Travis Gilmour, Public Media Director for Alaska Public Media shares his expertise on how to tell your organization's story through video.

1. So, you want to make a video?
Presentation by:
Travis Gilmour
Director of Public Media
Alaska Public Media

4. Isn't YouTube all cat videos?
Today I want to lay out a vision for how we can invent our
future, a future where public television is serving millions
more people with billions more videos. A future where each
PBS station is the YouTube of its local community — the
dominant video brand every person in town wants to watch,
every producer in town wants to shoot for and every
business in town wants to support."
"
Jason Seiken, PBS
May 2012

5. More than 1 billion unique users visit YouTube each month
Over 4 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube
72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute
In 2011, YouTube had more than 1 trillion views or around 140 views for every
person on Earth
Youtube is the 2nd largest search engine in the world.

6. So, where do I get started?

7. Some types of videos:
The Mini Documentary.
The Talking Head.
Audio Slide Show.

8. Mini documentary elements.
Main storyline:
The interview or other narrative that tells your story. (The talking head)
B-roll:
The real life images that give your story life, and connection to the world around
it. (Could be photos, video or both)
Elements of successful B-roll:
The video you use outside your main interview is your show the story your
subject is telling.
In a good video, it can be up to 80% of what you see...
Capturing these visuals – in photo or video – can be overwhelming.
Luckily, there is a simple, 5 shot system you can use to ensure your success!

9. OK, but I don't have a fancy camera...
Filmic Pro... and many others.
Audio is everything.

10. www.easyprompter.com

11. Storytelling vs. Promoting
The first rule of storytelling is: “Show, don't Tell.”
Video is a powerful tool because it allows you to connect with your audience
viscerally – potentially activating multiple senses and emotion.

12. Elements of a good video story.
People care about people.
So many nonprofit people want to talk about programs and services. That's fine, but do it through the
story of people: those impacted by programs, a dedicated volunteer... not a list of everything you offer.
Start with a good hook.
It could be an anecdote, or something to get the viewers attention. Maybe something revealing about
your subject. This is the thing that builds your character, and makes the viewer want to keep
watching.
Answer the question: What is at stake?
If you want people to take action – whether supporting your organization, or simply just finishing your
video – you have to give them a reason. If they don't take action, what will happen? Use your
mission to inform this.
Be concise.
If your video is longer than 2 - 3 minutes, it's probably too long. Which means that nobody will watch
the whole thing. Which means they'll probably forget about it.

13. There are many moving parts to a video...
Visual:
Primary storyline
B-roll
Graphics
Audio:
Radio Track
Natural Sound Track
Music Track
It can be overwhelming - but, most important is
a good story.

14. Steve Heimel example:

15. Where did I start? I wrote it:

16. 5 Shot Method
By Andrew Lih & Lam Vo
http://lamthuyvo.com/tips.html

17. Shot 1

18. Shot 2

19. Shot 3

20. Shot 4

21. Shot 5

22. Rule or thirds / eye line.

23. Interviewing

24. YouTube Annotations

25. Town Square 49

26. Contact me:
Travis Gilmour
tgilmour@alaskapublic.org
550-8434