I’m on a mission to help people make and use video for learning purposes. Have you ever wondered how directors actually direct? Maybe you have to direct actors yourself (hired ones or other company employees). “How to Direct a Learning Video” is aimed at people like you who have to direct actors or your colleagues during a learning video shoot. Read on for practical tips that will help you direct your next learning video. But first, some words of wisdom.
You become a director by calling yourself a director and you then persuade other people that this is true.
Peter Brook
How to Direct a Learning Video
Learning video, sometimes called training video or even eLearning video, is different than other genres of video. However, most of the production skills needed to make film and video of other genres also apply to learning video. Yet still, there is a need to focus your skills on the promise of learning video at every stage of the process.
The promise or purpose of video for learning is to improve knowledge, skills, and behaviors.
When you learn how to direct a learning video, your challenge is to get a relaxed believable performance from the person on-camera. Whether you are a crew of one or 10, the director’s mindset should be the same: be a good human. Directing is about relationships.
How to Direct is about Human Leadership
Managing a learning video production set is all about relationships. These relationships start even before you oversee the storyboarding phase. Before you choose a location and identify on-camera actors. And, before you set up the camera, you need to invest in the people. Establish a rapport with everyone.
Video for learning does not allow for Hollywood diva auteurs. You don’t get an entourage or an AD to do everything for you, and you certainly don’t get millions of dollars to treat people terribly in the name of artistic expression.
Instead, a learning video director is often the producer and maybe even the writer, too. To be truly great at evoking a successful performance, you begin with kindness and quietly expect excellence.
Making a Relationship Starts Day One
It starts well before you set up the camera. It happens when you first meet your crew. I can’t stress enough how important it is to be kind and polite in all interactions. You can demonstrate you are worthy of respect and in charge of every situation by offering direction or taking a moment to lean on a crew member to get their expert insight.
Your tone of voice is critical in these interactions.
A clear, booming voice is required as you learn how to direct a set. There will be times when you need to orate above the din of quiet conversation to keep things moving. Your phrasing needs to be short and to the point. “Let’s get ready for the next take,” you might say as you provide wait time for everyone to get to their positions. “We need to make up time,” you might offer, if people are moving slowly or if you are behind schedule.
When directing talent, be encouraging instead of overly critical. This is hard to do when talent is unprepared or inexperienced on-camera. But, believe me, it is easier for everyone if the direction is positive, reassuring, and filled with the promise of success and goodness.
To be positive, try these directions:
- That was an excellent take!
- I appreciate the [intonation, the look you gave, gesture, etc.] – it was great.
- Nice work! Let’s keep the good takes rolling.
- Let’s try it one more time, and really punch the ending.
When directing crew, be encouraging and discreet. A softly spoken word goes a long way on a set. Try very hard to never speak out negatively against a crew member. Learning video often affords you the opportunity to work with people you know better than you would on typical marketing or advertising set. Remember, you are building relationships that will lead to a great video that improves knowledge, skills, or behavior in your audience. You are not trying to make this video just to get to the next video so you can get your hands on the next product’s budget. You are directing people to create meaningful learning experiences. This takes kindness, love, and caring.
Directing Relationships is like Cooking
I relate directing to cooking. If you rush and throw things together you get food to eat. If you take your time and incorporate the skills of others, then you serve gourmet delicacies that excite, entertain, and evoke memories! I’ve seen a lot of learning videos that are food. Quickly made, nutritional, perhaps even instructional at the base level, but not engaging or memorable. Learning videos made with care and attention to the skilled professionals in front of the camera and behind it, resulting in dynamic final products that engage, evoke emotion, and stick with the learner.
Calling the Roll
One skill you can use that will lead toward gourmet learning (lol), is understanding how to “call the roll.” Calling the roll is when you “call out a series of specific cues for each take to ensure that all cast and crew on set are aware of exactly what is going on so they can perform their particular role at the appropriate moment.” This is the job of the assistant director on a film set. In a learning video production, the director, producer, or project manager typically runs the operation. Here is the sequence I’ve used for years to ensure all goes well.
