Record a Video
How to record and submit a video to Wikitongues
In addition to creating a lexicon, recording an oral history is also a core component of what we might call ‘early stage’ language documentation, because it presents a raw example of the language as it is candidly spoken. Those looking to research the features of a language and those seeking to learn it can find immense value in a well-documented oral history. Perhaps most importantly, oral histories can offer a window into the life of a speaker or a speech community.
Technical and Aesthetic Considerations
Whether you’re using a professional camera and audio recorder, or just a smartphone, consider the following:
● Clean audio is essential. It’s important to record your interview with minimal background noise and audio interference. Avoid crowded hallways, busy streets, or background music.
● Stick to landscape dimensions. Though it is common for people to use portrait ratios when recording with smartphones, it is better to film with landscape dimensions (see photo below); that is, with your phone horizontal rather than vertical. This better optimizes your video for online media players. The video should be framed to the upper body of the speaker(s).
● Smartphones make great audio recorders . If you have access to a professional grade camera, but lack comparable audio equipment, your phone can be leveraged to record external audio. For iOS devices, we recommend iTalk. For Android, we recommend Audio Recorder.
What to Discuss in an Oral History
We believe that videos should attempt to be as natural as possible; commonly, people will get nervous in front of a camera or feel uncomfortable to start speaking, this often goes away after the first couple of minutes. To help with nerves, it is good to chat with the interviewee beforehand (if this is available to you) about their interests, their language, their culture.
We do not provide questions for the interviews, as we want the narrative to be reflective of them and their lives. If they are having trouble thinking of something to say, or get stumped during the recording, you can always help encourage them and suggest topics; for example, a language consultant could speak about their language and their relationship with it, their hopes for the future of their language, their favorite foods from their community’s cuisine, or anything else of interest to them!
After you have recorded the video, the next step is creating subtitles:
Learn how to submit your video here:
If you’d like to donate to support the work of Wikitongues or if you’d like to get to know our work, please visit wikitongues.org. To watch our oral histories, subscribe to our YouTube channel or visit wikitongues.org to submit a video.
