Creating Video for the Web

Tricks, tips and tools for telling amazing stories

1
Introduction
There was a time, not too many years ago, when video was shrouded in mystery. It was something only the pros did; the
equipment was expensive, the techniques were complex, and even if you succeeded in those two areas, distributing your
finished product to a wide audience was cumbersome and costly.

The Internet has fundamentally changed all that. Today, all kinds of people are creating and distributing their own
videos . According to YouTube, 20 hours of video is being uploaded every minute to their site. Video can now be created
and distributed anywhere in the world by anyone with an idea, a camera and an Internet connection.

I’ve been a television producer for 21 years. In that time, I’ve watched the medium transform and evolve into what it is
today. One thing I’ve noticed about the Web is that there’s a lot of really good video out there…but there’s even more
really bad video. Certainly, there’s no lack of great ideas, time, and tools. But more often than not, there are a lack of
techniques, and ultimately, a general lack of quality.

The intent of this e-Book is to provide some practical tips and tricks that you can use to get up and running quickly with
any video project you undertake, small or large. I’m going to focus on simple tools and techniques you can use to help
ensure quality results. At the end, I’ll also provide you with a link where you can get more information.

I’ve written this in the hopes that I can share a bit of what I’ve learned about video production in the past couple of
decades. The techniques I’ll be covering here are simple, fast, and cost effective. My hope is that they will equip you
enough to take you to the next level. Because in my opinion, why be just a mediocre videomaker, when with the right
techniques and a few inexpensive tools, you can be a great one?

Enjoy.
2
Storytelling 101
Every great video begins with an idea, and every idea has a story waiting to be told.
Whether you’re creating a full-length documentary about your grandfather’s life, a 5
minute video about your church, or a personal video resume, the key to a successful
production is to find the story that lurks beyond your idea.

Finding your story is perhaps the most important step in your journey to a great video.
Let’s look at the church video example. It would be easy to just press record on your
camera and start shooting everything in sight – services, bible study groups, smiling
faces, singing, the inside and outside of the building, signs, and maybe even an interview
with the minister. At the end of it you’ll have 5 or 6 hours or more of footage, it might look
and sound beautiful...and you’ll have no idea where to even start to piece it together.

The #1 secret of every successful video and filmmaker that ever lived is begin with the end
in mind. Knowing your story inside out and backwards before your camera starts rolling,
no matter how big or small your project is, will can mean the difference between success
and failure. It’s that simple.

It doesn’t matter how complex or simple your project is – even if it’s just one or two shots
simply stitched together – you still need to know what story you want to tell, or it won’t
make sense to the viewer, and you will struggle with every other step in the production
process.

Stories always have a beginning, middle and end. Understanding what your storyline is
will make your video much more polished and professional. So spend some time with
paper and pen (or keyboard and screen) and figure out what your story is. At this point it
can just be notes, scribbles, or pictures sketched roughly on a page. But it’s a critical
step; the time you spend up front on storytelling will go a long, long way to helping you
with the next steps in the process.
3
 The Process
Every production can essentially broken down into a
three step process – Pre-Production, Production, and
Post-Production. (storytelling, by the way, is
Pre-Production
generally included in the Pre-Production step).

One mistake that videomakers commonly make is

that they tend to gloss over the pre-production step
and skip right to production, often with less than
desirable results. The truth is, pre-production is
Production
usually about 80% of the total work you will do on
your entire production. Why? Because the more
planning you do up front, the less time, effort, and
grief you will have once you get to the other steps.
Post-Production

4
 How to win
at Pre-Production
1) It’s a matter of perspective. You’ve got your story figured out – you know it backwards and forwards, and
you’ve got doodles and sketches and thoughts jotted down. Now it’s time to start fleshing out the story and figuring out
how you’re going to use the video medium to make the story come to life. This is where you have to start making some
decisions – is it a first person account? A narrative tale? An art video? A retrospective? Determining how you’re going to
tell the story gives you the perspective you need to start building your roadmap.

