This document outlines several technical considerations for creating a video project: 1) Cinematography - how to use camera techniques like handheld shots, closeups, and interesting framing. 2) Editing - how to structure shots using pacing, montages, and synchronization to music. 3) Sound - how to use background music, voiceovers, and natural sounds. 4) Mise en Scene - how to design settings, backgrounds, costumes, and locations. 5) Performance - how to direct real people or actors, their delivery and message. 6) Graphics/Text - what visual elements to include, how they enhance understanding.

1. Technical considerations
1. Cinematography
How can you use the camera in interesting ways? Handheld shots? Whip-pans?
Extreme close ups? Interesting framing showing the person talking in an interesting
way (so instead of shooing a talking head you shoot video of a talking head playing on
a computer screen, for example?)
2. Editing
How are you going to put your shots together? What kind of pace of editing might
work well? Fast paced editing of a montage of still and video images of what a day at
work is like? One slow moving camera shot as somebody shows you around their
workplace? Editing to the beat of a soundtrack?
3. Sound
Non-diagetic sound – background music and voiceover. What kind of music might
you use? And more specifically exactly what bit of what musical track will you use?
Avoid using music with lyrics if you want to have people speaking over it
Voiceover – who gets to do the voiceover? You? Another voice? Someone in the
video? Why? (You could have a video based on two different people in their
workplaces, with the idea that they each have the assignment to make a short film
about the other…)
Diagetic sound – the sound made within the world of the text. If you were there in
the shot you would hear it.
4. Mise en Scene
What do you want your video to look like? What will the settings be like? What will
be hanging on the walls behind people? How many different settings do you want?
How do you want your ‘actors’ or other participants to be dressed?
5. Performance
Are you going to use real people being themselves? If so you can still give them
direction – how do you want them to act as themselves, how do you want them to
deliver their lines, what message are you trying to get across with them?
Are you going to use actors to play characters? The same questions as above apply.
6. Graphics/Text
What are you going to use? Why? How will it work for the target audience?