Do It Yourself Media Production Guide
There are four main steps to creating a video:
- PLAN
- PRODUCE
- PUBLISH
- DISTRIBUTE
PLAN
- Writing a “treatment” of what your video will be about is helpful when beginning a video project. A treatment is essentially just a summary that outlines the issue you want to address, your theory or opinion on the topic, and how you plan to present the information.
- After writing the treatment, it is helpful to create an outline or storyboard that includes information such as specific research citations, names of people you would like to interview, and a list of the digital assets that will likely be used, such as images, audio (script?) or video (even if those digital assets have yet to be captured). Further, the storyboard helps "visualize" what the final video will look like scene by scene.
PRODUCE
- You will need to schedule a time to gather and record all the digital assets to be used in your video and to edit and publish your video.
- You will want to give yourself plenty of time for the production process, as capturing and editing videos can be time intensive.
- SHOOTING / RECORDING: You must schedule time for shooting video, including interviews with people you plan to include and any supporting visual footage you may wish to gather. You must reserve cameras, microphones, tripods, and recording media to gather their footage. University affiliates can reserve production equipment from the Walter Library basement desk and Magrath Library circulation desk (available on first come, first served), or you can use your equipment.
- In addition, you may use the campus 1:Button studios to record yourself, an interview with someone else, or yourself combined with a PowerPoint presentation. Campus 1:Button Studios are reservable studios located in the Libraries. Reservations for these spaces are required.
- EDITING: Once you have collected all their digital assets – including video recorded, images/photos collected, music collected, and voice-over recorded – you will need to use some editing software to put them into a video. iMovie, Final Cut Pro X, and Adobe Premiere Pro are the most common video editors used in the SMART Commons/Magrath Library. Though Windows Movies could work in a pinch, we have found it less than ideal due to limited functionality. Here are some excellent tutorials that demonstrate how to use these video editing tools (and Audacity for sound editing):
The Walter Library, Wilson Library SMART Commons, Magrath Library, and the Health Sciences Library have video editing workstations that students can use on a first-come, first-served basis. Still, keeping a copy of your project and media (digital assets) on a portable hard drive is essential. The Libraries have some external hard drives that can be checked out at the above-mentioned locations. Here are instructions on how to use the external drive to backup your video projects on our public computers:
Final Cut Pro X Backup Instructions
HELP: University affiliates are always welcome to use the production computing in our production spaces, available during open building hours. If you get stuck and have a brief technical question, you may ask a staff member at the Walter-Based Toaster desk. That said, because our Toaster staff have varying levels of media expertise, or if they are unable to meet with you beyond a brief question due to media service operations commitments, they may refer you to our online Media Production Help form for a more formal scheduled consultation with a media specialist. Therefore, if you know you will require assistance on your video project, you should consider booking a scheduled consultation in advance.
CITE YOUR SOURCES: Just like you would a paper, citing your sources and attributing the use of 3rd party sources is essential. While no official style guide exists for attributing media in a video project, our YouTube video on the topic provides some excellent attribution examples to consider.
COPYRIGHT CONSIDERATIONS: Copyright law may allow for repurposing limited portions of other people's work to create new work under fair use. To help determine whether your intended use likely falls under fair use, please consult the Libraries Copyright page or contact the Copyright Librarian, Nancy Sims (nasims@umn.edu). Alternatively, you may seek out Creative Commons materials designated for repurposing or accessing the VideoBlocks stock media that the University (OIT) has licensed expressly for use in video projects.
PUBLISH
-
Once you have completed your video project, you may want to publish your video. There are several video-sharing and publishing platforms, such as the campus-hosted Kaltura service and YouTube. Videos can also be shared and viewed via Google Drive, though Drive is not designed to host video for redistribution.
DISTRIBUTE
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Now your video can be shared with select individuals or publicly. Before publication and distribution, all media creators are encouraged to reflect on their content to determine the extent they want to share. For example, while it may be practical to share media materials with an end goal of advocacy more broadly, there may be times when media creators want to keep more personal or sensitive content private. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact your instructor or request a media consultation.
(Adapted from Pete McCauley's CEHD Digital Storytelling page)
**First draft created by Pete McCauley on August 26, 2010
Last Updated: March 31, 2023 by Scott Spicer