Behind One Weird Trick, Part III: Visual Components and Tying it All Together
In our final One Weird Trick (OWT) behind-the-scenes installment, mastermind Alex Mitchell will walk us through the third and final stage — visual assets and wrap-up. For background information on OWT or to get up to speed on this series, check out parts one and two.
The Visuals
Eric Kline: With the audio portion now in place, what happens next?
Alex Mitchell: First I compile and sequence a shot list as I listen to the edited interview. I listen through, stopping and re-listening frequently, and I write short descriptions of what I think might be a good visual for a section or phrase. The list ends up looking like a series of very short prompts, ranging from the specific, like an over-the-shoulder shot of the instructor sitting at a table, to something vague, like “out of comfort zone.”
Time Budget
EK: And so where does the shot list lead?
AM: I try to keep in mind my limited time budget, and I try to identify specific beats in the audio or great images that will get me a lot of “bang for my buck.” I don’t want to spend an hour drawing something that shows up for 2 seconds and makes little impression.
I’ll also think about places to add limited animation to the images, like the old SquiggleVision trick of simply drawing the same thing twice and making it into a looped animation. If animation is necessary, I try to save it for sections that need a boost in interest or extra help in making sense.
EK: Can you talk about the tools you use in this phase?
AM: If you’re making visuals, you can pull from public domain sources, your own photographs or artwork, or use software like Photoshop. The key is to keep your time and effort proportional to the project. If the video will have a long life and many important applications, it’s worth significant investment. If it won’t, then scale back your expectations and use more time-saving tricks.
Making a video is a sort of ‘visual trick’: showing people a series of disconnected images and expecting them to mentally transform that into a story
I gained some video-production experience working on an animated web series with a filmmaker friend. I was able to become proficient in editing shots and mimicking camera movements. I learned that making a video is a sort of “visual trick”: showing people a series of disconnected images and expecting them to mentally transform that into a story. Audiences don’t just automatically do that, though, and certain tactics become quite useful.
3 Rules
EK: Can you share a few pointers with us?
AM: Well, I have three rules that I try to follow.
- Many people know the 180º rule, that two characters in a scene should maintain the same left/right relationship to one another. It’s also a good idea to keep lateral movement across the camera going in the same direction as it gives the viewer’s brain a break when making sense of the image. Left-to-right is almost always the most natural feeling direction of movement, because that’s the way we read English.
- Camera movement is an easy way to add interest and production-value to a simple shot. A slow pan to a focal point, or a slow push in or out, or even cutting between a static close-up and a static wide shot are all pretty easy in post-production using software like ScreenFlow. It’s important to observe a few guidelines, however, to avoid making your viewers motion-sick. Generally, take it slow. Let a panning shot land, or pause, on the focal point before cutting to the next shot. Don’t chain together camera movements or the viewer will feel like they’re spinning around and you’ll lose comprehension of the content.
- Use color and repetition to ground the content and give it structure. I like to use a particular set of colors for a setting, and use those colors again each time we return. Likewise, avoid putting two shots with similar colors together unless you mean the viewer to relate them.
EK: And then what is the end process?
AM: At this stage, post-production is all but finished and the Online Learning team offers feedback. We also send the video to the interviewee for feedback. Any further needed editing is performed and the video is then loaded onto a video-sharing site like YouTube, where it can “live” and reach the outside world.
I would estimate the entire process, start to finish, takes about 15 hours of work. But, a person can determine their own process and set of efficiencies. I think a short “pilot” video is a good starting point for a would-be creator to get a feel for what is entailed and what kind of time is required. The bottom line, though: if you’ve got ideas, knowledgeable/willing participants, and some basic equipment at your disposal you can absolutely do this!
