Creating powerful videos

JUAN PABLO MOREIRAS/FFI Guidance on Creating Powerful Videos P R E PAR E D B Y: C O M M UNI C ATI O NS T E AM • Gettin g started • Pros an d s of u sin g vid eo • Leg al • Log os • Len g th • Storytel l in g • Visu al & Au d io JEREMY HOLDEN/FFI OVERVI EW G ET T I N G STAR T ED Vi de o c a n be a gre a t wa y t o c o mmuni c a t e y o ur me s s a ge t o y o ur t a rge t a udi e nc e To ma xi mi s e i mpa c t , i t i s i mpo rt a nt t o ma ke y o ur v i de o a s f o c us e d a nd a ppe a li ng a s po s s i ble LIZZIE DUTHIE/FFI Thi s c ume nt pro v i de s gui da nc e o n pro duc i ng s t t e gi c , hi gh-qua li t y v i de o s , a c c o rdi ng t o F F I s t y le gui de li ne s G ET T IN G STAR T ED Be f o re s t a rt i ng t o put t o ge t he r a v i de o , a s k y o urs e lf t he be lo w que s t i o ns a nd c he c k t t v i de o re a lly i s t he be s t wa y t o c o mmuni c a t e y o ur me s s a ge W HO IS YO UR TARG ET AUDIENCE ? W HAT ARE YO UR O BJECTIVES ? I t i s c r i ti c al that y ou have an objec ti ve f or y our vi deo Thi s wi ll gui de and f oc us pr oduc ti on For examp l e, y ou want to gai n suppor ter s, to i nf luenc e poli c y dec i si ons or to r se f unds? W H AT IS YO U R K EY MESSAG E? The key message i s the mai n pi ec e of i nf or mati on that y ou want y our audi enc e to take away f r om y our vi deo Thi s should r elate to y our objec ti ve s and be tai lor ed to y our audi enc e Be as spec i f i c as possi ble – y our vi deo mu st be tai lor ed to y our audi enc e f or i t to have a meani ngf u l i mpac t Bear i n mi nd the demogr ap hi c s of y our audi enc e when c onsi der i ng language, tone and sty le W HAT TYPE O F FO O TAG E DO YO U NEED? To ac hi eve y our objec ti ve s, c onsi der what f ootage y ou ar e pr esenti ng to y our audi enc e Tr y to ac hi eve a good balanc e of wi ldli f e, sc ener y and i nter vi ew s Thi nk about what f ootage y ou alr eady have ac c ess to, or i f y ou need to buy i n stoc k f ootage C o n t i n u e d o n n e xt s l i d e G ET T IN G STAR T ED HO W MUCH TIME DO YO U HAVE? HO W MUCH MO NEY DO YO U HAVE? Do y ou have enough ti me to pr oduc e y our vi deo? Ti me must be f ac tor ed i n f or planni ng, f i lmi ng, edi ti ng and appr ova ls A hi gh- quali ty, two - mi n u te vi deo takes at least ei ght day s to f i lm Edi ti ng ti me i s si gni f i c ant and c an take weeks, goi ng bac k and f or th betwee n the f i lm- mak er and c li ent D o y ou have f undi ng i n plac e to c over the c osts of y our vi deo pr oduc ti on? Pr oduc i ng two/ thr ee hi gh - quali ty, one- mi nut e f i lms c osts ar ound £8, 000 plus tr avel and soundtr ac k s Costs f or edi ti ng a f i lm usi ng exi sti ng f ootage c an be lower W H AT IS YO U R C ALL TO AC TIO N ? HO W W ILL YO U SHO W AND DISTRIBUT E YO UR VIDEO ? W hat ar e y ou aski ng the audi enc e to af ter watc hi ng y our vi deo? For examp le, y ou want people to donate, to get i n touc h or to shar e y our vi deo on soc i al medi a? Thi nk about how y our audi enc e wi ll ac c ess the vi deo – wi ll they watc h i t at an event on the bi g sc r een, or on thei r phones? W i ll the vi deo need tr anslati o n s, or on- sc r een text? PR OS AN D C ON S OF U SI N G VI D EO PROS V i d e o c a n b e i m m e r si v e a n d c a p t i v a t i n g , es pec i al l y when us ed wi t h s t rong audi o V i d e o c a n h e l p y o u r e a c h n e w a u d i e n c e s, t hereby broadening y our reac h C ONS V ideo requires te chnol ogy t o vi e w , s o m a y l i m i t y o u r a u d i e n c e V i d e o r e q u i r e s t e c h n i c a l e x p e r t i se a n d sp e c i a l i st e q u i p m e n t t o p r o d u c e V i d e o c a n b e e a si l y sh a r e d o n l i n e t o a b r o a d a u d i e n c e V i d e o c a n c o n ve y i d e a s a n d e m o t i o n s a t t h e s a m e t i m e ‘ Ta l k i n g h e a d s ’ c a n e x p l a i n c o m p l e x t o p i c s a n d c a n b e c h a r i sm a t i c V i d e o i s t i m e - c o n su m i n g t o p r o d u c e V i d e o i s e x p e n si v e t o p r o d u c e I f e x e c u t e d w e l l , vi d e o c a n i m p r o v e b r a n d p e r c e p t i o n , m a k i n g y o u l o o k m o r e p r o f e ssi o n a l ‘ Ta l k i n g h e a d s ’ c