Tips and Best Practices for Making Internet Video
You might be the greatest thing since sliced bread when it comes to lighting and framing. But if you’re no good at these preliminary things your online video quality may seriously suffer. That could mean less viewers, less revenue and less projects in the future. So check out these few quick things to help you get set before you say Quiet on the Set!
What is it? – Every good video starts with a good idea. But that good idea has to then be turned into a good script and good dialog (if you have any). It needs to be compelling and keep the viewer’s interest. But not only that, the story needs to go somewhere or the video has to be setup so that it leads the viewer into wanting to obtain further information, see further episodes or buy the product, whatever the goal of your video is. This can be accomplished with good pacing. An average person speaks 120-150 words per minute so if you are going to have someone speaking then a five-minute video would require around 600 to 750 words if it were one person speaking for the whole video.
Who’s on First? – That old Abbott and Costello bit still gets me even now. But it was all about placement and timing. Storyboarding is where you, as the creative talent behind your online video, get all your placement and timing hashed out before you get on set or location and start muddling about. This is where you can outline exactly what’s happening in every piece of the video. We’re not talking doing a second-by-second mock-up here but a general visual outline so you know exactly what route you want to take from point A to point B. Once you’ve got this and your script in hand you should have a pretty clear idea on where you are headed and how you’re getting there.
Ohhh, shiny! – You’ve got your footage, you followed your script, your storyboard showed you the way. Now what? Well of course you’ve got to edit together the pieces. But you’ve also got information that you need to communicate to your viewers. This could be as simple as an opening title or as complex as a full set of subtitles, closed captions and scene transitions and closing credits. Either way you have got to get URLs, email addresses and product names. Depending on if you’re selling a product, a service or a person that is.
These are just three simple things to take into account even before you step behind or in front of that video camera and yell Action! Done properly these initial foundations will give you a solid base from which to build your online video empire.