Day 1 of 4 at the 2015 Association for Talent Development (ATD) International Conference. I’m mentally exhausted from being introduced to so many new terms and concepts. Video workflow, storyboarding, design thinking, coaching SME’s, voice… just to name a few!
The first session that I attended this morning was titled “How to Make Fabulous Video, Fast and Affordably.” This session explored the transformation in video development. Instead of a need for expensive and high-quality technologies to produce video, there’s now a need for skill. With smart phones, iPads, and handy-cams, literally anyone can be a ‘videographer.’ The talent now lies in our ability to piece together this video in meaningful and effective ways.
This session was eye opening to me because it introduced a whole new way of thinking when developing video. In the past, I’ve always told faculty experts to write their script first, then we’ll mold that into some form of content delivery. However, the speaker emphasized the need for storyboarding first. The emphasis should be on the pictures, then let the script flow organically from it. The reason pictures are so important is because they are engaging. You are more likely to leave remembering an image than the script that was read. If you rely on the script, you might as well create a podcast; there is no reason for video.
The biggest take-away from this session was the speaker’s video workflow, which places a large emphasis on planning on the front end. The workflow looks as follows: 1.) Learning Objective; 2.) Structure/Story; 3) Storyboard; 4.) Script; 5.) Production Plan. He said each video should focus on one (and only one) objective. It should follow a prescribed structure in which you identify why the audience should watch the video, provide an overview of what’s to come, demonstrate or tell the story, and then summarize. The first 15 seconds should be engaging, and tell the viewer why they need to watch. Repetition and rehearsal are crucial summary, and you should present key information differently from different perspectives throughout the entirety. He gave warning in the development of long, extensive scripts with the key being the more said = the more forgotten. In short, keep it short.
The Production Plan involves many items, including a shot plan, people plan, resource plan, risk assessment (back-up plan), and location plan (with permissions). Each of these items must be considered before you even begin production to enable a smooth production.
He left us with two titles to learn more about developing video fast and affordably: Rapid Video Development and How to Make Videos That Don’t Suck.