a n b e u n c h a r i sm a t i c a n d e ve n d u l l V i d e o b r i n g s f a r - o f f e n v i r o n m e n t s a n d sp e c i e s t o l i f e V i d e o c a n i n sp i r e , sh o c k a n d m o t i v a t e a n a u d i e n c e A s w i t h o t h e r m e d i a , vi d e o i s a u d i e n c e - sp e c i f i c a n d c a n n o t b e e x p e c t e d t o w o r k f o r e ve r y a u d i e n c e I f yo ur vid e o has m us ic , yo u m us t have p e r m is sio n to us e it W itho ut the c o rre c t lic e nc ing , yo u will b e re s tric te d with whe re yo u c an s hare yo ur vid e o , and y o u m a y b e fin e d if yo u d o no t have p ro o f o f lic e nc ing I t is als o im p o rtant to b e ar this in m ind if yo u are us ing p re -e xis ting f o o tag e no t o wne d b y yo u I f p e o p le are id e ntif iab le and /o r s p e aking in yo ur vid e o , yo u m us t have a s ig n e d r e le a s e fo r m , o r r e c o r ded p e r m is sio n f ro m all p e rs o ns f e ature d JEFF WILSON/FFI L EG AL L OG OS D O NO T c h a n ge th e F F I lo g o D o n o t s tre tc h it D o n o t ad d d ro p s had o ws D o n o t c hang e the f o nt o r c o lo ur D o n o t ad d anim atio ns … o r anything e ls e I f yo u are p ro d uc ing an F F I vid e o , us e the tab lo g o thro ug ho ut, p lac e d at the to p le f t c o rne r P le as e s e e o ur film s ty le g u id e f o r m o re inf o rm atio n I f yo u are us ing the F F I lo g o alo ng s id e o the r o rg anis atio ns ’ lo g o s at the e nd o f yo ur vid e o , c ho o s e the m o s t ap p ro p riate ve rs io n F o r e xam p le , the s q uare lo g o m ay b e a b e tte r f it alo ng s id e o the r lo g o s I f f ad ing to b lac k, us e the white F F I lo g o NB this c an lo o k untid y if m ultip le , c o lo ure d lo g o s are us e d , s o ke e p it s im p le L EN G T H P e o p le ’s atte ntio n s p ans are d e c re as ing and yo u m us t th i n k o f a h o o k to g r a b th e ir a tte n tio n f ro m the s tart T his is p artic ularly ap p lic ab le f o r s o c ial m e d ia – the re is no tim e to s e t the s c e ne , yo u ne e d to g e t to the p o int s traig ht away E xam p le s o f aud ie nc e re te ntio n c urve s f ro m thre e d if f ere nt vid e o s are o n the rig ht T he s e s ho w the p e rc e ntag e o f vie we rs who c o ntinue watc hing until the e nd o f the vid e o T he d ram atic d ro p -o f f s ho ws that f e w p e o p le us ually watc h the e ntire vid e o A ud i e nc e r e te nti o n K e e p it s h o r t T hink ab o ut yo ur ke y m e s s ag e s and ho w yo u c an c o m m unic ate the s e in the s ho rte s t am o unt o f tim e Ti m e ( m i ns ) STORY T EL L I N G W he n p lanning yo ur vid e o , ke e p in m ind yo ur a u d ie n c e and w h a t y o u a r e tr y in g to a c h ie v e • Ho w m uc h kno wle d g e d o e s the aud ie nc e alre ad y have ? • Ho w m uc h d e tail d o the y ne e d to kno w? • W he re d o e s this vid e o f it within the re s t o f F F I ’s wo rk? C HE C K : have yo u e xp laine d : The k e y message Ho w F F I fi ts i nto the s to r y W t yo u wa nt the a ud i e nc e to d o Try te lling a s to ry with yo ur m e s s ag e A g o o d s to ry f o r vid e o inc lud e s ) f ram ing the is s ue , ) the s o lutio n and ) the c all to ac tio n Make s ure yo u have p a u s e s in yo ur s to ry g ive the aud ie nc e a c hanc e to ab s o rb the inf o rm atio n yo u are te lling the m VISU AL S till p ho to s s ho uld b e us e d s p a r ing ly in vid e o , and o nly as a las t re s o rt, as the y inte rrup t the f lo w D o n o t us e trans itio n o r anim atio n e f f e cts whe n c utting b e twe e n c lip s – e d its s ho uld b e c le a n , c r is p a n d m o d e r n D o n o t us e trans itio n o r anim atio n e f f e cts o n any te xt F o r g uid anc e o n te xt s izing , c o lo ur, f o nts and p o s itio ning , p le as e s e e o ur film s y le g u id e Hig h-q uality aud io , p artic ularly o f inte rvie we e s ’ vo ic e s , is c ritic al – o f te n m o r e im p o r ta nt than hig h-q uality f o o tag e MATT GLUE/FFI AU D IO B e aware o f and try to avo id m is s io n d rif t thro ug ho ut the vid e o p ro d uc tio n p ro c e s s D o no t ad d e xtra as ks in yo ur vid e o KEEP IT SIMPL E JEREMY HOLDEN/FFI Yo u will ac hie ve m o re