Introduction to Video Production

Creating a video project can seem daunting at first because it combines all of the elements of visual design and sound design, along with the unique challenges of video. However, getting started on a video project can actually be a surprisingly straightforward and effective way to communicate an idea, tell a story, or show off your work.

Three steps of video creation

There are three major phases as you create your video:

• Pre-production: All of the planning work that happens before you actually start recording.
• Production: All recording (filming and audio) as well as gathering any assets you are not recording yourself (such as stock footage).
• Post-production: Where the footage all comes together and is enhanced with video/audio editing to create the final product.

Pre-Production

Pre-production: Planning

Before anything is filmed, it is all planned out. Here is where you start with an idea: what is it that you want to do? You may write a script and/or create a storyboard to plan out your shoot.

The planning stage is critical for setting your project up for success. By giving yourself a clear outline of what you want to accomplish, you will have not only a clearer path to getting there, but also an understanding of what you will need to get there.

All of these questions will help shape what your production phase looks like.

Likewise, your access to production elements like equipment, time, and location will need to be considered while you are still in the planning stage. It’s all well and good to have an elaborate tree-top scene in your video project, but that won’t mean much if you don’t have safe access to a suitable location, or the equipment and training needed to capture it.

Pre-production: Techniques

Filming can be a daunting task, so here are some of the steps taken in the pre-production phase of a project:

1. Finalize your script: If you have any dialogue, here is where you can finalize it before planning out your shots. This can always change as you go, but you still need that starting point.
2. Storyboard and shot list: Here is where you begin to plan the visual interpretation of the script. The storyboard helps you lay out the script scene-by-scene, helping you decide what shots to use.
3. Finding crew and location scouting: So you have the visual guideline to your script, the next step is finding the right people and the locations. You may find that you need to tailor your shots to fit different locations.
4. Gear: Now that you have figured out your shots and locations, it’s time to finalize what gear you need to make your project happen.
5. Budget: If your project is big enough to require one, here is where you need to finalize your budget and stick to it. Often, things will change and this is where you may need to find creative ways to achieve your goals while sticking to the budget.
6. Casting: Now, all there is left to do before you film is find the right actors to bring your script to life. Normally, this is done by holding auditions.

Production

Lights, camera, action!

This is where the shoot actually happens and your plans from pre-production are fully realized. Here, you will be using your equipment to record the video and audio that you will then edit in post-production.

Framing

Framing is a way for you as the filmmaker to convey your vision by guiding your audience with your shot. You can manipulate the composition, angles, and size of your shots to say something (without actually saying anything!).

The rule of thirds is a “rule of thumb” for composing/framing visuals. The guideline proposes that an image should be imagined as divided into a 3×3 grid, which equally divides the image into nine parts, and that the important elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections. Smartphone cameras usually have this feature, you may just need to turn it on.

Here are the most common types of shots and their uses:

Lighting

Lighting is another element used in video making to convey the tone or vision of a scene. Lighting helps to really motivate a scene, complementary to framing. One of the most common ways to set up lights is by using 3-point lighting. This approach includes the following setup:

• Key Light: The main area of interest, usually off to one side of the camera.
• Fill Light: placed usually opposite to key light, it is used to “fill” in the shadows created by the key light by softening them.
• Back Light: Usually placed in the back, above the subject. This is used to separate the object of interest from the background and to create more depth.

The 3-point setup is essential to achieving certain looks, but it does not have to be strictly followed. Here are some other common types of lighting and what they are used for:

• Natural lighting: As implied, this type of lighting that uses a natural light source or look (e.g. sunset, dawn). This is usually done using the lighting already available at location.
• Practical lighting: This type of lighting refers to sources of light that are on screen (e.g. a lamp, candle, fire). It is usually used in wide shots to create some depth-of-field.
• Motivated lighting: This is the type of lighting that uses studio lights to imitate natural light sources (e.g. moonlight, sunshine). This is done by diffusing or bouncing studio lights, and controlling the temperature (colour) of those lights.

