Making a video | HELPDESK
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Making a video

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Collaboration and publication
Making a video

At its best, a video is an effective communication tool that allows you to communicate with your target audience in an easy and illustrative manner.

You should start making videos, as well as other material, with a good and comprehensive plan. Preparation plays a special role in the video production. In addition to the visuals, the soundscape must be taken into account when making a video. It may even be more important than the video. It is possible to save some things with the after-production, but good preparation is the key.

 

Innehållsförteckning

1. Design

Start planning your video by thinking about the following questions:

  • Why a video: what are you doing and why?
  • Target audience: who is the video aimed at?
  • What kind of recording do you want? Is it a screen capture video or a live video?
  • With what: choice of equipment/technology?
  • Lifecycle: where will the video be released and for how long?

2. Storyboard or shooting plan

Even the simplest and shortest videos should have some kind of framework, shooting plan or script to follow during the recording phase. A plan or script will ensure that everything you need is recorded at once and that you don't need to make any additional recordings.

A script can be as simple as a short list of the video's progress. For longer and more complex videos, it is a good idea to make a storyboard. 

When making a script or plan, take into account the type of recording you are making. The most common cases at university are: 

  • lecture
  • introduction video
  • instructional video
  • meeting recording

3. Preparation

Before you start shooting a video, it is a good idea to make certain preparations to ensure that the end result is the desired one.

Start by making sure that the environment supports shooting of the video. A calm and quiet space will ensure that you can concentrate on making the video and that there is no audio interference with the video. High-quality, clear audio is one of the most important features of the video. 

Become familiar with the necessary hardware and software beforehand to avoid surprises during the recording phase. We recommend using at least a standard headset microphone instead of your computer's own microphone. 

If you are new to the situation, you should make a practice recording before the actual recording so that you can identify any potential problem areas in advance.

4. Filming/recording

Different tools can be used to shoot a video, depending on what kind of end result you want. A simple way to record a video is to use the screen capture feature of tools such as Zoom, Teams or ScreenPal.

If you want a slightly higher quality or more complex camera image, you can use the university's Unitube facilities, for example. 

5. Editing

It's a good idea to edit, or cut, your video material to fit the purpose. For example, you can trim the beginning and end of a video by cutting out the blank spaces.

Read more about video editing in Student's Digital Skills.

The University of Helsinki offers a range of editing software and instructions. There are also various free programs available for home computers. 

We do not recommend using CapCut under any circumstances. The terms of use of the program give CapCut full rights of use to all material it processes. 

Software available at the University:

6. Subtitles

Videos published online must be accessible, i.e. captioned. Not only people with hearing impairments but also others will benefit from subtitling. A video can be viewed in a place where it is not possible to turn up the volume, where the sound quality is poor, or where background noise prevents the video from being heard.

Learn more about subtitling on the Captioning and transcription landing page.

7. Publishing

Once the video has been shot and subtitled, it's time to think about how to publish it. The University of Helsinki has its own video service, Unitube, which is available to all university staff and students. When published on Unitube, the videos have no ads and remain on the university's own servers. There are also plenty of instructions and support available for using Unitube, which is free of charge and works with hy-login, as well as in other University systems.

Commercial players (the biggest and best-known publishing platforms)

You can also publish or share videos on Microsoft services. 

You can also publish your video on Moodle, but you should not upload it directly to Moodle. Please read the detailed instructions on how to publish your video on Moodle.

When publishing videos, you should also take into account various copyright and licensing issues.

8. Glossary

  • frame = outline the main events of your video in chronological order, for example with French lines
  • script = a text written for the video with, for example, the lines of the video, events and shooting instructions
  • storyboard = a visual plan of how the video will unfold
  • shooting plan = a list of video recordings, such as camera movements or scenes
  • screen capture = capturing the screen of a device, usually a computer, using operating system tools or some software

9. Other instructions

Keywords
video
verkkovideo
Unitube
Captions

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