ShmoopTube

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producing a great film is never easy.

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sure Steven Spielberg's jaws was box-office success. the great horror [ jaws poster shown]

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films of all time. but the shoot itself was a nightmare. the

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prop sharks kept malfunctioning ,which was a big problem if you're you know

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trying to make a movie about a shark. but luckily for all of you. sorry.

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but for the rest of us making how-to videos is easier than

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making a feature-length hollywood movie. and not just because you won't have to

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deal with any broken mechanical sharks. no such divas .well the first step? make a

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storyboard. this is kind of a visual outline of your video using a series of [how to steps on screen]

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boxes to represent each scene. and you not only have to think about the main

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points you'll be making but also the visuals you'll be using to help

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illustrate your points. and you'll definitely want to use some visuals

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because if your video is just a bunch of talking heads the audience will be

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falling asleep. and unless it's a how-to video on how to fall asleep with all

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that sleeping things not something you want.

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well next comes writing the script which is a pretty big deal .it just happens to [boy sleeps on couch]

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contain all the words that'll be spoken during your video. that no pressure or

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anything. for a video that's three to four minutes long your script should be

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about four hundred and maybe 450 words. remember you're making a how-to video

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not a 4-hour epic. sorry mr. DeMille. well be sure to start by introducing what

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you're gonna teach in the video and why. and use transition words between steps [script writing how to listed]

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like first next after that and finally. also be sure to use a more

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conversational less formal tone than you might be in an essay or research paper.

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fancy formal writing might work great on the page but it might sound confusing

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and stilted to your audience, and you know the old saying -someone watches a

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how-to video and comes away confused something definitely went wrong. her

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grandmother had that needle pointed in it's currently hanging in her living [woman rocks in a rocking chair]

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room. but once you've got your script written to practice reading it. think

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about the video is it conveying what you wanted it to convey? great opportunity to

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figure out if the scripts running a bit long or if it contains its own script pancake.

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- but once you've practiced it's time to film your video make sure

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to speak loudly taking occasional brief pauses and try to make as much eye

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contact with cameras you can. why? because eye contact with camera is [eyes look at camera]

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really eye contact with the audience and people prefer to be looked in the eye

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rather than watch someone reading a bunch of notes. that isn't exactly

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riveting television. and last but not least comes to editing. it's time to cut

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all your best takes together creating a seamless video that runs through all the

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steps over your how-to video. and be sure to cut out any diva shark moments. you

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guys are the worst. all those takes where you messed up or [man shows how to steps]

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giggles or fell down and probably shouldn't end up in your final cut but

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there's no harm in making a blooper reel. anyway hopefully your blooper reel is

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slightly less popular than your actual how-to video. [ person watching how to video]

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