Summary of my presentation on videoblogging at WordCampRDU this weekend at NCCU.

 

1. WORDPRESS & VIDEO

The most basic question about video blogging might be: how do I get my video content into my blog? We recommend:

Video   —>   YouTube —>  WordPress

Upload your video to YouTube, grab the embed code and paste it into your blog. Make sure you paste it in “HTML” view in your WP blog.

Why not upload your video directly to WP?The answer is Search.

Search engines, and Google in particular, love video content. It is often returned above websites in a search result. Additionally, posting to YouTube gives a chance for a wider audience, better syndication and distribution.

Finally, don’t forget to use consistent tags when you upload your video to YouTube and WP.

2. EDITING IS GOOD

Editing is crucial to successful video production. Let’s start with available programs that are either free or under $150.

• PC - Pinnacle/Avid, MovieMaker
• Mac - iMovie, Final Cut

The key things you need to be able to do with video editing are:

• Edit sound and picture separately
• Decide the order of shots
• Decide the duration of shots

Those three are the biggies, but video editing has other key benefits as well:

• Ability to add music
• Add titles
• Add transitions (btw “Cuts” are 95% of all transitions)

3. PRODUCTION

Production (shooting) can be great fun. Here are a few tips and tricks to get a good result.

A. Composition

This is how you frame a shot in camera. Consider these four guideslines:

i. No need to move the camera

ii. Web video is a close-up medium

iii. Rule of Upper Thirds - place the subject’s eyes about a third down from the top of the frame.

iv. Keep it Square - pay attention to the horizon line.

B. Coverage

Make sure you get everything you need when you shoot.

i. B-roll and cutaways help illustrate the story

ii. Use different angles to provide variety

iii. Use the “short” end of the lens as much as possible (that is, stay wide and get close)

iv. Avoid zooms

C. Interview Technique

i. The person on camera should look at the interviewer, NEVER the camera.

ii. The interviewer needs to “hold the eyes” of the subject. Be nice, act interested, smile and nod. Don’t look down at your notes.

iii. Don’t talk over the talent. It generally ruins the take.

iv. Get the subject to restate your question in their answer (”statementize”)

D. Cheap Gear

• Tripod
• Low cost lighting - Home Depot aluminum reflector and high output CFLs
• Microphone

It’s also good to have a power strip, extension cord. some duct tape and a big plastic bin to keep your kit together.

E. Some Sage Advice

i. Plan your shoot in advance / develop a shot list

ii. Check your gear before you go

iii. You’re the Boss. Own it.

5. COMPARISON OF VIDEO CAMERAS

We also covered The Best Camera for Videoblogging, a reprise of an earlier post on this topic.

6. EXAMPLE

Here's a video we produced using the techniques outlined above. I took about an hour to shoot.

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EXTRA

To get a PDF of the slideshow, please contact me.

Sharpen your blogging skills and rub shoulders with the Triangle's social media elite. Sign up now for WordCampRDU, this Saturday 6/13 at NCCU in Durham. $25 in advance - no tickets sold at the door. Beginner and Advanced tracks. Keynote speaker is Matt Mullenweg, the founding developer of WordPress.

Stimulate your mind and find out how to get more from the valuable time you spend blogging. Sign up for WordCampRDU right now.

Attention all bloggers: WordCamp is coming to the Triangle. Sharpen your blogging skills and meet other members of the NC business community at this all day event at NCCU in Durham on Saturday, June 13, 2009.

Beginning and advanced seminars cover topics including:

• Building a successful blog
• Search Engine Optimization
• Social Marketing

Keynote speaker is Matt Mullenweg, the founding developer of WordPress.

Tickets are going fast. Make your reservation now.

 

 

Here's another example of producing broadcast-type work with a home video camera. This is a cable spot for J. Alane's Fine Lingerie in North Hills. Shot entirely on my Canon 800 mini DV camera and edited on my laptop. We even composed the music in Garage Band.

Video is truly the most powerful of marketing tools. And it has become more affordable than ever. Contact us if you have a great television idea for your brand.

One of the buzz topics last week was Security & Safety. The issue is URL shortening services.

WHAT IS A URL SHORTENER?

Some URLs run to dozens of characters, making them impractical to use. URL shortening services transform long URLs into short ones, thus:

http://searchengineland.com/analysis-which-url-shortening-service-should-you-use-17204

becomes

http://bit.ly/jphUs

Shortened URLs are particularly important on character-limited status services like Twitter (140 characters max).

4 PROBLEMS AND RISKS OF SHORTENERS

Some shorteners are built in to services like Twhirl. Most can be surfed up on the web or added to your toolbar. Very convenient. But what are you getting? And what are the risks?

