The Brief
(Scott)
Record a video-podcast for a Post-Graduate Nursing course on Minor Illness on the subject of Mental Health Assessment.
My past experience of video-podcasts used within the School had been fairly negative... long, single shot videos of a presenter rattling through content word for word from a script. The result: always the same... bored looking students.
I had, however come across some video-podcasts on YouTube that were both engaging and informative, and this was what I hoped to achieve. In particular I liked the use of characterization and animation in video-podcasts to bring the story alive, as seen in the Crash Course videos:
I spoke with Errol Luders in the e-learning team to share my ideas and to find out if this was possible with the time and resources we had. Errol in turn spoke with David Millar in the administration team due to his interest and expertise in film-making. David pointed me in the direction of the RSA Animate series of videos which are another great example of turning lecture style material into engaging video content:
David also showed me excellent examples from Vox and Tech Quickie and this helped us to more clearly focus in on what it was we wanted to create.
With all this done I set about creating the content that I'd deliver on the video. Recording of this followed quickly...
Tip: To achieve an engaging tone it's preferable to have natural speech with all its stumbles and stutters over a perfectly monotonous monotone speech.
THE PRODUCTION
(David)
The first thing we had to do was record Scott speaking to camera. My involvement in the project was 10 minutes before the project began so a very quick (and far from perfect) lighting setup was created using a white wall in H523 with the camera set at eye level.
Scott had a script prepared which was then divided up into sections to make it easier to deliver; the idea being that we could do multiple takes and have more footage to select from. I had aimed to do at least three takes per section but after the first few sections Scott hit his stride and engaged with the camera in such a natural and conversational way that no second takes were required.
With the footage captured I cut the best takes (where available) together and synced the externally recorded audio using Adobe Premiere & Adobe Audition. I then gave the draft edit to Scott so he could write notes with time stamps where he wanted specific graphics to appear and what they might comprise of. Meanwhile I set about colour grading the footage:
Storyboarding is a useful tool for communicating the placement of text and graphics as well as conveying graphic ideas. Using only very crude stick figure drawings, I sent Scott the ideas and we explored any that needed developed or adjusted.
It was then a case of using Adobe Illustrator to come up with characters that were emotive enough to support what Scott was saying but basic enough to recreate and manipulate in a short time frame. One of the best methods for engaging people is humour. As the subject of the video was very serious, the humour needed to break tension without breaking focus:
Tip: To help relate to the audience, the camera should be placed at eye level with the speaker so the audience isn't in a superior (high) or inferior (low) position.
The Result
(Scott)
Finally we delivered the finished video-podcast to the module leader for presentation to the class and asked for specific feedback on the video from the students. The feedback was positive and seemed to support my initial idea that this sort of content would be more engaging for the students.
'Graphics useful. Added to presentation.'
‘Useful. A little distracting at times but also gave good emphasis to salient points.’
‘Podcast enhanced with pictures as when looking at a face on the screen, I can become easily distracted and mind wonders away so the characters popping up in relation keep me interested.’
‘Vodcast info useful. Helps when reviewing topic. Animation highlights points being discussed – well used/good humour.’
‘Yes vodcasts well presented. Use of graphics enhanced the overall learning not distracting.’
‘Podcasts were very useful. They were interesting and informative. Graphics were well put together and made a serious topic more light hearted.’
'Vodcasts were great. Liked illustration/animation – felt they added to presentation rather than distracted. House falling down was Buster Keaton movies??'
Tip: Post-It notes are a great storyboarding tool as you can rearrange scenes easily to help visualise your timeline.
The Future
I think everyone reading this can agree that one of the most positive results from the student feedback is that students still know who Buster Keaton is. Another important result is that the students were clearly engaged. This was with two weeks to create the video, poor graphic elements, and minimal animation. Imagine what could be achieved with more time and resources!
This was a prototype so the next step would be to create a library of graphics and reoccurring characters that students can recognise and follow through their programme. With prior planning and storyboarding the process of motion graphics creation would be much more fluid. Also, with investment in a decent camera, audio capture, lighting, and green screen, production quality could be increased significantly. This is a valuable tool for delivering engaging content and has a huge potential for revitalising old teaching materials.
