How would you improve this?

What would you do to make the next video better? The next video will not be with this doctor, but it will be with another professional.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P3LUH_QnW0"]YouTube - First aid for broken bones[/ame]

 

Better how? More engaging? More professional? More entertaining?

Remove the desk...
Look at talk shows on television. Notice how both the host and their guest face the audience and there is nothing between them? That increases the comfort value of your viewers and keeps them interested. Instead of watching a conversation, they are involved in it. This could have been done with this video if you had adjusted the chair and removed some of the clutter. I am guessing it was the doctor's office so you would need some help from the interviewee.

Props...
If you can use props to demonstrate that would be helpful. It is one thing to say wrap the arm with a pillow and secure that with a belt and another to actually see it done. Props can help with this.

Sub-titles...
Sub-titles take your video from amateur to professional. With free tools like Microsoft's MovieMaker these should be fairly easy to add during editing afterwards. Use them to introduce your guest and to drive important points home. Look for good fonts and you can even brand it with an opening sequence that you reuse on all your videos.

 

Great Job!

Kevin!

That was amazing! Fantastic job! Are you the moderator?

I actually produced a few episodes of an educational series when I was at my previous job. This is a great learning tool and so much more engaging than just reading an article. Also the amount of time you took is perfect! People love short snippets of information. The longest a video snippet should be is 15 minutes, so at 7 minutes you get to the heart of an important subject quickly and effectively.

As for suggestions to enhance I would offer the following:

* Add an introduction slide and music. It would be something that is a standard for all of your videos. Display the video title and the name of the person that you are interviewing. Also include the date the interview took place. Anyone that may see this and want to use it for a reference (think kids for school projects or even people doing a write up on how great your site is) may need to reference that. Finally I would suggest that you prepare a 30 second to 1 minute introduction for the person that you are interviewing. You would say where they went to school, how long they have been practicing, why they are qualified to speak on the subject, etc.

* I saw that you had a few rough cuts in the editing. If you have the resources I would suggest conducting the interview with three cameras. This will give you footage to use that will eliminate these rough cuts. The first one is a wide-angle shot of you and the person that you are interviewing. The second would be of just you and the third would be on the person that you are interviewing. When you are asking a question you could use the camera footage of just you. When the person is answering the question you would use their footage. The wide angle is used to diversify the image so people don't get tired of the same visual over and over. This will help keep their attention longer in case you start to hit that 15 minute mark.

* I don't know if you need subtitles like Wayne pointed out, but I would suggest cutting away to a graphic now and then. For this episode I would urge you to include a graphic that sort of "takes notes" of what the doctor is talking about. When he says "the first thing you should do..." a graphic would come up that has "#1: Wrap the broken bone." You could also offer these images as PDFs if you think your community would have any interest in that.

* I complete agree with Wayne's point about depicting what the doctor was saying. For example, for the pillow discussion you could record some footage of you wrapping the pillow around a friend's arm and securing it with a belt (I would suggest a close up with no faces just to maintain the focus on the arm). Then take this footage and edit it in with the doctor's voiceover.

* This may be going to the extreme, but one other thing that I can suggest is mic'ing the interviewee and recording the audio separate. This means you don't have to rely on the audio picked up by the camera and you can work with it a bit easier.

Thanks for sharing this video! I think that is a great tool for anyone wanting to learn more. Also a great warning to parents about the 4-wheelers! I wonder if your local community station would be interested in airing it??

Great job!
RR

 

Thank you both for the feedback. We filmed about 20 minutes of video, one shot was about 10 minutes. Out of that 20 minutes, I got it down to the 7 minute mark. I personally like to keep the videos around 5 minutes - plus or minus a little bit.

I think subtitles would be distracting. Most people can not listen and read at the same time and still be able to absorb the information.

I like the idea of more then one camera, and that is something I have already thought about. But I do not have an extra $250+ to buy another camera that films wide screen format. That would probably have to wait a few months, maybe even until after christmas. I have the money, I just have other bills right now.

Chances are the videos are not going to be at a desk setting very often. The next video I'am hoping to make will be at a meat market and about how to make sausage, or at a feed and fertilizer store and talking about home gardening.

As for music at the start of the video, I would need to hire someone to make that for me. That way I own the rights to the music.

 

Clarification on the subtitles. Not for everything like in closed captioning. Though I watch television with closed captioning every single day. If I didn't I wouldn't be able to remember anything about what was shown. Even movies on disc, I have to turn on the subtitles. My kids think it is weird because I am not deaf but they have gotten used to it over the years.

But like the news media. You would use a subtitle with the doctor's name when introducing him. You could use it for the "whiteboard" suggestion above where you outline the steps taken to secure a broken arm.

Text is very powerful and would allow people to take more from the video and remember it. If I wanted to remember what was said in the video above, I would have to go watch it again today and I watched the entire thing yesterday. With some text clues, I wouldn't have to do that.

For music, there are stock music sites where you can buy royalty-free music. Just like you can get royalty free images and video. Just has to be a midi-sequence so wouldn't cost much. Maybe a few dollars.

Though it would be cool if Youtube introduced closed-captioning. I'd love that.

 

I had forgot about the royalty free music sites. Now that you mention it, I remember seeing some awhile back. You could buy an entire song, and use it as much as you like for a set price. Some of the prices were kinda steep, but you also get what you pay for.

I remember seeing some songs for free, some cost $15 and some cost over $100 - and everything inbetween. All I would need is about 10 seconds of audio for an intro scene.