Chapter 5. How to Start

Once your video equipment is assembled, your video editing software is chosen, and your video topics are chosen, it’s time to start making videos. In this final chapter, let’s talk about starting well. I will provide pointers on scheduling, planning, creating a video team, and writing scripts and outlines.

Just Start Already

You have already read this advice, but I’ll say it again—just start. Get that phone out of your pocket, aim it at something, and hit record (see figure 5.1). Then post your video to your favorite video-friendly social media channel.

See what type of reaction you get. Did people watch your video? Did they like, comment, or share? If so, you made something that connected with your customers! If not, you still learned something about the video-making process and can focus on making improvements in your next video.

Making More Videos = Scheduling

If creating video is not scheduled, it will quickly fall off your radar, since you are most likely busy with other tasks at work.

So make sure you schedule video creation and editing time. I’ll guess that you have some type of planner, or scheduler, or calendar, or to-do list. Actually, I know you do because you most likely own a smartphone—and there’s an app for that.

Take a peek at your calendar and think about how often you want to post videos. I’d suggest starting out with a small goal, especially if you haven’t made videos before. Maybe schedule one to two videos a month, and make it a recurring task so you get an automatic reminder in two to four weeks. Consider giving yourself a two-hour block for video creation.

If you are making a simple “what’s happening this week” video, two hours is plenty of time to set up the video camera, talk for five minutes about what’s going to happen next week, edit the beginning and ending of the video (and cut out your embarrassing pause in the middle of the video), and post the video to social media.

Also take ten minutes of that time to plan your next ten to fifteen videos. If you follow this system, you will have two to three months of video planning scheduled.

Outlining and Scripting

Now that you have video on your calendar and you know what types of video you want to make, let’s talk about planning the video content. That will require some outlining and maybe even scripting.

Outlining

Outlining is easy; you probably outlined in school for a paper you needed to write. Write an outline of the different parts and pieces of content that should be included in your video.

You will want to capture a few different things, including

• Content: What will you focus on and how long will you focus on it?
• Video clips needed: You might need multiple video clips.
• Staff: Who do you need on your team to make the video?

Here’s an example of a simple video outline for a library that recently opened a makerspace.

Outline: Opening Our New Makerspace!

• Introduction—Janet talks for 10–20 seconds about the video’s focus.
• Quick tour of the new space—This should take approximately 1 minute.
• After touring, share 2–3 ideas that can be done in the new space (30 seconds).
• Conclusion—Make sure to include a Call to Action in the video. Perhaps invite people to visit the new makerspace and direct them to the website for more information. This part might take 10–20 seconds.

Filmed and edited, you now have a two-minute video that’s interesting, shows a new space, demonstrates what you can do there, and invites customers to visit. Impressive!

Scripting and Storyboarding

Want to get fancier than a simple outline? Try scripting and storyboarding.

Scripting

Instead of an outline that says “Janet talks for 10–20 seconds,” you might include specific lines for Janet to say. You can also outline specific shots. For example, for an interview video, your script might include camera directions like “Get a close-up of David, and then show him walking toward the library director to greet her.”

Here’s an outline I made for a video about e-books (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REhzFqfI2_A; see figure 5.2). I put directions in brackets and included scripted lines.

[fade in]

[Karl on Right, head & shoulders, holding up book]

“Hey—Karl here. Here’s a book from our library. I can check it out with my library card.”

[Karl on Left, with Kindle]

“But what if I want the e-book version for my Kindle? I can’t check that out—in fact, the library can’t even buy this book in e-book format!”

[Karl in middle]

“You know why? Because some publishers don’t want to sell e-books to libraries.”

[Karl closer, still in middle]

“Which is weird, because libraries are probably the best, and most unique, way to introduce us to their authors, and to their books. In any format!”

[Karl in middle, holding book and Kindle]

“But I want to choose my format—and I don’t want a publisher limiting my choice.”

