features but iPad 2 upwards
best specs iPad Air or iPad Pro
Latest iPod
Android Tablets - it depends. Tesco tablets probably
won’t be suitable. Hi specced gaming tablets yes.

14. Lightweight Collapsible Tripod
Rollei Compact Traveler No I Tripod for Travelling - £90 - £99
Benefits
• Keeps image steady
• Saves tiring your hands
• You can add other equipment
• Packs away small

15. Lightweight Collapsible Tripod
Hahnel Triad Compact C5 Super Travel Tripod with Integrated Monopod £45-£62
Benefits
• Keeps image steady
• Saves tiring your hands
• You can add other equipment
• Packs away small

16. Case for phone – basic
Shoulderpod S1 – about £30 or lessBenefits – very small and compact

17. Case for phone/ ipad – advanced
Benefits – holds a microphone and light as well
iOgrapher cases – around £30

18. External Microphone - Basic
Benefits
• Cheap(ish) and effective
• Small and portable
Drawbacks
• Wired
• Can’t monitor sound without accessory
Rode smart lav + - about £47
Rode mini-mic – about £59
Benefits
• Extremely small and light
• Fits on phone
• No wires
• You can monitor the sound

19. External Microphone – Advanced
Benefits
• Boosts the sound of a professional mic
• Can monitor the sound
• Can take the sound from a mixer
Drawbacks
• Wired
• Needs additional kit to work + battery
iRig Pre-amp – about £27
+
XLR lead – about £4.00
+
Audio Technica ATR 2100
About £100
XLR lead – about £4.00

20. External Microphone – Super Advanced
Benefits
• Boosts the sound of a professional mic
• Can monitor the sound
• Can take the sound from a mixer
• Midi
• Digital sound input so better than analogue
iRig Pro – about £100
+
XLR lead – about £4.00
+
Beyerdynamic M58 mic
About £300 around £100 on ebay
Used by the BBC – little handling noise

21. A good mic makes the difference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYfvzrMhtl4

22. Light
Benefits
• Gives a sharper picture
• Can use in darker rooms
• Fills in light for a more aesthetic photo
Nanguang Luxpad22 Professional
Ultra Thin 112-LED 11W Video Light Pad
About £30
iBlazer 2 – wireless light
£40 Apple Store
Benefits
• Extremely small and light
• Wireless!

23. Mifi Hotspot
Benefits
• Fast – can put up to 15 people online
• Small and portable
Drawbacks
• Pay as you go can get expensive only last 30 days
• No 4G signal in some places
TP-Link 4G M7350 about £67 + sim and PAYG

24. Apps
Filmic Pro

25. Apps

26. Workflows before filming
• Make checklists of kit
• Lay everything out day before
• Make sure everything that has
a battery, mics, lights, phones
is fully charged and you have
backup power

27. Workflows before filming
• Put small discrete objects
in see-through, plastic zip-up
bags and label them

28. Workflows before filming
• Use a small zip-up case for much smaller
items,

29. Workflows before filming
• Buy a really good
professional holdall
or rucksack
• Strong, lasting zips
• Lots of pockets

30. Workflows before filming
• Double or triple protect valuable kit
• It’s expensive – keep it in good condition!

31. Workflows before filming
• With bulkier kit use labelled boxes.

32. Workflows before filming
• Notebook and pen

33. Workflow for video
• Always sort your apps
into folders!
• Makes sure all the
video kit is sorted and
assembled before
shooting

34. Workflows for audio
• Test your mics beforehand
• Make sure you can monitor
your sound whilst recording
• Do a test before recording
then playback

35. Workflows for lighting
• Reccy where you are going to film
• Is there enough natural light
• Yes – then film opposite a window where
possible
• If not then pack suitable light(s)
• Make sure you have enough power to power
them!

36. You will need both Twitter and Periscope to livesteam.
Both Apps are free.
http://www.periscope.tv
+
http://www.twitter.com
LiveStreaming 1

37. LiveStreaming 2
Facebook now supports livestreaming.
Go to “write” and you’ll see a
livestream logo in the bottom.
Drawbacks
Do you want this on your personal pages?
Do you want it to go out live!!!!!
+

38. Most schools are Faraday cages
• Hard wire your streaming
• Connect a powered USB hub to ethernet
• Or connect to a live streaming box
• Make sure you have permissions to stream out
• You will have to contact your IT staff to
“release” the ports to allow you to do this

39. Connecting a phone to ethernet

40. Green Screen/ Interactive
• Tablets are good at Green Screen / news
studio work.
• Best free App for this is TouchCast

41. TouchCast
http://www.touchcast.com/Learn4Life/staceys
_interactive_film

42. Post Production
But out and about use an iXpander Sandisk
on an iPhone or iPad about £40
Fastest way to get your films
off a phone and onto a computer is connecting via
a USB lead

43. Film Editing Apps for Android
• Cinema FV5
• VideoPad Video Editor - Free
• VideoShow
• Kinemaster
• Power Director
• Adobe Premiere Clip
• AndroVid
Post Production

44. Post Production
Film editing apps for iOS
• iMovie
• Pinnacle studio

45. Post Production
Film editing apps for Windows
• Windows Movie Maker
• Kate's Video Toolkit
• WeVideo - Online app
• Avidemux - for the more technically
minded
• VSDC Video Editor

46. Post Production
Film editing apps for Windows
• MPEG StreamClip - handy little program
• Free Video Editor DVDsoft
• LightWorks - Full blown professional
editing program - suitable for upper
secondary
• Freemake Video Converter - useful file
converter

47. Post Production
Film editing apps for Windows
• Pinnacle Video Spin
• Wax - Special effects - complex
• Filmora Wondershare
• Jahshaka
• Handbrake - incredibly powerful video
conversion tool

48. King of Coffee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s9X
prJihr8
Philip Bromwell

49. Further Reading
• https://www.amazon.co.uk/MOJO-Mobile-
Journalism-Handbook-
Broadcast/dp/1138824909
• https://www.amazon.co.uk/Democratizing-
Journalism-through-Mobile-
Media/dp/1138641685/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&i
e=UTF8&qid=1466598432&sr=1-2

50. Leon Cych
• leon@L4L.co.uk
• @eyebeams
• http://www.L4L.co.uk
• http://l4lcourses.co.uk/