Director: Audio? (allow a moment for silence and nonverbal acknowledgment)
Sound engineer: (signals thumbs up)
Director: Prompter ready?
Prompter operator: Ready.
Director: Roll camera.
Camera Operator: Speed.
Director: And…action! (point or nod to the talent)
(Allow time for the take to end, about 3-5 seconds after the end of the scene’s action and dialogue)
Director: Cut.
Pro-Tip: The word “speed” is a code word that means, “I pushed the record button and the camera is now recording.” Even with this process in place, things can happen. Beware the dreaded phantom take: a perfect moment that was not recorded.
I’ve honed this sequence from numerous video shoots over the years. Please do not take it word for word, but rather as a guide for your learning productions. Make it your own.
The key is to make sure the crew, talent, and client are ready. I always check in with the person monitoring the audio because I rarely gather learning video in a space with perfect sound dampening. By signaling, “roll camera,” I’m letting the camera operators know that we are recording and subsequently letting everyone else know this is for real (and to please be quiet and courteous). After I hear the camera operator say “speed,” I allow a few beats of silence and then I lead the crew into the scene with “and…action.”
Monitoring the Scene
Once the take is underway, I monitor the scene carefully using the field monitor. You may feel you can skip the use of a field monitor, but it helps to see the scene on a screen larger than the camera viewfinder. I look for facial expressions and non-verbal gestures that complement the spoken word. I also listen to the intonation and pronunciation of the words in the script. The goal is to capture a take that is on message, on-brand, and hopefully with appropriate emotion. In other words, I make sure the set is looking how I expect, and that the talent appears and sounds believable while evoking the emotional response required for the learning scene.
That’s a wrap
Once you reach the end of the shoot day, you may be eager to pack up and head home. You may be behind schedule or perhaps gathering b-roll took longer than expected. Remember to close out the relationship with everyone at the end. Try the following on your next shoot:
To the Actor(s):
After the last take, say something like this:
Thank you for your efforts today. I appreciate what you did for our production. Once we get it all together, I’d like to share it with you so that you can see how your hard work today is helping people learn how to …
It’s like you are saying goodbye after a nice dinner party, except your “actor” guests helped make the meal. Validate their hard work and offer to keep the connection once they depart.
To the Crew:
Once everything is packed up, or while you are on the way back, or once you are ready to say goodbye for the day, say something like this:
Thank you for your help today. I appreciate your work in helping make the production a success. I’ll talk to you soon about the next steps.
To the Client:
When you are finally ready to say goodbye to the client, say something like this:
Thank you for taking part in today’s production. It’s super valuable to have the content owner present during the recordings. I think everything went well and I’m looking forward to getting it all edited and inserted into the learning platform. I’ll reach out in the next few days to let you know if the project timeline will still be accurate.
Summary
How to direct a learning video is all about relationships. If you treat everyone with kindness and respect, you are more likely to have a successful collaboration on shoot day. Remember, however, that you should be cultivating these relationships on day one of the project, long before you even turn on the camera, and continue even after you say “That’s a wrap!”
Develop a clear, booming voice to direct the scenes and be encouraging to the cast and crew. Calling the roll will help get everyone on the same page, ensuring excellent scenes with minimal technical mishaps. At the end of the shoot, take the time to thank the actors, crew, and your client. Without them, you wouldn’t be able to make an amazing learning video that improves your audience’s knowledge, skills, or behavior!
Helpful Links
Are you new to learning about video for learning? Consider reviewing my four-part series, Video for Learning Fundamentals.
Part 1: The Case for Video
Part 2: We Need Learning Video Production Skills
Part 3: 5 Phases of Video Production for Learning
Part 4: The Glossary of Learning Video Terms
Join my learning pals
How do you direct a learning video? Share your voice with me.
Did you like what you read? Join my learning pals. Please subscribe to my newsletter to receive free learning resources delivered to your inbox every two weeks.
THE END
