Streamline Training & Documentation: A Primer on Making Corporate Videos

Friday, December 05, 2008

A Primer on Making Corporate Videos

The trade magazine eventDV is addressed to professionals who produce videos of social events, notably, weddings. Most of their articles are at least somewhat relevant to any videographer's work, and some are explicitly directed to helping their videographer readers branch out.

An example of the latter type of article appears in the December issue. Stuart Sweetow, a California-based videographer offers a primer for event specialists who have opportunities to produce videos for corporations, e.g., for training or marketing. (The advice and guidelines are at the overview level, so a reader wanting more depth will probably want to consult an alternate source such as MediaCollege.com.)

A particularly useful part of Sweetow's article is the "Production Planning Guide" sidebar, in which he recommends discussing the following topics with the client before putting your treatment and script together. (The items are listed here in edited form.)

A description of the program in which the video will be used.

The audience — What do they already know about the subject, and what are their attitudes toward the subject?

Knowledge objectives — What the client wants the audience to know after watching the video.

Behavioral objectives — What the client wants the audience to do after watching the video.

An outline — A list of key elements to be included in the video.

A compilation of specific facts, data, and details that are important background and/or will be used in the script.

Visual elements — E.g., buildings, equipment, people, graphs, props.

Key words and phrases.

As for script itself, the single most important consideration — though by no means the only thing to think about — is to ensure that your video has a good hook.

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Labels: Learning resources

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