To introduce the differences between video lectures and edited videos, I took on the challenge of making the most boring lecture I could think of more interesting using video editing technology. The video on the left is the original video lecture and the video to the right was my attempt to make it more engaging using video editing.
Did you see what I changed?
However, doing just those two things wouldn't have made this an editied video. As a result I also combined video of the teacher with other media (photos and video) and background music. In my humble opion, it's a much better video.
Using video editing, a teacher can combine several different types of media and show students things in ways that teachers couldn't do otherwise.
In this lesson we will identify the qualities of effective edited videos and begin to think of ways we can create edited videos for our students.
Sick Science is a popular YouTube channel that makes short, clean, and simple instructional videos. I thought that I would share a couple of their videos to highlight a few of the elements of good instructional videos. Here are some of the things Sick Science does really well:
*The next time you watch your favorite show, pay attention to how often they cut the video to switch to a new point of view. I tried this and found that it was about every three seconds. You should also pay attention to different points of view that they use.
I also wanted to show you an earlier example from Sick Science. It uses less frequent cuts but has some good humor and a totally different style. Both styles can be effective.
Videos increasingly contain engaging animations. The problem is that these can be expensive and time-consuming to create. Some people have worked around this issue by using old-school visual representations. Watch the following examples to get an idea of how this can be done.
Common Craft was one of the first to create really engaging videos using simple hand-drawn pictures. To give you an idea of their progression, I've included one of the first videos they created along with a more recent example. I also want you pay attention to the different video cuts they use. The point of view stays the same so they aren't always noticeable but you can still see them if you pay attention and they make the video much better. The lighting and audio quality is much improved.
Whiteboard animations have become pretty popular. There are businesses such as RSA Animate that specialize in creating professional whiteboard animations. Their most popular video has been Sir Ken Robinson's TED Talk on education and creativity. However, there are several made-at-home whiteboard videos that are done quite well. All you really need is a whiteboard and a smartphone. Timelaps video can be created using a built-in iPhone feature (tutorial) or an Andriod app.
NOTE: Similar videos can also be made using PowToons. You're welcome to use PowToons for your unit but we also want to make sure that you know how to use video editing software so you would still need to make an edited video for your project in Mod 6.
The following videos give you some pointers on making your own whiteboard videos.
Talking heads (or headshots of people talking) can kill your video. I think that the video to the right is a prefect example. I LOVE the intro and music and then it cuts to a talking head and I don't want to watch anymore.
DON'T LET BAD TALKING HEADS HAPPEN TO YOU!
The following examples show you how to you use talking heads in an engaging way.
Jump Cuts are when you cut out parts of a video but don't really change the point of view. Basically you just jump ahead in time, cutting out the weaker parts fo the video. Chris Haskell is a professor at Boise State. We were on a research panel together and he couldn't attend physically so he created a video we showed in his place. I was amazed at how engaging the video was. I talked to him about it later and he said that he starts recording and just starts talking. If he messes up he simply repeats the line again knowing that he can cut out the mistake. As a result, the video has a polished, upbeat feel to it.
One of the best solutions to the talking head problem is to keep the audio of what the person is saying and then overlay the audio on top of related media. News programs and documentaries do this really well to keep us from switching the channel. The video to the right is an example of a student-made video that used this technique well.
I'm guessing that most of you will be using your cellphone when you create you edited video. As a result I wanted to give you a couple of tips. Watch this short video to learn about cellphone cinematography.
Move onto 5.2 when you have completed this section.