Sound

Sound is the audio element used in video creation that ties all the visuals together to finish the storytelling medium. Depending on the shot, you might want to give actors individual microphones to ensure that their voices can be heard. If you want narration, you’ll record the audio separately and place it in the right spot during the editing phase.

While you can create your own sound effects, it’s usually easier to find free ones in a sound library. The University of Washington has a guide to open sound libraries that you might find helpful. Double check any free content to see if attribution is required, before using.

Screen-casting

One of the most popular (and easiest) video formats to create is the screencast or stream. Basically, you are recording your screen and narrating what’s on screen. Using a webcam is optional. The same three stages apply, as it’s good to have a plan before you begin, and you’ll need to edit the video to create something polished. But when it comes to the production, you don’t need a studio or cameras – just your computer.

Post-Production

Post-production is where it all comes together. You have your plan, all of your raw footage and audio, and now it’s time to put it all together in video editing software.

What is editing? It is the ability to take footage and tell a visual story by manipulating elements of the footage and audio.

The Language of Editing

Here are some terms to familiarize yourself with before you begin to edit:

• Cut: This refers to the clean transition from one clip into another.
• Continuity Editing: A type of edit where different shots are cut together to create an uninterrupted flow. This is usually done with multiple-angle shots of the same action. This type of cutting seeks to maintain a continuous sense of time and space.
• Dissolve: A type of transition where the end of one shot overlaps with the beginning of the next, creating a gradual fade. Note: Dissolve is the proper term used for fading between 2 shots. Fade is the proper term for another kind of transition, see below.
• Fade: A transition where there is gradual brightening or gradual change into a color at either the beginning or ending of a shot. This is usually used to establish a new time and place.
• Jump Cut: A sudden cut that creates lack of continuity in a sequence by ruining the flow. Often it can be seen as a mistake in editing, but if used with purpose, can be used to disorient the audience.
• Cutaway: A cut that interrupts the flow of a sequence with another shot that is, in principle, related to it.
• Split edit: This is when the visual and the audio of a scene cut at different times during the transition from one shot to another.

Video Editing Functions

There are many elements that can be manipulated in editing for a desired effect, here are some of the things you can play with:

• Exposure: This is how bright or dark footage is.
• Colour: This could be the shades, or hues you perceive, along with the temperature (warm/cold).
• FPS: Frames Per Second. Certain frame rates will make desired effects easier to pull off. For example, if you record at 60FPS and then slow it down to 30FPS, you will get a much smoother slow-mo, because there are more frames to work with. The higher the frame rate, the more frames there are per second.
• Opacity: This measures how transparent an image is. You can transition from one scene to another with a dissolve.

Editing Audio

It is important when in pre-production (planning) to have a rough idea of what sounds you think will go best with the visuals you have planned. That makes it easier to tie it all together in the end, audio-wise.

Have an idea of where you can get the audio from. The cool thing about audio is it’s literally all around us and can be pulled from any source, whether naturally (natural sound), stock audio (pre-recorded audio from an audio database), or audio that you create using your own sound effects.

When creating video, it is important to note that audio is added in post-production (editing). Once you have the audio you need, ensure when in post-production that it is in its own track, that way it runs parallel to whatever visual you’ve chosen and won’t overlap with anything else. No matter the software you choose, the principles of editing are the same: if you learn one you can learn them all. The differences will be in commands and layout.

Putting it all together

Here are some software tools that are free and available for most computer systems, and some for your phone:

Video editing apps for your phone:

Video editing apps on phones by nature will be far more limited than anything that can be used on a computer. Most free versions of these apps come with a watermark. All common mobile devices have a built-in editor. Most social media apps allow you to edit uploaded footage and re-download the edit.

Dig Deeper

Some ideas for where to find some more stuff for your videos.

Attribution & References

Except where otherwise noted, this page is adapted from Video Production In Liberated Learners by Terry Greene et al., CC BY-NC 4.0 . / Streamlined content, removed extra activities and some graphics specific to original text.