1. Jargon and good practices with Video
Video Basics
Jargon and good practices with Video

2. Overview Writing a Treatment Overview of Script Writing Storyboarding
Shot Planning
Shot Sequence
Good Videography Practices
Intro to White Balancing

3. Intro to Treatments
When preparing to pitch your show or film idea, we normally use treatments
These documents are overviews to give your potential buyer an idea of:
What is the show about
What will be needed in terms of costs
Layouts & Example script
The writing style of treatments is to the point – these are short and sweet as folks will not want to spend a lot of time on them so you have to make an impression as quickly as possible!
example

4. Treatments
.  . basically a two to five page document that tells the whole story focusing on the highlights and costs

5. Intro to Treatments
Treatments can change depending on the medium you are pursuing.
These are a little longer than the old ‘elevator pitch’ but you still want to keep it short
Writing a treatment is much different than writing a paper for your English prose class.
Time is money and many folks in industry don’t want to waste it

6. Overview of Script Writing
Scripts differ depending upon which medium you are working in
Changes with Film, Television, Animation, Radio, Etc.
Still with all scripts it remains the same – You want to make sure all aspects are written down and when they should happen
This includes audio, sound effects, music, shot changes, and so on
There are special script writing programs – however to get started Microsoft Office works fine
Note: If you want to get REALLY fancy – you could even use InDesign to do the layout of the document as well!

7. Overview of Scriptwriting
Video, Television and Animation scripts at their basic level have two sides
We note both Video shots and the audio occurring at the time of the shot
Again – EVERYTHING is documented
When reading a script and as you become more comfortable with the acronyms, you should be able to visualize what is happening.

8. Storyboards
Before filming, recording or designing (animation) – a storyboard is laid out to give a more visual idea of how the script is flowing
These do not need to be the set in stone final idea – but close enough that small edits can be made but not extreme changes
This is your road map – Take it seriously when creating one!

9. Storyboards
Storyboard documents come in all shapes and sizes, but the consistent aspects include:
Shot, Panel, Dialogue, Actions and sound FX notes
You do not need to be an artist to create the storyboard
Stick figures are fine!
The storyboard should sync up with the script but don’t re-write the script on the storyboard

10. Rule of Thirds
Great Video Discussion if Interested:
This is the imaginary grid we following in many different areas including:
Photography, Videography, Graphic Design
The Rule of thirds assists with making the designs/layout of a space more interesting
Can be interesting with Videography – we are dealing with moving pictures now – so we have to plan through the process

11. Headroom
How we position the subject matter in frames – This refers specifically to the space from the subject’s head to the top of the frame.
We want to focus on the subject’s eyes – normally spaced 1/3 the distance from the top of the frame
Note: Often this term is used as an umbrella term
for other shooting guidelines including:
Lead Room/Nose Room/ Looking Room – The space in front of a subject’s face.
From:

12. Shot Types
Extreme Wide shot – useful to establish setting, subject very small portion of frame; subject is not the main point of shot, location is. We feel emotionally distanced from subject
Wide shot – Establish subject’s orientation in location
Medium shot – moving to subject and his/her activity. Roughly equivalent to how we see people “in the flesh”. Emotionally neutral, allows gestures to be captured…wasit shot
Medium close-up – shows face/talking, good to cycle through wide and close-ups
Close-up – show detail and emotion of subject, probably during intense speech, emotional reaction, or focus of activity
Extreme close-up – extraordinary action or emotion – typically, too close on people

13. shots
Extreme long shot
Show entire body

14. Shot Sequences
Generally, we switch between shots to provide interest, while guiding viewer towards what the focus is
Typical sequence:
Wide or Extreme Wide – establish location
Medium – establish subject in location
Medium close-up – observe subject or conversation
Medium
Close-up
Medium close-up on other part of interest or close-up
Wide
We should avoid cutting from wide to wide, close-up to close-up – this is jarring, and the viewer can lose their perspective on the scene – they get lost on “where am I” relative to action

15. Shot Planning
Shoot a variety of shots from different locations, different angles, different distances, etc. For everything that you see and want to record, try to shoot a the exact same scene from multiple angles (with multiple cameras) if possible – provides flexibility in editing
Shot type ratio - A common rule of thumb is 25:25:50 - the number of shots for a single shooting session should be 25% wide shots, 25% medium shots, and 50% close-up shots.
5 shot rule – for any basic recording, remember to get a minimum of five different shots, which will make for a video sequence with visual variety.

16. B-Roll
Background, supplemental material, perhaps involving topic but not actors
Useful in allowing us to pad/replace portions of a clip
Can cut to b-roll when you need to pad a video clip to support a longer audio narration during a story
Can use to inject between switching of scenes, or overwrite a flaw in the video (can “cut to B” to overwrite flawed video)

17. Camera Movement – Tilting & Panning
Tilting - Where we rotate the camera up / down or down/up movement
Where we rotate the camera in a left to right or right to left movement.
Be careful to have stability when panning or tilting a view – our breathing, movement, etc. can all have effects on the stability of the shot. (See the Tri-pod Section)

18. Camera Movement – Tracking, Trucking, Dollying
Dolly is a rigid frame, usually with tracks or rails, with a tripod mounted on these rails for mobility
Can be used for a few types of mobile shots:
Tracking or trucking – camera moves side-to-side to provide change of perspective of stationary subject, or following a moving subject
Dollying – moving in-and-out on subject

19. Camera “Movement” - Zoom
Using camera lens (or digital “trick”) to give illusion that the camera has been moved closer or further away, somewhat like dolly effect
Digital zoom (like that used in phones) typically produces noise in the image – grain effect
Overused – typically better to reposition camera using dollying. An “on-tape” zoom unnatural (as our eyes can’t do it) and is therefore best used for dramatic emphasis
If you must zoom due to logistics, generally done “off-tape” between shots

20. Zoom?
Zooming on a subject makes movement of the camera – even with a tripod – much more noticable
Difficulty with tripods, shaking of your hands, etc will be emphasized
In some situations it may be impossible to move the camera closer to the subject, but moving closer (rather than zooming) is usually preferable

21. 180 Rule Viewer’s perspective is provided by camera angles
You must stay within a 180 degree plane when shooting subjects, otherwise, actors/elements seem to “flip” – person on the left will suddenly be on right, visually disorienting
If shooting from left, and you want to reverse camera angle, must rotate to “head on” shot, then to other side, to provide viewer with context on camera movement

22. Extreme - Fill the Frame
Have the subject/focal point fill the entire frame when filming
We achieve this by getting closer to the subject/focal point, not zooming in
If you aren’t sure if you have filled the frame:
Take a few steps closer to the subject, sometimes the mind can trick us into thinking we did
This is also how we achieve what is called the Close-Up Shot or Extreme Close-Up Shot

23. Cropping
Avoid cropping or filming where you are cutting through a joint on a person
This throws off our view of the scene – It feels wrong to our eyes

24. Use a Tripod!
Tons of stability – even our breathing can have ramifications on the shot.
What if you don’t have a tripod? Find a sturdy object to lean against or put your camera on to stable the camera.
Even if you are using a cellphone – plenty of tripods out there for you to utilize!

25. Intro to White Balance
White Balance is the process of telling the camera what is considered white
Note: Cameras do not know colors
Videographers have to take into consideration the temperature of lights in the environment to reach the white balance – What you are seeing as white you want the camera to film as white!
Although many programs offer an Auto-White Balance option (i.e. Photoshop and Premiere) there is only so much they can do
If your video is not white balanced, then the overall best option is to reshoot the video