[Karl on Left, closer] [possibly bookshelf B-Roll here]

“Here’s what you can do to help.”

“Let’s send a message to those publishers and tell them to give customers what we want. Books—in all formats—from libraries.”

“Don’t worry—we’ll still buy those books if we like them, just like we always have.”

[Karl closer, in middle]

“So, please click the link below, and fill out the form. This will send a message to publishers, saying readers like you and me want libraries to have their books in all formats.”

[Karl, farther away, middle]

“Reading is your business, reading is our business. Reading is everyone’s business.”

[fade out]

Storyboards

Storyboards are another type of outline for your video—but they are a visual outline. A storyboard can help you visually plan what types of shots you want to include in your video. Here’s what Wikipedia says about storyboards: “A storyboard is a graphic organizer in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence.”1

Making a storyboard can be very helpful to the creative process. And you don’t have to be an artist to create a storyboard. You can even use stick figures!

A storyboard often enhances a text-based outline. You might create the outline first, and then if you need to visualize how you want the video clips to look as you are making the video, you can create a rough storyboard for each of those video segments.

I have an example of a storyboard I used for the video “Library Time—A Music Video from Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzMrWV0lNhU). The introduction storyboard is included in figure 5.3. You can find the rest of the storyboard on Flickr (https://flic.kr/s/aHsk34WwVk).

Teams and Planning

Finally, let’s talk about planning and creating a team of staff to help you create videos. Having a plan and a team can help you make video faster than if you are doing it by yourself. Also, if others are helping, it can be a lot more fun. The people included on the video team are also learning valuable skills in the process.

Video Team

If possible, recruit at least one other person to help make videos. Depending on your video-making needs, you might look for people to fill these team positions:

• camera operator
• microphone person (if the microphone is separate from the camera)
• video editor
• on-screen talent—someone to do the talking, acting, etc.
• lighting person
• director—someone to yell, “Cut!”

Some people are nervous about being on screen. It’s sort of like public speaking: people do it all the time, but we may not want to do it ourselves. However, being the on-screen person can be a lot of fun, depending on the type of video you are making. Speaking in front of a camera is also a great skill to learn because you may be called upon to talk to your local TV news for two or three minutes about your library or about a new service.

If you can, gather two to three staff who might have an interest in being on the video team. Share what you want to do and then add their video responsibilities to their job descriptions so video work is considered a work assignment.

Planning

Next you can take your fledgling video team and start planning. Make your list of ten to fifteen videos you would like to make, and have everyone put planning and production dates on their calendars.

Then outline the video you want to work on first. In your outline, plan the video in individual video clips. For example, if you know you need four different parts in your video, outline each clip separately. Then, you can edit the clips together later.

Once the planning is completed, schedule the people you need for the video. Also, schedule the place, if needed (e.g., if it’s in a library meeting room, you might have to schedule the room).

About a day before you want to do the video shoot, gather the equipment needed and any props you plan to use in the video. Important: make sure to charge the camera batteries! Also, schedule some editing time, if needed.

Now you are ready to make your video.

Final Words

Storyboarding, outlining, and scripting require in-depth planning, and that might be needed. But it might not, either. Remember, making a video—especially some of your initial videos—can be as simple as pulling out your phone, pointing it at willing participants, and asking them to share about a book they just read, if they liked it, and why. Tell them they have thirty seconds, and press record.

Delete the extra space at the beginning and ending of the video, add your logo or URL at the end, and post it to Facebook. You will have successfully completed a video, as simple as that.

Above all else, remember to have fun! Having a sense of fun when making videos certainly makes the work more enjoyable, and if you are having fun, it will come across in the video. Seeing your animation will help your viewers (your customers) enjoy the videos you make. And when they smile at your video, they are smiling at your library—and that, my friends, is success.

Note

1. “Storyboard,” Wikipedia, last updated June 30, 2018, 11:34, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storyboard.