Time-based Instructions

Proud Taranat
Nov 6 · 11 min read

Part 1: Get good at your task

In this project, we are to create a video instructing viewers on how to perform a specific task. The task I was given was to make tea, which seems simple compared to the other tasks that were assigned. However, I am sure that Tea comes with its own challenges as well.

The first step was to get good at making tea. Because the task was so open-ended, I also had to consider what type of tea I would make and how far into the process I would get into. Because of convenience, I started by making tea from tea bags. This process was fairly straightforward. Because I drink tea regularly, I already knew how to make it properly. However, I wanted to approach this assignment as someone who isn’t the most familiar with tea. For the sake of consistency and personal preference, I am sticking with black tea.

Although the steps to make tea are simple, there is a lot of nuance and additional information you could consider in the process. For my task, I have to consider the context in which my video is being watched, and how my medium and the limitations of the project determine how much information I can reveal to the audience

Steps to make tea (from a tea bag)

  1. Boil water: Different types of tea require different water temperatures. For black tea, you should bring the water to a gentle boil. In practice, this means that I would be pouring the water straight into the mug after the water reaches boiling point.
  2. Put tea bag into teacup and pour in water: sometimes people take the additional step of warming the teacups with hot water before adding the tea bags. I usually skip this step because of convenience- Usually, if I’m making tea with a teabag, I expect it to be a quick process, and I wouldn’t focus on the ritualistic aspect of making it.
  3. Steep tea: steeping tea is probably the part of making tea that will most determine how your tea turns out. For black tea, the tea shouldn’t be steeped for too long, otherwise it can turn out too bitter. A steeping time of about 4–5 minutes will suffice. Once you’re done steeping, remove the teabag from the cup. This is the step where some people make the mistake of leaving in the teabag after it’s done steeping.

There were some nuances I found during the process that I think would be interesting for me to capture in my video.

  • I want to find a way to emphasise that the water is very hot when it is being poured into the mug. I noticed that when hot water is being poured into a cup, steam will catch around the edges of the mug.
  • I also liked the way the colour of the tea gradually seeped out of the strainer. You’re also not supposed to touch the tea while it is steeping, so stirring the tea once the strainer is removed is a crucial part of the process.

After the initial experiment, I also went to a tea shop to buy some loose leaf tea. Aside from the steps described above, there is also an extra step of scooping the loose leaf tea into the tea strainer before inserting the strainer into the mug.

The process of scooping tea leaves into the strainer can be difficult and messy. When taking these pictures, I had to clean the tea leaves off the seamless several times. This will be a step I will have to give extra consideration to in my next iteration.
When watching the tea steep, I really liked how the colors of the tea would gradually bleed out of the strainer. I also noticed that the bobbing motion of the strainer after I removed it from the cup would naturally mix the tea, so I wouldn’t need a spoon.

Part 2: Research

Appropriateness of Visuals: Mad Men Intro

One thing I liked about this video was the amount of information that was conveyed through a few simple graphics. From watching the introduction, we already know the premise of the show: The advertisements on the building represents the advertising industry. The graphic visual of the man is representative of the most iconographic aspects of Don Draper, and the falling transitions represents the metaphorical fall of the era of the Mad Man. In my video, I have to think about the information I am communicating in every aspect of my video, such as the appearance of the objects I am using.

Point of View: PB&J Sandwich

Because my video will be dealing with food, I want to be able to frame my tea in an appealing way. There are many tiny visual cues in this video that magnifies the real life experience of making a sandwich: Scooping, spreading, and sandwiching. When I experiment with my clips, I will have to think about the subtleties of tea-making that I would like to emphasise and magnify.

Transitions: Catch Me if You Can

This video does a really good job in creating continuity across transitions- there is always one element in the video that is present or leads up to the second clip. Although I plan to avoid as many perspective changes as possible, when I add these changes, I would have to consider the elements I could use that would establish the point of view and ground the viewer from frame to frame.

Part 3: creating a storyboard

Before I created my storyboard, I made an overview of things I wanted to include in my photos.

  • I have the impression that making tea is also defined by the context in which it is made. Even though I still want this to be an instructional video, I want to include some ‘human’ aspect of tea making in my clip.
  • Because I didn’t have a properly sized mug going into this project, I have been making my tea in a paper cup. I don’t think this is appropriate for the video, because tea is usually made at home, with a mug.
  • There are a few assumptions I have to make going into this storyboard. Because it is so difficult to imagine someone who doesn’t know, even at the surface level, how to make tea, I would have to try to pretend like I’m learning to make tea for the first time.

To make my storyboard, I am pulling images out of video clips. I am choosing this process because it is easier to achieve, and is more representative of my final process.

When filming my video, I am being conscious of certain shots I plan on adding to my storyboard. I am slowing down certain movements to create emphasis. I won’t have this luxury when filming my final video, but for now, this method will give me some clarity in how I plan to compose my clips in the future.

