How to Make the Best Training Video For Your Company

Training Videos have been around for decades.

At some stage, we’ve all been made to watch one with a poorly written script, bad acting, overly dramatised narration and of course, bad music (and hair, you can’t forget the hair). And if you’re like me, you probably had lots of fun laughing at them and not learning.

But forget any bad experience you’ve had with a 70’s style training video. Educational videos really do work and they have come a long way.

The reason they have lasted such a long time is that they can quickly and effortlessly get across important training messages. Complex information can easily be understood.

Other benefits include faster staff training, a more productive and efficient workforce and reduced training consultant fees.

Best of all, educational videos will always deliver a consistent message and never have a bad (hair!) day. Important messages can be watched over and over again.

Tailor made productions are an indispensable training tool for companies with a large workforce that have important processes and procedures that need to be undertaken safely and correctly. New inductees can easily be trained to your specific company needs.

So if bad music and poor narration doesn’t work, what does?

1. Keep your Script Simple, Stupid

To get your training video going, it all starts with a KYSSS. Better wise known as Keep your Script Simple, Stupid.

Too often companies will write their own script based on their big (boring) training manuals. This is great if you want people to refresh themselves with a nap during their training session. Not great if you want to grab their attention and teach them something.

The beauty with video is that both pictures and sound tell your story. So you don’t need lots of talking to explain things, as you can show people what you mean.

After all, research has found that people remember about 80% of what they see, not what they hear.

Our advice is to spend a lot of time getting your script right, as it really does drive the quality of the production. Use lots of short sentences and avoid overly technical jargon.

If you can, get the video production house to write the script for you. Often getting a trained script writer to write your script means that it will be written in simple English that is not overly technical (ie: not a yawn creator).

2. Leave your Director Dreams at Home, Buddy

Often we’ve been called in to re-do a training video that was made in-house. An aspiring staff member with (dodgy) dreams of Hollywood believes they can have a crack at the company training video.

By the end of it, their pesky dreams are no longer. Long hours of frustrating editing has seen to that (which is a relief to their manager).

Despite their Scorsese intentions, the end result is often an out of focus, badly narrated production with jarring music. Usually pretty reminiscent of training videos of old or like something your mum would make.

As a training tool, it has little impact because people are too busy trying to work out what the camera is trying to focus on or trying to hear what the narrator is actually saying (which is usually them talking while filming).

Our recommendation is to use a professional video production house with lots of training video experience.

When choosing a video production company, take a look at their videos to make sure that the script is sensible, the narration is clear, the camera work is smooth and at the same quality as what you’d expect on television.

Stay away from production houses with no training video experience or who themselves aspire to be film directors (which seems to be about 95% of them). Too often, they have no business acumen and forget to focus on how to get messages across and improve learner message retention.

3. Reiterate, reiterate, reiterate

Using titles to reiterate your important training messages is incredibly effective. They need to be used generously in a production, as they really do increase your message retention rates.

4. Change what’s on screen……now

Expert training video producers have lots of tricks up their sleeves to grab audience attention and concentration.

One of them is changing what’s on screen every few seconds. The change doesn’t have to be dramatic. It can be as simple as a close up shot, a new title, or even a shot from a different angle.

By constantly changing the on-screen vision, people are more likely to keep watching with interest.

Another important point is to avoid getting your video done through your training consultant. In our experience, they tend to look at the size of their commission cheque (particularly sales trainers) and do not care about the end result. Most training consultants have no video experience which means they do not know the best way to present information in a video format.

Remember, if you need to get a training video produced, focus on the quality of the script and ensure that you choose a video production house that wants to improve learner message retention rather than just provide pretty pictures on the television. And for good measure, take a look at their hair!

Marie-Claire Ross is a Producer at Digicast Productions. A video production house that specialises in corporate training and marketing videos. You can check her out (and her hair) at http://www.digicast.com.au or phone (03) 9696-4400.

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Green Screen Technique For Video Production

Here is a quick response to a question a reader asked the other day about how to green screen. He wondered how far the on-camera person should be from the green background. He said he was very frustrated because he had searched for an answer and everyone said something different. There was no consensus so he was confused. I explained that the reason no one seemed to agree is because the proper distance between the background and the on-camera talent is entirely dependent on the particular situation under which you are videotaping.

When you're making a video using green screen technique, how far away from the green background should your on-camera person be? A reader asked this the other day and said he was very frustrated because he had searched for an answer and everyone said something different. There was no consensus so he was confused.

