Instructional Video: It's All About Approach

Alice Patterson
February 2000

Making an instructional video without some type of plan will likely lead you in a direction other than the one you intended. Think of the approach you use in making your video as a roadmap allowing you to reach your final destination: the finished videotape. Before you begin, though, you'll want to consider the following questions.
How long should your video be? Before choosing your approach, decide how long you want your completed production to be. The instructional videotapes produced at Videomaker are generally 30 minutes in length and are broken down into six, four-minute segments separated by 10-second "bumpers" or lead-ins to the next segment. In addition, each tape begins with an animated opening, followed by a 30-second introduction, and ends with a 30-second wrap-up followed by the closing credits.
"We use three different approaches in each of our 30-minute videos," said Lander, the video editor. "It breaks up the video, and gives it a better feel," he said.

• How much time do you have? As you'll see later in this article, some approaches are more time-consuming than others. It's important to evaluate how much time you haveand how much time you're willing to put into your projectto choose the proper approach. If you're on a tight schedule, for example, you won't want to choose an approach involving grandiose, time-consuming shots or extra time in the editing room.
• Who are you trying to reach? Identifying your target audience is key to picking an appropriate approach. Is your audience a group of teens? Business associates? Pre-schoolers?

Know who you're trying to reach and plan your approach before you develop your script to avoid producing a video that's out-of-touch with your intended audience.
What type of equipment and budget do you have? You don't have to have any fancy bells or whistles to produce a winning informative video, but taking stock of your equipment-and your budget-is essential when deciding on which approach to use. As you'll see in this article, some approaches lend themselves to higher-end lighting equipment, or depend on hiring professional talent. Unless you have endless monetary resources, be realistic about what you can achieve with the equipment, money and personnel you already have.

No matter which approach you decide to use, the experts advise heeding these basic concepts during the production process.
"Think of keeping continuity throughout your production, and always keep the theme of your videotape in mind," Lander advises.
One way to keep continuity throughout your video, Lander said, is to use the same color background in each segment. Lander said the Videomaker crew often uses this technique, but adds variety to each segment through the use of different camera angles or lighting techniques.
Another important consideration, no matter which approach you decide to use, is the way you frame your shot. "When you frame a shot, always think of the rule of thirds," said videographer Perry Jenkins.
The rule of thirds uses the notion that a scene is most appealing to the eye if its main elements appear at certain points on the screen. To use it, divide the screen into thirds vertically and horizontally similar to a tic-tac-toe game, and place the important elements along the imaginary lines and wherever they intersect.
Now that we've covered some of the basics, let's look at some real approaches you can use today, straight from the Videomaker pros.

The Expert Interview approach is one often used by the pros at Videomaker. The approach involves using an expert on a particular subject to relay information to your audience (for example, you might recruit a local historian who can accurately describe your town's history for the documentary you're producing).
This approach, according to Lander and Jenkins, lends credibility to your topic and can be modified to suit just about any shooting situation. The expert can appear as the lone narrator of your videotape, or can appear on-screen with talent, who poses questions for the expert to answer.
Another variation of the "Expert Interview" is using two experts on location. Say you are shooting a videotape showing how to build your own greenhouse. By choosing two experts - a gardener and a handyperson - you can creatively show your audience how to take the project from start to finish using a hands-on approach. You might have your gardening expert serve as the narrator, while your handyperson expert leads your audience through the building process step-by-step. Camera close-ups of the repair person's "work in progress" can serve to illustrate the main points.

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