2) Map it out. You’ve got the “how” down, now it’s time to get on to the “what”. You’re going to map out your story
scene by scene. This can be done as a written script or a storyboard. Some people are more comfortable with descriptive
text, and some are more comfortable with telling the story in pictures. You need to find what works for you – there’s no
right or wrong way here. As long as at the end of it, you have a clear, detailed roadmap of how you’re going to shoot your
video. Either way, you’ll want to download yourself a copy of Celtx (http://celtx.com). It’s one of the best pre-production
planning tools I’ve seen, and it’s 100% free for Mac and PC. It includes script, storyboard and scheduling tools and it’s
insanely useful. Get it. Use it.

3) Plan it out. Once you’ve got your script or storyboard prepared, it’s time to start thinking seriously about the
details of how your shoot is going to come together. Make a list of all the locations you’ll be shooting in, then the
specific technical, prop and people requirements for that location. On the next page is an example of a simple, broken
down scene from a script.

5
 How to win at Pre-Production
Scene Breakdown Map

SCENE TECHNICAL PEOPLE PROPS

SCENE II: INT. NIGHT Camera Camera Coffee Pot
Jon comes into kitchen Tripod Director Coffee Cup
wearing a bathrobe and 2x work lights with stands Audio Bathrobe
pours himself a cup of Boom mic and pole Actor (Jon)
coffee.

As you map out each scene in terms of what and who you’ll need to make the scene work, you’ll start to see how you can
group things together. You may notice you have 5 scenes in the kitchen. Those scenes should be grouped so they can all be
shot at once, if possible. Then you don’t have to reset the lights and audio each time. Or, if you have 10 scenes with Jon
split between the kitchen and the living room, you may want to shoot all of Jon’s scenes around the same time so that Jon
doesn’t have to sit around all night while you shoot everyone else’s scenes.

Group your scenes in ways that make sense for you, your crew and your actors. NEVER wait till you are on location to make
decisions about how and when you will shoot things. It’s okay to improvise a shot or two if the moment is right, but the
more planned out you are in the pre-production phase the less stressed you’ll be and the more your cast and crew will like
working with you.

With 80% of the work out of the way, now the easy part starts, right? Not exactly, but since you have done such a good job
planning your production, you’ll be able to focus now on having the best shooting experience you can.
6
Production
The day of your shoot, you’ll want to make sure
you’ve got all the equipment you’re going to need, as
well as lots of extra copies of your script or
storyboard for your cast and crew. Try to get to your
first location earlier than everyone else so you have
time to get your thoughts together before people
arrive. You are going to be having a lot of people
looking to you for direction and it’s important that
you’ve got your head on straight.

If you’ve done your pre-production well, the day of

your shoot will be nothing short of controlled chaos
– which is exactly what you want.

Keep detailed notes as you shoot, to ensure that you

capture everything. If you are using a tape camera,
make sure you diligently label all your tapes. Better
yet, recruit your most organized friend or family
member to help you keep track of everything, so you
can concentrate on keeping your shots in focus.

7
A Bit About Equipment
There are so many different kinds of cameras, tripods, lights, microphones and accessories out there that it
would be impossible to talk about them all in one short e-Book. So I thought I’d provide you with a list of the
basic gear you need to get off the ground with video production. Video does not have to be super expensive and
there are cheap alternatives out there - but investing your money in the right things will go a long way to helping
you to achieve quality productions.

8
 Suze’s No-Slip Grip Bag
Camera – They come in all shapes and sizes, but you don’t have to drop $5000 to get a decent video camera. The rule of thumb is,
get the best camera you can within your price range. But do try to get one with an external microphone connector.

Tripod – You also don’t have to spend a fortune here. You can get a small tripod to work with your camera for less than $100 that
will be more than sufficient. You can also get some cool stuff like Gorillapodz (http://joby.com) for more flexibility. If you’re really
adventurous you can even make your own Steadicam (http://steadycam.org) for about $15. I have used them, and they totally work.

