How to Shoot Rich Cultural training Videos on a Smartphone Table of contents Introduction . 3 FOUR takeaways . 3 TOOLS YOU WILL NEED . 3 OUR PHILOSOPHY . 4 SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUcCESS . 4 PRE-PRODUCTION . 5 FINAL PRE-PRODUCTION PLANNING . 6 PRODUCTION . 6 FINAL PRODUCTION CHECKLIST . 7 POST-PRODUCTION . 8 The Video Tutorial . 10 Wisetail . 10 Contact. 11 2 INTRODUCTION four takeaways you can do this No. 1 The Secret to a great story The value of creating rich, engaging cultural stories No. 2 break down the to-dos for using video is often outweighed by the time, expertise planning the shoot, and outside resources needed to produce these videos. Especially in the L&D world, video creation is the one area where content creators and instructional designers No. 3 give you shooting tips and tricks, don’t feel comfortable just giving it a shot. No. 4 give you helpful pointers on In this guide, we will take you step-by-step through what to consider while editing the proven Wisetail video production process from a your video. filmmaking novice’s point of view. We’ll give you both the insight and techniques needed to tell your cultural stories using the tools (smartphone & laptop) already at your disposal. Tools you will need - Smartphone - Tripod (Helpful but not necessary) - Hard drive - Editing software - computer To watch the full video tutorial, go online to: wisetail.com/video 3 Our Philosophy Set yourself up for success The process and techniques of how to shoot video By asking yourself these questions, you’ll put on a smartphone are both very important. But the yourself in a position to tell a compelling story real secret has nothing to do with video production or with your video. fancy gear and everything to do with identifying the authentic stories within your organization. By using our Questions to ask : documentary-style, these stories are told in the words of real people in your organization. As documentary No.1 What is the purpose of thE video? has become more and more popular as entertainment, it has also grown as a language audiences NO.2 Who is the Audience? instinctively understand – making documentary videos a perfect medium to tell cultural stories. No.3 What is the Message? No.4 Who Will you Interview? For Example: The purpose of this video is to show our new team members (no. 1&2) how our culture of growing leaders from within the company is a main driver of success (no. 3) by interviewing three of our most successful managers (no. 4) who started as part-time interns. up next pre-pro Pre-production No. 4 Make a list of shots to get on day of production With your story ready to go, it’s time A-Roll :This is your master shot or interview to prepare. Pre-production is when footage. You’ll want to capture your you take care of all the details in subject facing the camera and you’ll also advance of Filming your video. use this audio as voiceover as well. No. 1 Meet with potential Interview Subjects This is mainly to see if they are a good fit as well as to get them up to speed with the purpose and goal of the video. No. 2 Coordinate Shoot Put it on the calendar. Make sure everyone’s schedules work together. No. 3 Write interview Questions B-Roll :These are other shots to support the Put them down on paper, so you are able to give those story you’re capturing in the master shot. you are interviewing time to cultivate well-thought-out These can vary but need to help visually answers. This also allows you to decifer if the questions support the story and should all be are the right questions to ask in the first place. relevant to the arc you’ve created. Protip# 1: Have a couple personal questions at the end of each interview if you are asking the same questions to Shot no. 1 each intervieweE. Shot no. 2 To watch the full video tutorial // wisetail.com/video 5 Final pre-production Planning Production With everything ready to go after pre-production, The Checklist : it’s time to shoot your footage. AKA Production. - SET UP YOUR SET Make sure your interview questions (Make sure you pick a quiet spot.) Are proofread and good to go. ADD ANY last minute shots to the list. Protip# 2: Email fInal interview questions to USE A TRIPOD IF POSSIBLE. THIS HELPS WITH your interview subjects. THE STEADINESS OF THE SHOT. Make sure your smartphone is - SHOOT THE B-ROLL charged. (Remember to shoot horizontal.) - INTERVIEW YOUR SUBJECT Print your interview questions. ConFirm dates and times with your interview subjects and those helping with the shoot. up next production To watch the full video tutorial // wisetail.com/video