Computer Applications II :: Lessons :: Video Pre-Production
The Video Treatment
Before you even touch a camera for a video project you should have a good idea about what you want to do. An instructional video is quite different from a dramatic video. While you may be able to get away with just writing a script for an instructional video you should definitely create a storyboard for most other video types. It is very important to go through the pre-production steps to create a quality video.
The treatment of a video is a short narrative describing what the audience will see. Reading a treatment should give someone a good idea about the content of the video, and writing a treatment should start you thinking creatively about how you will shoot the video. While a movie treatment can be a few pages long you should be fine with a paragraph or two for a 30-second video. You can download an example treatment here.
Video Style
Documentary: A documentary-style video is similar to a television news broadcast in which the camera shoots the subject (the news anchor) centered and from the waist-up or higher. Cutaways are used to keep the video from being too stale. In a documentary it is okay to have the subject speaking directly to the camera, and many times it is expected. A short example from Apple Learning Interchange is shown below.
Situated Video: In a situated video the audience feels as if they are a bystander watching the action. The video is usually unedited, and it should definitely not look staged. The subjects of the video should be facing each other and act as if the camera was not present. A short example from Apple Learning Interchange is to the left.
Scripted Enactment: A scripted video is useful for a video that cannot be made using raw footage and actors playing out a scene are required. Movies are almost always scripted enactments. This content can be captured in short sections, or shots, that make up a final scene or a number of scenes. A storyboard is highly recommended for this type of video. You can see a short example from AP Computer Science students below.
Voice Over: A voice over that a sequence of still images or video shorts accompanied by a narrator's voice. This can be a solution when the actual audio is of poor quality, but it can also further illustrate the scene being shown. You can see a short example from AP Computer Science students below.