1. Transparency - I like to see where I'm going before I click.

2. Who's monitoring my traffic? By introducing a third party between the user and destination, the issue of trust becomes important. Or, as Ronald Reagan used to say, trust but verify.

3. What if the service goes dead? What happens to my links? All of us use links in our content. It would be bad if those links failed because the service provider went belly up. Is there backup of all transformed links?

4. Bogus redirects - All of us get rickrolled once in a while, but shortened URLs potentially open the door to all kinds of click fraud.

THE SOLUTION: USE BIT.LY

Dozens of services have sprung up, in part to serve the booming Twitterati. Danny Sullivan does an in-depth review in SearchEngineLand.

The short answer: Bit.ly. It's safe and secure. It also has a couple of very cool features:

LINK STATS - I love stats. Now you can have stats on how often and who clicks on your links. Guess what? This can help shape your content to more accurately match your audience.

PREVIEW PLUGIN - This beta plugin for Firefox gives you a cool Flash popup preview of the destination before you click. Voila! Click fraud defeated.

MORE INFO

Got more questions about URL shorteners or security or using social networks for business? Contact us.

We released this video for Luxe Apothecary about 2 weeks ago and it has been generating considerable buzz.

And while the secret to creating the illusion of fuller eyebrows is interesting, the technique we used to make no-budget video look like broadcast TV is even more interesting and relevant to real estate.

Rule #1 of No-Budget Video

You don't need a crew and a lot of fancy gear to make quality web video. Here is the single most important technique:

Edit video and sound separately

Lots of inexpensive desktop editing programs provide this capability. For the Mac, we like Final Cut. Perhaps readers can share some favorite programs for the PC. Once you are free from the tyranny of the soundtrack that is recorded when you are shooting, the whole world of filmic communication opens up to you.

SCRIPT

Even though you have no gear and no crew (and presumably no writer or producer) it does not pay to wing it. We script every project. Here are two useful structures for No-Budget Video: INTERVIEWER TECHNIQUE

Interviews can be about discovery or they can be a vehicle for a marketing message (i.e. a testimonial). Either way, write out a list of questions.

• • If discovery: what do you want to learn?
  • If marketing: what can you ask that will motivate an appropriate answer?
  • Technique: always have the subject look at the interviewer, not the camera

Here's an example of discovery that Hal produced for the National Football League. Players and fans were asked to name their "Recipes for Success" during the NFL season.

Here's an example of the marketing technique in an interview:

Both examples used questions to motivate the subjects on camera. The first cost about $100,000 to produce. The second cost less than $1000.

NARRATOR TECHNIQUE

Another great technique for NBV is narrator-driven. The formula is very easy to shoot:

• • Introduce the narrator on camera
  • Use the narrator's voice under a series of illustrative shots
  • Close with the narrator once again on camera

Here's our video for Luxe, an example of the narrator technique:

Gear & Crew for the Luxe shoot:

• Camera - Canon 800 miniDV (costs about $250 new if you can still find it)
• Lights - None
• Crew - Just the director
• Editing - Final Cut Express on a laptop

Time - 1.5 hours to shoot; approx 4 hours to edit

PLANNING

Before you start shooting, look at the script and make a list of the shots you need. Plan a couple of backgrounds for your opening and closing titles. Make a thumbnail schedule of how long each shot should take to get.

SHOOTING

Here are a few basic guidelines to getting good results:

• Keep it simple - no fancy camera moves or zooms
• Get a wide establishing shot
• Tell the story in a series close-ups
• Use a mic if you can for important dialogue or narration
• Use available light if it is soft and indirect
• Get what you need, but don't overshoot

EDITING

Lastly, a few conventions and helpful hints about editing.

Duration - Keep it short. Two minutes is a lot of time to fill.

Selects - when you load your video into your editing program, slice the raw footage up into "selects" or shorter clips. Label each piece descriptively, for example "Intro, Take 1."

Grab the Main Pieces - You know you'lll have an intro and an ending. Drop those into place on the timeline. Look at your main selects again. Choose the best two or three clips in the project. Fit those on the timeline. Fill in and build your story.

Titles - Text on screen forms an important part of the message, but don't overdo it. No one likes to read TV.

Wipes, Flips & Dissolves - Don't use fancy transition devices like mosaic wipes and flips and cube rolls. It distracts from the message. Use a fade up in the beginning, cuts throughout the body and a fade out at the end. Dissolves are used to connect two same-sized shots or to communicate passage of time.

MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT NO-BUDGET VIDEO?

Are you producing No-Budget Video? Do you have an idea for your business but don't know how to get it done? Drop us a note. ------------------------

Hal Goodtree's work has been honored with a Cannes Lion and Emmy®.

 

Originally posted at Goodtree & Co :: Blog