Production Cont. Final Production Planning The Checklist : Protips# 3-5: If there are not a lot of B-Roll pick a quiet set. opportunities, add another smartphone at a different angle. This will give you more shot types. if you can, make sure to have a tripod on hand. Utilize others.They are able to get the shots you need so you are able Shoot the b-roll. to give your interviewEE your Full attention. Interview your subject. USE ANOTHER SMARTPHONE TO CAPTURE SOUND. PLACE THE PHONE CLOSER TO Make sure to have your interview YOUR INTERVIEWEE in order to Take your sound to the next level. subject repackage the questions. make sure to give visual cues. - Repackaging Questions Ex. Answering questions with, “My name is Justin.” Instead of answering, “Justin”. - Give visual cues Ex. Nodding or smiling while they answer. To watch the full video tutorial // wisetail.com/video 7 Post-Production Fine Cut - make revisions Post-Production is where you put all the pieces together and craft the story. Make edits as suggested by your second pair of eyes. Re-arrange clips as necessary and clean up your b-roll Choose editing software and transitions between shots. We recommend three different softwares. Adobe - add music Premiere Pro (Creative Cloud), iMovie (Mac), Window Watch your video on different devices and with or Movie Makes (Microsoft), and iMovie (on your iPhone if without headphones to test the sound and image you are in a time crunch). We use Adobe Premiere Pro quality. (Creative Cloud) here at Wisetail. Back Up Your Footage This is super key. Hard drives crash, computers become Protip corrupt, things do go wrong. We can’t help it. So, make # 6: sure to back up all of your footage. It never hurts. What is the mood you want to evoke? Play the music along side to Figure out Rough cut what works best. - create a Radio Edit A radio edit means whittling down your interview(s) or A-roll to only the parts you want to use. You can also see it as identifying what audio will be driving your video forward. - Roughly add B-Roll Roughly place the B-roll over the A-roll you want to supplement or cover up. You can be more precise with your edits later, but this will give you a starting point to see how everything flows. - Show to a friend or colleague for feedback Getting an extra set of eyes on your work is extremely important not only for advice on content and story, but also catch overlooked technical errors. 8 Post-Production Cont. Protip# 10: Take a break and come back to your Protips# 7-9: edit so you can see it with fresh eyes. This will help you catch things you Make sure you read up on licensing overlooked when you were deep in the music for video. If your Film is internal editing zone. vs. external facing can determine what kind of music you can use for free. Final Cut Some great sites for licensing music are premiumbeat.com, Song Freedom, Rumble - Fine Tuning Revisions and publish Fish, Vimeo music store, and Free Music Archive which has Creative Commons Make any fine tuning revisions as necessary and then music. you are ready to publish! keep music in the background. - Test Sound and Image Quality Watch your video on different devices and with or without headphones to test the sound quality. Audio levels will vary in headphones and with speakers. Preferably mix your voiceover and music without headphones. - Show to a friend or colleague for feedback Getting an extra set of eyes on your work is extremely important not only for advice on content and story, but also catch overlooked technical errors. To watch the full video tutorial // wisetail.com/video 9 the video Tutorial The Wisetail LMS Online at wisetail.com/video there is a video The Wisetail LMS allows you to build your brand, tutorial which is a companion to this guide. In communicate your culture and grow your community true tutorial fashion, we take you step-by-step within a world-class Learning Management System. through our process of creating rich cultural We believe online learning does not have to be a series of tasks but an immersive experience where training videos using a smartphone. each learner is invested in their own development. Our high-touch customer support model is The video tutorial begins with an example of unparalleled in the LMS marketplace. a Wisetail cultural video which we shot on a smartphone and uses this video for reference in walking the audience through our process. If you are a visual or hands-on learner, we highly About Wisetail encourage you to watch the video tutorial and then use this guide for reference as you set out to create your own cultural video.