A presentation on mobile/social video for the CASE District III All Stars Conference - Nashville 2017 by Diana Williams

1. Thinking Mobile/Social First
Producing 30-60 Videos for Social Media

2. Diana Williams
Digital Editor & Strategist
UVA/Virginia Foundation for the Humanities

3. Why Mobile/Social First?

4. • According to the latest Pew research, 64% of American
adults own a smartphone and of those owners, 91% of users
age 18–29 use their phones for social networking including
watching videos.
• Videos now trump photos when it comes to engagement on
social media, especially native Facebook video.

5. By creating mobile/social video,
we’re meeting our audience
where they live and giving them
a user friendly content
package.

6. Understanding Copyright
The basics of copyright is this: if you didn’t make it, it doesn’t
belong to you although you can’t exert ownership over your
creative work forever. In other words, copyright can expire.

7. Works published before 1923
are in the public domain due
to copyright expiration.

8. Fair Use
Under fair use, you may be able to use materials protected by
copyright, especially if the end result is transformative,
educational and not used commercially. Here are details from
YouTube and a video that provides an example of fair use:

9. Donald Duck Meets Glenn Beck in Right Wing Radio Duck

10. The four factors of fair use*
In the United States, fair use is determined by a judge, who analyzes how each of the four factors of fair use applies
to a specific case.
1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for
nonprofit educational purposes
Courts typically focus on whether the use is “transformative.” That is, whether it adds new expression or meaning to
the original, or whether it merely copies from the original. Commercial uses are less likely to be considered fair,
though it’s possible to monetize a video and still take advantage of the fair use defense.
2. The nature of the copyrighted work
Using material from primarily factual works is more likely to be fair than using purely fictional works.
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
Borrowing small bits of material from an original work is more likely to be considered fair use than borrowing large
portions. However, even a small taking may weigh against fair use in some situations if it constitutes the “heart” of
the work.
4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work
Uses that harm the copyright owner’s ability to profit from his or her original work are less likely to be fair uses.
Courts have sometimes made an exception under this factor in cases involving parodies.
*Source:
YouTube

11. Mobile/Social Video is Different

13. Mobile/social videos are designed specifically for mobile
devices, for consumption on social platforms. So, they are:
• Short. Usually 1 minute or less.
• Titled. Captions should tell a complete, concise story that
can be fully comprehended with the sound off.
• Highly visual. In addition to great pics and video clips,
imagery can include text treatments, eye catching transitions
or animation.
• Scalable. Images are pre-sized to prevent jumping and fonts
are enhanced with size, color and/or stroke for readability.

14. Every Good Video Begins with
a Good Script

15. The best stories offer surprising new information or retell an old
story in a different way by revealing details previously unknown
or focusing on a lesser known character/incident. For
mobile/social video, it also needs to be a story you can tell
quickly without losing context.

16. Scripting tips:
• 10-15 lines of text
• At least one visual – picture, video, graphic, animated gif –
per line of text

17. Here are some free and low
cost tools to get you started:

18. Finding visuals
Photos:
Flickr Commons
Google Search (“tipping”
used as search term)
Library of Congress
New York Public Library Digital
Collection
Wikimedia Commons
Pixabay (stock)
Public Domain Pictures (stock)
Videos:
Pexels (stock)
Pixabay (stock)
YouTube (“tipping” used as search
term)

19. Finding Audio
Creative Commons Legal Music For
Video
Free Music Archive
SoundCloud (use “Creative Commons
Music” as a search term)

20. Video Creation/Editing
Adobe Spark
Animoto
iMovie

21. Optional Tools
Amara (captioning)
Canva (creating graphics)
Pixlr (photo editing)

22. Making mobile/social video
can be fun and easy.

23. Some final hints and tips:
• Gather everything you’ll need into a temporary file on your desktop. When finished, store it in
the cloud to save space.
• Play with the timing. If you can make movements happen in time with music or other audio it
adds visual appeal.
• Play with transitions, but keep the overall mood of the piece in mind. Transitions should
enhance, not distract from the story.
• Keep fonts large. Try not to drop below 80 pts since it will scale down on smaller devices.
• Add emphasis to key thoughts and phrases by changing font color or applying a transition.
• If you’re having trouble seeing the text, use a stroke, change the color of the font, drop the
opacity of a photo or apply a little color with a filter to increase readability.
• Consider the tone of the story when selecting your music. Somber stories = slower, maybe
even haunting tunes. Happy stories = upbeat music. Use the keywords and phrases you
would use to describe your finished piece as search terms.
• Keep an original of the finished piece for reuse.
*Source:
YouTube

24. Putting it Into Practice

25. Questions?