Part 4: First Iteration

The next step was to film clips based on my storyboard.

Part 5: Second Iteration

Some people liked the idea of having the book in the shot, while some didn’t. After some more consideration, I have decided against it, as it would make the video more difficult to cut down- I already envision myself running pretty short on time. In my next iteration, I will make a completed video, further refining the ideas that I had initially developed in my first iteration.

The video I ended up with was a whopping twenty-six seconds over the time limit. While I did my best to cut it down as much as I could, many of the problems were caused by bad footage. There were many things I did during filming that made the clips longer than necessary. Also, I still haven’t figured out a quiet place I can film in. Even if I’m coming to the studio early, there are still people inside, and I am often interrupted by the sound of the garbage trucks filing out of the Donner Ditch in the early mornings.

Part 6: Final iteration

After getting critique from my classmates, I was given a few suggestions on how I could cut down my video.

  • The biggest thing people pointed out was that my movements could be a lot faster. I am usually deliberately slow when filming, because I want to capture every important thing about the process. In my next iteration, I would have to be quick and concise without rushing.
  • People felt that my jump straight to boiling water was too drastic. I would have to establish a shot of the kettle in some way so that it isn’t treated as a new object being introduced into the video.
  • To save time, I could probably eliminate the shot of me stirring the tea.
  • I’m also considering adding milk to my tea, or adding more food items like biscuits, sugar cubes, and a plate to further contextualise my video.
  • I saw some Tea videos that had closeup shots that helped capture the steam and the steeping of the tea very well. I want to use this in my final iteration. However, because this is a pretty big change, I would have to plan out a new storyboard.
  • I am also thinking of changing my filming location. Right now, it is very obvious that I’m filming in my studio because of the patterns of the table and the cardboard colored seamless I constructed. I’ve brainstormed a few different filming locations:

Picnic area by the basketball court

Pros:

  • Less people.
  • Good natural light in the morning.
  • Appealing background (If I can find an angle that hides the basketball court).

Cons

  • Confusing context? I don’t know anyone who brings a kettle outside to make tea.

My dorm room

Pros:

  • Generally quiet, I have more control over the environment.

Cons:

  • The lighting isn’t as good, because I live in the basement.

The communal kitchen in my dorm

Pros:

  • Very contextual because it is a kitchen environment.
  • Well lit
  • Generally more quiet at night.

Cons:

  • I have less control over the environment.
  • It smells really bad- people always leave a huge mess and never wash the dishes.

In the end, due to convenience, I decided to choose my dorm as a filming location. I saw another video with the same idea, but I also noticed the number of distractions present that took away from the clarity of the instructions. To avoid this, I cleaned up my desk to avoid anything that stood out too much while still maintaining the ‘homey’ environment. I added a stack of books and some pencils to accomplish this.

Transitions

Instead of focusing one a single angle, I am deciding to do transitions between different shots. If I kept this number small and kept the pacing consistent, I don’t think these angle changes would make a big difference.

For example, instead of going straight to this shot of boiling water (far right) I am adding another shot of of simmering water filmed at the same angle, so the transition is less of a jump forward than it is returning to an already known point.

First iteration (left) compared to final iteration (right)

Another change I made was in framing the final shot of the tea steeping in the water. Because I kept my angles the same throughout my second iteration, you see less of the tea and the strainer in the mug. Adding a close up shot of the tea emphasised the steeping process. My only complaint with this composition is that my phone screen was a bit over exposed.

The final video. Overall, I am happy with how the video has developed throughout my iterations. However, there are some small issues with continuity that still bother me. If I was given more time to film and refilm certain shots, I probably would’ve been able to fix these issues. However, due to the way I chose to film my video (many long continuous shots), it still would’ve been difficult. Overall, this project helped me learn to communicate instructions in the most concise way possible- I realise how much information can be communicated through an image, even if you only see it for a fraction of a second.

Final Video (Take two)
I misread the due date of this project and ended up with an extra two days to complete it. After thinking about all the things I wish I could’ve done better on my final video, I decided to film my final video again. In this (final) final iteration, I would frame and pace all my shots the same way, while paying extra attention to continuity, particularly to changes in light conditions.

Int this final iteration, I paid more attention to where the objects were placed within the frame. Because my camera (and iMovie) didn’t have an option to film in 4:3 aspect ratio, I left a little breathing room in the side to allow for cropping later.

I am also looking at the different ways my hands are composed in the shot. In the first clip, the hand took up a majority of the composition, making the tea strainer less in focus. I experimented with tilting my hands in certain angles so that the tea strainer is the main focus of the clip.

Overall, I am much happier with this video compared to the last one, and I don’t regret taking the extra time to correct the tiny mistakes that bothered me in the first few iterations. While there are some things that could’ve been better, such as the continuity in light and the framing of the phone, I still learned a lot from this process.

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