I explained that the reason no one seemed to agree is because the proper distance between the background and the on-camera talent is entirely dependent on the particular situation under which you are videotaping.

On a technical level, the distance is totally irrelevant. What matters is that the green background is an even color. No variations. Shadows are one of the chief problems that cause variations in color. The darker color of the shadow will cause the green screen effect to be uneven.

If the on-camera person is standing very close to the background, chances are her shadow will fall on the background. But if the on-camera person were twenty feet from the background, the same shadow would fall harmlessly on the floor, which is cropped out of the picture.

Problem is, most people do not have the luxury of that much room.

In an ideal situation, most professional videographers would place the on-camera talent at least five or ten feet from the background. This gives the talent a little breathing room and helps ensure an even background.

However, when I took a tour of ABC news studios, I saw them videotape a news update and the anchor person was smashed up against the wall. They shot the news update from her office, which was tiny. It looked great on the air. I could barely tell it was a green screen. It looked real!

The lighting in her office was extremely diffused so there were no shadows. The green behind her was homogenous in color which gave a beautiful green screen effect.

So if you have some room to play with, go for a distance of about ten feet. If you don't have the room, do not worry about it. Just make sure your lighting is diffused so the shadows will be minimal or non existent.

If you have a video production question you'd like answered, drop me a line a videoproductiontips@gmail.com I'd love to hear from you!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lorraine_Grula

Video Production - Part II - The Production Stage

OK. You've written your script, got everything approved, organized everything and everyone, and now you're ready to shoot your video. Here are the major considerations for the video production stage.

Safety

Above all else, practice extreme safety measures such as making sure that wires are taped down, that lights have sandbags on them to prevent them from tipping over and other potential accidents are avoided.

Set-up and breakdown

If you're in an unsecured, public area, do what you have to do to secure your equipment when you bring it to the set and when you're done shooting. If it requires two or more trips to your auto so load or unload the equipment, get someone to help you or at least watch over the equipment until you are around to secure all of it.

Make sure you allot time to set up, test and break down the equipment on the set. Unless you need the talent or actors on the set early for some reason, and especially if you're paying them for their time, you can tell your actors to show up later, so they don't get in the way or become impatient while everything is being readied for the shoot.

The set up period is when you are testing equipment, setting up your lights, doing audio checks, setting up props and signage, taping down cables so that no one trips over them, and performing other activities necessary for the production process to take place.

Conversely, allot plenty of time to break down the equipment and load it into the automobile(s), using the security precautions identified earlier.

Lighting

Obviously, you didn't bring your lights to the set when you did your initial site inspection. So here's where the tire hits the road. It's time to light the set. If you want to create professional lighting, you'll need to take time to light the foreground, background and of course the subject. It's not as easy as you would think, as shadows seem to appear from nowhere. So bring more lights than you think you'll need and allot plenty of extra time for this important task. Lights can be rented from video rental companies.

Director

As the name implies, the director directs the production. Generally, the technical people know what to do and won't need hands-on direction, unless there's a problem. But the director will direct the actors and orchestrate the production stage, as he or she is responsible for success or failure at this crucial phase of the project.

Remember, there should only be one director. It's a bad scene (no pun intended) when the director gets into an argument with someone on the set who decides to challenge their authority. So unless it's pre-arranged for this to be a collaborative effort, just give one person the final decision making power on the set. Otherwise, chaos will reign. The time for collaboration is during the pre-production phase. During this action phase, it's time to execute the plan, not rethink it. Of course last minute ideas and other matters happen, but

Don't let them get in the way of sticking to your basic plan and timetable.

Audio

As I mentioned in the pre-production article, try to get redundant audio in case a microphone cuts out or otherwise malfunctions and prepare for a plan B if your initial audio equipment doesn't work for some reason. For instance, if you're shooting in an urban area with lots of skyscrapers and you're using a wireless microphone, you may get interference. When you're trying to shoot an industrial video is no time to be picking up the baseball game on your wireless mic channel! So if you have your wired microphone, you can replace the wireless one and save the day.

Above all else, test the audio level of the presenter before the program begins and have someone monitor the audio with headphones and some sort of meter on the camera or a mixer. Ideally you want the audio to go through an audio mixer so the levels can be monitored and adjusted by a person whose sole task is to do this.