Lights – A professional quality lighting kit starts around $1500. That’s not exactly in everyone’s budget. Fortunately, there are other
ways. Go to your local hardware store and pick up a couple of portable work lights – you know, the kind you see on construction sites.
For under $100, you now have excellent lights you can use on your productions.

Controlling Light – The only issue with work lights is they are not very directional – they tend to spill light every which way –
that’s not always great when you’re trying to control light. An easy solution is to pick up a few portable microphone stands – the
“boom” stands with the horizontal arm on them – they cost about $30 and are multipurpose (i.e. you can use them to actually hold
microphones too!). Get some black Bristol board and duct tape, and tape the board to the mic stand – you now have a “flag” that you
can use to block light as necessary.

Microphones – I highly recommend spending a little dough on a good microphone. The quality of your audio can make or break
your production. If you can swing it, buy both a shotgun or boom mic and a wireless lapel (lavallier) mic. Make sure your mics are
compatible with your camera. But spend a few hundred to several hundred if you can afford it. You won’t be disappointed.

Green Screen backdrop – Most people think that green screens cost a fortune – they don’t have to. My brother made a
green screen out of some PVC pipe from the hardware store and a green piece of fabric he bought on eBay for $40. Then he made this
movie: http://tinyurl.com/ygcax5o

Clothespins – Go spend a buck and buy a bag of clothespins. In the industry we call them CP-47’s. They are useful for everything
you can imagine, from smoothing out backdrops, to clipping back hair or tightening a too-loose shirt, to holding a half broken tripod
together (seriously, I’ve done it).

Duct Tape – Anything that a CP-47 won’t hold together, duct tape will. Have lots on hand.
9
Post-Production

You’ve got all your footage, everything looks

great, now it’s time to figure out how to put it all
together. Much like the shooting process, it’s not
always wise to just sit down and dive in,
scanning and scrolling through clip after clip to
try and figure out what to use and what to throw
away.

There are two distinct aspects to video editing –

the technical and the creative.

10
 Technically Speaking
The technical aspect of editing is often what hangs most people up. Often the most difficult thing to overcome is figuring
out which editing tool to use. It comes down to finding a balance of how elaborate a production you are striving for and
what you can afford. Editing software ranges from free (MS MovieMaker and iMovie for the Mac) to $1500 or more for
tools like Avid, Final Cut and Adobe Premiere Pro. The latter contain many, many features – probably more than you’ll
ever want or need, but they also are a lot more complex to learn. The free options are super easy to learn, but may not
have as many features or the flexibility as you desire.

For around $100, you can probably strike a pretty good balance – two tools I highly recommend on the PC side are
Adobe Premiere Elements and Corel Video Studio Pro X2. Unfortunately on the Mac side there’s not too much in this
range – but you can get pretty far with iMovie.

If you’ve got some cash, and still want to explore the higher end tools like Premiere Pro, Final Cut or Avid, then I highly
recommend taking some formalized training. Your local community college or media arts centre is a good place to start
looking for training courses.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly – don’t get hung up on the technology. Plenty of amazing videos have been made
using iMovie and MS MovieMaker. Start with those – and if you feel over time that you want more, then see about making
the switch to a more robust tool. And remember – learning to use digital editing tools takes time and patience. So don’t
get frustrated. Talk to other people (online or off) that are using the same tools you are. Explore online forums and video
tutorials. You’ll find many of the answers you need.

11
 Creative Genius 101
The other aspect of editing is the creative. How do you begin to sort out what shots to keep and what to throw away?
Well, remember, you began with the end in mind. Don’t get overwhelmed with everything you’ve captured. Go back to
your original storyline description. Review your storyboards and notes. That will help you get refocused on what you
want to accomplish.

