Why Record Video?
With the ease of camcorders, it is possible now to provide video recordings
to a class. Teachers have made videos, especially with the assistance of
television production staff, if they are available. Students have made
videos for class projects using rented or borrowed camcorders. Below are a
few precedents and other ideas and then some "how-to" tips from an
expert.
Precedents
 | You can go on location with a camcorder. Two faculty from NOVA, with
the aid of NOVA's television production staff, have gone to various
historical sites around Virginia for their colonial American literature
class. |
| You can record in your classroom. A number of faculty have
video-recorded their students' speeches or presentations for projects,
sometimes preserving one or two (usually with the presenting students'
written permission) to show in later semesters to give an idea of good work
that has been done for the assignment.
 | Occasionally at community colleges and more often at universities,
which might employ an instructional developer, faculty will have
themselves videotaped and view the videos to detect particular traits or
segments that might be improved. A trusted colleague or an
instructional developer might sit with the faculty member at the first
or second viewing in order to focus on the teaching and perfecting one's
craft. (It always takes a few minutes to get used to the way we
look and sound on video, but once past that necessary desensitization
period the faculty member can focus on perfecting the teaching and
learning.) |
| Ashok Satpathy, University of South Carolina, has had himself
video-recorded while teaching and presenting workshops for over 150
hours. At the SOCKET training concurrent with the 2002 New
Horizons Conference, he presented the best demonstration of cooperative
learning that I have ever seen, partly on video to show how he focuses
the attention of groups and partly in person as he provided sensible,
field-tested answers to the usual problems and obstacles to cooperative
learning. Few could argue with his results--greater than a 90%
pass rate for his introductory chemistry classes. |
|
Other Ideas
| Anyone who uses field trips might take a videocamera along on the next and
plenty of permission forms.
| Many methods of retailing, warehousing, and distribution, for
instance, could be demonstrated with a portable video recorder. |
| Interviews with practitioners on the job (either on site or at their
desks) could be very useful for reinforcing case studies or getting
expert answers to focused questions, some of which might be edited down
to commentary at a website later. For example, see the "Video
Gallery" on educational projects and interviews with experts like
Seymour Papert at the George Lucas
Foundation. |
|
Basic Steps for Successful Video Production
This section summarizes a presentation done by Richard Groover at JSRCC in
April, 2002.
- Get to know your camera equipment before you video. For
instance, it's very handy to know how to use the quick-release feature on
modern tripods and to charge your camera's battery overnight. Practice focusing
with manual or autofocus on spots, foreground, and the center of the
image. Using the manual focus setting, if you zoom to the farthest point in your image
and then focus,
everything you record should be in focus, even as you zoom back out.
For lighting, light
has different temperatures, so you need to reset your light balance.
Make sure there is not a window in the background [because that will
backlight, cause people and other foreground objects to show up in
silhouette]. Adjust the camera optics to pick up skin tones, often
accomplished by adjusting the lens iris. Also,
disable (set to "off") the "tally lamp," the red light
on the front of a camera, because it flashes, distracting your subjects, and
because it can be reflected in glasses, eyes, mirrors, etc.
- Carry more charged batteries and videotape than you will ever
need. Some models of digital camera might use a small videotape
for recording. Practice taping with "standard" and with
"long" play [to see the trade-offs in quality vs. duration of
recording for each setting]. If you have a wall outlet adapter and
extension cord, you may be able to take advantage of a wall outlet, but
since you can't always count on that you will need a supply of charged
batteries.
- Plan your video shots in sequence to "tell the story," but
you may video out of sequence if editing is available. Rehearse before
the final taping. [Some production designers advise using a story
board to draw images of scenes you plan to record.] At the least, pre-plan a
shot list.
- Always use the tripod, and level the frame of your shot.
Before mounting the camera on the tripod, test
the tripod's stability to make sure all three legs are secured and will not
collapse.
- Video more than you think you will need, both the number of shots and
the length of shots. Let the recorder run for 3-4 seconds before the
shot starts and after the shot is over. Doing so will allow for
the lag between camera and vcr, as well as facilitate editing.
- For training or educational tapes, begin with "establishing
shots" (wide shots); then do close-ups for intercut edits. In
fact, it may be best to shoot all shots wide and to shoot close-ups
afterward in order to edit a mix of wide shots and close-ups on
"assemble edit." Establishing shots set a context for
viewers and activate audience expectations about the situation.
Cameras don't have 20-20 vision [so close-ups are necessary].
- For a "pan" or "tilt," make all camera moves VERY
SLOWLY. If you move too suddenly, it can be disorienting for the
viewers. In some instances, zooming too quickly will not only
disorient viewers but even blur the image as the camera regains focus.
- Be aware of the limits of your microphone and ambient sound that might
interfere. The default setting of "gain" will search for any
sound, causing sounds to change in volume. Turn off the camera's auto-gain and adjust sound levels as
needed for the camera mike. Fluorescent lights can "hum,"
which can be picked up by camera mikes. If possible, plug a
unidirectional mike into the camera portal and wire it to the speaker, e.g.
a lavaliere mike; this process disables the camera mike and suppresses
ambient sound. Using the plug alone often disables the camera's
built-in mike.
Costs and Grants
If you wish to apply for a grant, such as a VCCS Professional Development
Grant, to pay for some video production done professionally, here are some costs
you can expect--ballpark figures.
| For every minute of a finished video production, you should budget 2 - 4
hours of editing, if cuts are used, such as to blend wide shots and
close-ups. |
| Generally, budget $2,000 minimally for 10 minutes of finished production. |
| Some shots can be very expensive; for instance, a 15-second helicopter
shot (just the raw footage recorded for 15 seconds) might cost $800. |
| Editing--even the simplest "assemble edit"--can cost $50 per
hour with a 2-hour minimum. More complex editing, such as that done
with a DVD-equipped computer and editing software, which can adjust lighting
and sound, will cost more. |
For Further Reading
The Concord Consortium,
"Video Production Tech Tips": This somewhat dated (1997) free
resource still has about half of its links working. (Avoid references to
anything "terran" and the "edweb" reference.) Even
though many links aren't working, the content of the site can still be useful
for beginners.
For Further Viewing
|
1999