Make Up

If you have the budget to hire one, a make up person is indispensable. It is their sole job to see if the talent is 'shining' and requires make-up due to sweat, oily skin or the way the light is hitting them. They are also responsible for hair and the general appearance of the actors. When you're on the set, it's no time for a bad hair day! The make up artist can also be responsible for wardrobe and making sure all of the little details of the talent's grooming are tended to. Just make sure he or she understands their responsibilities before the shoot. Of course that goes for everyone on the set.

Camera person

It goes without saying that the camera person needs to know what they're doing. They need to know about white balancing, making sure the video is focused, knows the type of camera moves the director wants, has a good fluid head tripod for smooth camera moves, can troubleshoot possible problems, and can otherwise help make the shot look good.

Unless you can re-shoot a scene or a day's worth of production, you only get one chance to get it right. So having a great production team is crucial. This means that everyone is competent, helps out, leaves any personal problems at the door, and has a helpful approach to the day's work.

Sometimes a client will hire my company to do the production phase after they have written the script and done much of the pre-production work. And if the production is done properly, the client may even try their hand at editing the production. There's no problem with this because unless they somehow ruin the original footage, it's impossible to permanently goof up the edit. But the production phase is another story. You generally only get one chance at it - especially if it's a live event.

Often, when we're hired for the production phase, we suggest that the client pay us for a few hours to review their script to make sure that the pre-production phase has been properly executed. If we have to scramble to cover up flaws that haven't been considered earlier, it just makes things more difficult, and the results can suffer. So especially for the first time out, when it really counts, just make sure that you hire professionals to do the work that you aren't trained to perform. Just take good notes and perhaps you can produce your next video yourself. Or at least handle some of the responsibilities.

Best of luck with your production. With proper planning and a competent team you'll achieve your goals. Now read on to the article entitled "Video Production - Part III - Post Production or Editing".

For more related articles go to http://www.video1pro.com
For assistance with your next project, contact us through our website at http://www.video1pro.com or call us at 773 252-3352.

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Script Writing For Video Production

The script is the heart of your video production. So what makes a good video script?

Concise, conversational and easy-to-read.

Video script writing is the exact opposite from technical writing or academic writing. Those forms of writing use complex sentences, ten-dollar words and are usually very wordy. That is NOT what you want with a video script.

First, keep in mind that a video script is to be read aloud. Viewers will HEAR it rather than READ it. Therein lies the major difference. It's called writing for the ear instead of writing for the eye.

On a practical level, it is also writing for your narrator. No narrator, not even the really good ones, sound good stumbling through endless tongue twisters. Convoluted, run-on sentences are not only a nightmare to read; they are also hard for the audience to understand.

So forget everything you learned from those stodgy English teachers. (My best friend is an English teacher; that is not a criticism.) It's ok for video scripts to be full of sentence fragments because that is how people actually talk. If it makes sense when heard, then that is what you want.

The single best way to evaluate a video script is to read it aloud. Have someone listen to you if possible and see how well they understand what you are saying. Do not worry about using short, choppy sentences if that is what SOUNDS good. Inflection, tone of voice and pacing will have a lot to do with how well the script is understood and those things do not come through on paper.

Back when I taught TV production, I told my high school students to pretend they were speaking to a friend. If you wanted to tell a friend this story, what would you say? Write that down. Then, go back and modify it. Cut out the fat. Make sure the meat is prominent. Make sure the words you have chosen are descriptive, colorful, yet easily pronounced and understood.

Video script writing is a style unto itself. Remember too that whatever video you use also conveys meaning. Ideally, the video and the spoken narration work together in order to communicate. So if your narrator says, "Political leaders spoke to the public," and you show a hot air balloon deflating, then you have added considerable meaning without relying on words. That little trick is one of the things that makes video production so much fun!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lorraine_Grula

Video Production - Storytelling

The best videos tell a story. People love stories and it is the story that draws them in emotionally.

Now, I can just hear people saying, "But I'm trying to sell lawnmowers. That's not exactly a subject that lends itself to storytelling. Storytelling is just for fictionalized video productions."

OK, I understand where you are coming from, but hang with me here.

A story can be woven into ANY subject matter. The lawnmower example? Find a customer who won a landscaping award based in part on their beautiful lawn. Or, find a physically handicapped customer whose life was made easier when they gave up the clunky push mower for one of your fantastic riding lawnmowers.

