eLearning video pre-production is easier if you use a checklist. This post focuses on steps five through eight on my eLearning video pre-production checklist. I created the checklist specifically for phase two of the video production process for learning. If this is your first time reading one of my posts, welcome! I’m on a mission to help people like you, make and use video for learning purposes.
So let’s get to it!
There once was a wrinkled shirt.
It looked so bad on camera, it hurt.
The DP cried,
The client sighed.
No one enjoyed their dessert.–A. Mac
How to Make eLearning Video Pre-production Easier
If your professional learning video doesn’t look professional, you’re in trouble. If your scenes are distractingly disorganized, missing important props, or even full of accidental floating heads because your main actor only brought a green shirt, this will take learners away from the whole point of the video. The purpose of the learning video – which is to improve knowledge, skills, and behaviors – will be lost. This part of the eLearning Video Pre-Production Checklist will help you prevent any problems that have to do with the look and feel of your project.
So let’s get to it!
Choose what to wear on camera
Reach out to your talent and your project managers to make sure everyone understands the importance of wardrobe, or what to wear on camera. Adhering to a few basic rules will ensure that your production looks professional. In most learning video pre-production situations, the wardrobe is provided by the talent or the company involved. Send an email to the talent and the client with a wardrobe checklist. Follow-up with a phone call to anyone who will be on camera. It’s important to talk this through before the day of recording.
Create a shot list
Once you have final approval on your script or storyboard, it’s time to make a shot list. A shot list documents the order in which you plan to record each scene. It is used as a checklist on the day of recording: each shot is numbered, notated by the type of shot and if the camera is moving.
To make your life easier, please download the version I have saved in my own Custom Office Templates in Word: Shot List. I’ve developed some handy dropdown boxes to make it easier to note the type of shot and the type of camera movement. The description detail should be a sort of shorthand based on the storyboard/script blended with your video director’s notes for the camera crew.
Create a visual storyboard
A visual storyboard is a document that contains a series of panels with images in them that depict the changes and action in each scene. For years, I created these on paper or by using Word documents or Photoshop templates. The Word documents proved to be valuable because I could send it off for others to mark up using tracked changes.
I have found that visual storyboards don’t matter much to training video project managers. Their focus is on the learning content: dialogue, learning objectives, and core subject matter. Most training professionals are not interested in the details of wide shot vs. close-ups or transitions from one scene to the next.
The visual storyboard is a crucial tool for the creative team that is making the video. Remember that all of these seemingly “little” decisions all add up to the look, feel, and success of the final product. If possible, I suggest using an online tool like Plot instead of a Word document. The online interface allows for faster feedback and easier real-time collaboration with your internal and external teams. On top of all that, the tool is just plain intuitive to use. I have used it to storyboard several projects and will never go back to a Word document or Photoshop file again. The price is right too. At the time of this post, the tool is less than $10/month with no contract. This tool is invaluable to my professional learning video pre-production processes.
Source props
While breaking down your script/storyboard, take note of the props you’ll need to execute each scene. The term “break down” means to skim it for details that will be important on a video shoot. Ask yourself, “Will I be able to use items at the location or will I need to bring them to the scene?” Corporate productions make it easier to source props because you typically shoot on location. However, when you show up to scout the locations (the next item on the checklist), have a list of props ready to discuss with your contact at the location. Learning video pre-production requires that you be agile and prepared!
Have backups of every product that will be featured in each scene, in case one gets damaged. Set dressing is an art that can take years to hone, but a few trusty items can always help improve a scene. Use canned air to remove dust along with window cleaner and a chamois or paper towel to remove smudges and grime. Gaff tape will probably save your life more than once (just like duct tape, but without the leftover residue when you remove it), so keep several rolls on hand. It’s pricey, about $17 a roll, but well worth the expense.
Summary
Now that you’ve tackled the middle four items on the checklist for eLearning video pre-production, you are in the home stretch of successfully fulfilling the main goal of all learning videos: to improve knowledge, skills, and behaviors. Your actors have texted you pics of their outfit choices, your shot list is written, the storyboard is complete, and your props (along with their back-ups) are ready and waiting. Stay tuned for the final four items on the checklist in my next post.
If you use this checklist, please let me know how it goes. And if you can think of a better limerick than the above, send that to me, too.
Make it happen!
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
Looking to improve your learning video scriptwriting skills? Check out these six posts that will help you be more efficient and process-oriented.
Part 1: Scriptwriting for Learning
Part 2: The Writing Process for Learning Videos
Part 3: 4 Must-Have Skills for Writing Scripts for Learning
Part 4: 5 Best Practices as a Learning Video Scriptwriter
Part 5: 3 Learning Video Storytelling Formulas
Part 6: The Mindset for Writing Learning Videos
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What formula or template do you need? Drop me a note and let me know.
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I love feedback loops. As Elon Musk said, “I think it’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better.”
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