Something that is really helpful is to do what’s called a “paper edit”. This is is basically an outline on paper (or computer
screen) of exactly how your project is going to come together. Go through your clips, using your storyboard or script as
a guide, and you indicate on paper what clips you want to use. You can do this based on description (for a short piece) or
based on the time codes (the reference numbers that are recorded onto your video that allow you to find a specific clip
by time).

Writing everything out on paper will save you tremendous amounts of time and energy. It also allows you to have
everything nicely organized in the event that someone else is doing the technical editing work.

In your paper edit, you should also indicate where you’ll use music, sound effects, special effects, titles or other
graphics. With all of this neatly laid out, you can then gather all the assets you require ahead of time, so you don’t have
to search for things once you are in the heat of editing.

With your paper edit in hand and your assets gathered, you can now sit down, launch your favourite digital editing tool,
and get going.

12
 Distribute This
There are many, many ways to distribute your video online. The most common, of course, is YouTube. There’s nothing at
all wrong with using YouTube to distribute your content – in fact it’s popular for a reason – the quality is decent, it’s easy
and it’s fast. By all means create yourself a YouTube channel and upload and share your projects from there. Note
however that there is a file size and time limitation on videos you post to YouTube.

Some other popular distribution sites you might want to explore are Vimeo, Viddler, and Blip.tv. They all have different
features - experiment and find the one that works best for you.

Tell me about it. One of the things many people overlook when distributing their videos online is promotion. It’s all
well and good to post your video, but if nobody knows about it, there’s not much point. Here are a few tips:

1) Start by making sure you fill in the description, tagging and categorization areas for your video. This will help
your video to be grouped with other similar works and aid in searchabilty.

2) Link to your video on your social networks, like Twitter and Facebook, and invite people to watch, provide
feedback and share with others.

3) Embed your video on your personal blog or web site, or seek out other sites that promote video and filmmakers
and ask to have your video posted. Don’t be shy about telling people what you’ve done.

4) If you get feedback on your work, be sure to connect with those people by sending an email or message thanking
them for their comments. If you are connecting with your audience on a genuine, personal level, they will be more
inclined to continue to help promote your work.
13
 That’s a Wrap!
Creating video is one of the most challenging and fun forms of media making.
By taking the right steps along the way, you can be assured that your projects
will be successful.

No video project is without its share of hiccups – but that’s part of the process. Finding creative ways to move past
challenges and make sure your original vision is executed well is what it’s all about. Seeing your vision come to life on
screen, and watching others’ reactions to it is extremely rewarding. Practice, be patient, and let the process guide you.

I hope this e-Book was helpful to you. If you have any questions or wish to discuss any element, please don’t hesitate to
contact me via email at murphy.sue@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.

For more information on video production techniques, tools and tips, visit:

http://www.google.com

(I mean it. Everything you could ever want to know, from how to light a dramatic scene to shot framing and composition
to how to export for YouTube in Adobe Premiere Pro is available to you online. Search out the answers. Connect with
other videomakers. Help each other. Find the ways to do things that work for YOU.)

14
 About the Author

Susan Murphy has been working in media and communications for 21 years. She is an award
winning television producer with hundreds of shows to her credit in a variety of genres.  She
has spent several years working as a web specialist in many disciplines, including web
marketing, e-Learning, web video and social media.

Today, she is a partner at Jester Creative Inc., where she helps people discover and tell their
stories in a variety of mediums, including video and new media.

Susan’s interest in new media is extensive (i.e. she’s a total geek), and she contributes to the online community though
her blog called SuzeMuse, on various social networks and as a professor of Video Production and Web Media at
Algonquin College. She is also on the Board of Directors of SAW Video Coop, an independent video and media  arts
organization that promotes the amazing work of Ottawa’s media artists, and is involved in several other community
projects such as TEDxOttawa and Ottawa Tonite.

When she’s not working and writing, Susan enjoys spending time with her family and friends, singing and playing guitar,
and traveling with her husband.

Licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 1

Photo Credits

AlexWitherspoon - flickr.com/AlexWitherspoon
whiteafrican - flickr.com/whiteafrican

16