STORIES ARE BASED ON CHARACTERS

Any decent novelist will tell you that characters are the heart of their story. Most novelists come up with the characters before they dream up the plot. Often, they will say the story writes itself once they know their characters well. What would this person do in this situation? There's your story.

Next time you watch TV, pay close attention to the commercials. Most TV commercials do a fantastic job of developing characters in just 30 seconds.

My favorite example is the series of Apple Computer commercials featuring the Mac and PC characters. Both characters are the personification of the image Apple wants to give to each product. Mac is hip and cool; PC is a nerd. Any viewer sees that immediately.

Exploiting clichés is usually necessary when you are trying to tell a story with delineated characters in a brief period of time. The P.C. police will get mad at me for that but tough beans. It is true.

A one-minute video production is not a novel. To get your point across quickly, you have to rely on pre-conceived notions. You CAN do that without being offensive.

Since video production is a visual medium, visual clichés rule. When they cast the Apple commercials, I'm sure all the fat, ugly actors were considered for the PC role only. Wardrobe probably wanted to add a bow tie and high-waisted pants.

The easiest way to add a story to your video production is to find a person (or make one up) that personifies the idea you are trying to get across. Are you wanting to produce a video on the dry subject of economics? Find a family that is struggling economically and tell their story. Take lots of heart-warming close-ups of their adorable baby.

EMOTIONALISM is the meat of any story, so don't be afraid to go for the jugular.

Even if your video production is just going to be a talking-head explaining how to assemble a bookshelf, you can add emotionalism. You do this by making sure your on-camera host displays personality. Then you add some catchy music and flashy graphics. Those techniques alone will go a long way to adding emotionalism, and a story, to your video production.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lorraine_Grula

Video Production Lighting Basics By Lorraine Grula Platinum Quality Author

For many novice video producers, lighting causes lots of worry and seems very complicated. Lighting for video production CAN be complicated, but it certainly doesn't HAVE to be.

I specialize in making video as easy as possible while still maintaining a professional look. I can sum up everything you need to know about lighting in just three bullet points:

1. Direct Light = Harsh
2. Diffused Light = Soft
3. What DIRECTION is the light coming from?

If you learn the meaning of these three concepts, I promise your lighting efforts will improve tremendously.

We'll start with the first two points. They are related.
Light comes in two forms, direct and diffused. Direct light is harsh and scary looking while diffused light is soft and flattering to the face.

If you remember elementary school physics, light rays always travel in a straight line. Imagine yourself outside at night with a flashlight. You can see the entire beam of light and it is straight. If you want to illuminate an object, you have to shine the flashlight directly on it. This is an example of direct light It travels in one direction, straight as an arrow.

Diffused light is when the straight light beams hit something reflective and then bounce off it. They bounce in straight lines but usually there are so many straight lines bouncing around that the effect is to have light rays bouncing around every-which-way.

A standard, incandescent light bulb is painted white on the inside in order to diffuse the light The light beams hit the white paint and bounce.

Another prime example of direct and diffused light is to think about being outside on a cloudy day or a sunny day. On a bright, sunny day you have direct light There are lots of deep shadows and the shadows have distinct edges.

On a cloudy day, the clouds diffuse the light If it's cloudy enough, there will not be any shadows at all. Since the light is bouncing around every-which-way, any potential shadow is filled in by the bouncing light and eliminated.

Generally speaking, you want DIFFUSED light in video production. Unless you are doing a monster movie, diffused light will look best.

Most of the gadgets that come in a professional light kit exist for the sole purpose of diffusing the light If you do not have a professional lighting kit, you can achieved a diffused effect by pointing your light toward the ceiling or wall and bouncing it. Do not point it at the on-camera talent. They will thank you for it. Not only will it make them look better, but it will keep them from squinting and being dreadfully uncomfortable.

Now let's talk about the third bullet point. What DIRECTION is the light coming from?

Is the source of light in front of your on-camera person? Behind them? To the side? Behind? What direction the light is coming from will have a huge impact on how it looks.

Generally speaking, you want the light source to be in front of, or to the side, of your on-camera talent. You do NOT want it behind them unless you are trying to hide their identity. Light coming from behind will create a silhouette. Video producers usually reserve that technique for sleazebags who want to remain anonymous.

This is a mistake I see frequently. People will stand right in front of the window thinking that the light coming from the window will add enough light to make their shot look good. It probably would, IF the on-camera person stands so the light falls on their face and not on their back.

There you have it, the basics of lighting for video production.

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