Creating a technology video is a great way to promote a technology, particularly when “seeing” is more powerful than “reading.” In the previous two posts I discussed general and technical tips for a video project. (In case you missed it, click here & here to read the blog posts!) In the final part of this series, I will share a few “war stories” from my experience. Hopefully you will find these examples helpful when creating your own effective technology video.
Anecdote 1: Working with Deceptively Noisy Locations
During the planning stages for the Beast Surgery Support System video, I exchanged emails with the tech’s inventors and we agreed to film in an operating room at Emory Hospital. This location seemed like a great idea on paper, but once we began filming I quickly realized that there was a rather loud air-conditioning in the operating room as well as a hollow echo that would interfere with the audio. With nowhere else to go and limited time, we filmed demonstrations of the tech in the operating anyway. While reviewing the footage, I realized most of the audio was entirely unusable because of the background noise and echoes. I wasn’t the only one to recognize the issue as one of the inventors emailed me, indicating he too felt that the clips were probably not the best. We decided to meet again to film a more traditional interview within his office which provided footage with much clearer audio.This cleaner audio could be used as a voice over for much of the demonstration video and transition clips between the video’s sections. Although not an ideal path, collecting footage in two different locations was beneficial to the end product. In the end, the video was much improved and had greater shot variety and better, but not quite perfect, audio.
Anecdote 2: Making Interviews More Interesting?
One of my initial assignments at OTT was to rework an interview recorded previously by someone else. The tech brief was for graphene-coated bandages, gauze, or other wound coverings. Unfortunately, the interview was the only material provided. This rework assignment was going to be complicated. I quickly recognized the straight interview could use some “spice,” something other than the two inventors sitting and speaking, in order to maintain visual interest. A single layer of graphene is so small that it is invisible to the naked eye, which made getting any footage of it impossible. I looked for free images of graphene, but the choices were slim. In the end, I decided to do some research and create 3D renderings and animations of graphene and its effects on my own. Getting images and video of a tech is important, but if it is impossible to get them and none can be found, make your own.
Anecdote 3: The Wandering Eye
Generally the people I interview are not media-trained. One of the biggest problems I’ve encountered while filming for video tech briefs is eye contact and general comfort in front of the camera. Before each interview is filmed, I remind the interviewee to look at the camera’s lens. Naturally, they want to look at me while responding to my questions. To counter this, I try to avoid looking at them while they answer so that they are not tempted to make eye contact, but every so often they will change their focus and glance up from the lens. You may need to position yourself lower and closer to the camera to avoid this.
– Jordan Mills
Jordan a student employee in the office and a Film Studies major with a concentration in Film and Media Management and is expected to graduate in May 2014.