Shooting the Messenger: Creating Videos to Enhance Online Distance Education

1. Shooting the Messenger: Creating Videos to Enhance Online Distance Education Cole smith, Graduate assistant Slis program, university of southern Mississippi Jennifer brannock, curator of rare books & mississippiana, university of southern mississippi

2. Presentation • Project overview • Purpose of the project • Student reaction • Selecting content • Creating videos

3. Project overview • Dr. Teresa Welsh’s children’s literature and archival classes at USM • Stimulates discussion about special collections • Familiarizes students with how to use special collections and what the department has to offer • Videos are lecture enhancers not lecture substitutes • de Grummond videos used for children’s literature classes and archives classes • Displays the types of things found in special collections and how the items are handled • Promote special collections to groups outside of the classroom

4. Why create videos? • Controlled and succinct • Use for distance learning classes • Promote special collections on YouTube and social media • Video crew on-site and inexpensive • Format engaging for students

5. Introduction to Special Collections

6. Selecting content • What should students know about USM Special Collections? • What are some materials to highlight? • What looks good on camera? • What helps students identify the differences between general collections and special collections?

7. Video List • Overview: • Special Collections Overview • de Grummond Overview • General Special Collections Overview • Archives Overview • Mississippiana Overview • Digital Archives • Mississippianna Digital Archives • Specific: • Kate Greenaway • Ezra Jack Keats • HA & Margaret Rey • 16th Century Antiphoner • USM Women’s Handbook • Fore-Edge Painting Book • SNL Script Finished videos uploaded first to LEC YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/usmlec

8. Show a specific video

9. Reaction to videos • ¨ I thought the video was very well done and informative.  I think it would be nice to post the link to collection somewhere near or at the end of the video.  It would also be of interest to distance learners to include information about online exhibits and collections.  I had no idea of amount of resources they had online until I took this class. • ¨ I thought the video was great and it definitely added dimension to our online class. As a long-distance student, it is easy to feel disconnected to the "real" university.The video provided a chance for many of us to actually view some of the inner workings of "our" library!   • ¨ I have a particular interest in the H.A. Rey collection and use Louise Borden's book to introduce an author study of the Reys each year to my elementary students. Your lecture on the topic and then the de Grummond video [has] given me extra insight into that unique story.  I would love to see an in-depth de Grummond video specifically on the Rey collection.  Thank you for the opportunity to provide some feedback. • ¨ I love this video. It was very well produced. The content is useful and easy to understand. This video made me want to visit the de Grummond exhibit room, McCain Library, and the Learning Enhancement Center. Seriously well done! More videos about the archive collection ought to be included!

10. Creating videos • Length of videos • Staging and lighting • Location • Aesthetic • ADA compliant

11. Length of videos • Meant to be used during lectures, not replacing lectures. • Videos ideally between 2 and 5 minutes. • Some videos on specific subjects went on longer than expected (upwards of 8 minutes). These videos were on specific subjects and serve as a good introduction to the people and works they were discussing.

12. Staging and lighting • Lighting in videos, as in pictures, is of critical importance. Some common problems are: • “Blown-out” (over-exposed)—information loss due to extreme brightness. • “Muddy” (under-exposed)—loss of shadow detail.

13. Overexposed Underexposed

14. Staging and Lighting… • Back and fore-ground lighting needed to separate speaker from the background. • Reflections that reveal the light source should be avoided. • Lighting must attempt to be even and mitigate the appearance of shadows. • Background must compliment foreground.

17. Location • Choosing a location is key for many of the same reasons lighting is important: • Reflections & Shadows must be avoided • Harsh light (such as fluorescents, too much direct sunlight) or under-lighting should be avoided. • Shooting many videos in the same location at once saved on production time and editing time. • Location can add a sense of perspective. It is effective in showing the distance student where the materials are usually stored and how they are accessed.

18. Audio • Audio must be monitored during shoot to make sure that it is picking up correctly. • 2 microphones were used to make sure the audio had “coverage” • Small, consistent sounds (i.e. humming) can be taken out of the audio track. Loud, inconsistent sounds can not. • Audio must be clear and try to avoid the echo-effect (created by having a room that reverberates sound) but this is generally not largely avoidable.

20. Aesthetic • Avoid gimmicky fade-outs and quick-cuts. • Sync video and audio (think Jackie Chan movies). • Using “B-roll” to add different angles and make the video more dynamic. (This also provides “coverage” if one of the videos turns out to be unusable) • Cameras must be shooting at same speed (i.e. 780p, 1080p). This allows for coherency between shots in the editing stage.

22. Introduction to de Grummond

23. ADA Compliant • Closed captioning must be added to the video for class use. • YouTube has a “speech recognizer” that gives a print-out with time stamps of what YouTube “thinks” a video’s audio is saying. • The LEC made a video to describe this process: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLO8e0UjUHw

25. LEC • First time LEC had helmed a project like this one. • LEC played a HUGE role in how well the videos turned out. • LEC members: • Tom Hutchinson • Megan Mulloy • Michael Trest • Paul Tynes

26. Helpful links • General Tips: http://lifehacker.com/214043/8-ways-to-shoot-video-like-a-pro • Lighting Tips: http://www.desktop-documentaries.com/lighting-for-video.html • Audio Tips: http://www.desktop-documentaries.com/audio-basics.html • Editing Tips: http://www.desktop-documentaries.com/video-production-editing.html

27. Quick Hints • Camera: • Use a tripod! • Be prepared, with extra battery & tape/storage • If possible have extra camera filming to get “B-roll” • Lighting: • Use 3 point lighting (key light, fill light, back light) • Audio: • Monitor sound with headphones (if possible) • Repeat shots interrupted by loud noise, such as trucks or construction. • Editing: • Make sure the viewer is never “taken out of the story,” by such things as distracting noise, inconsistency, or anything that would have their attention diverted from the video.