Video Production for Scientist

Asynchronous Video Production Workflow for Science Educators and Communicators

Summary of paper

With lockdown still in place Fall of 2020, educators were asked to take on new roles as video producers as universities rapidly transitioned classes online. Quickly, Zoom lectures became the default allowing synchronous and asynchronous learning to occur. Although Zoom provides ease of function in recording, educators are encouraged to put on their producer hat to create engaging science videos for their classrooms. 

The authors provided an in-depth workflow on producing science videos supported by online learning theory and industry practice. The workflow walks through the entire production process from preproduction, production, and postproduction. The goal is for educators and communicators to walk away with guidance on producing a video for their classroom using their smartphone and accessible editing software on their computer.

The first stage of production is preproduction. In this stage, educators plan out how their videos will be produced by preparing a storyboard, a visual representation of a video's timeline. Next, educators reference their syllabi to determine when and where to include videos, how many videos to produce, or what topics the videos will cover. 

The storyboard is broken down into three sections:

1. Video Contextualization: 

   • What will the video discuss? 

   • How will the students acquire, process, and maintain knowledge? 

   • How will the student connect with the material and the educator/presenter?

2. Learning Objectives

   • What should the student be expected to do or know by the end of the video?

3. Video Mechanics

   • script or lecture material, style of video, and length of the video.

Next up is the second stage of production is where the videos are shot and produced. The authors covered production theory to inform readers how to set up their lighting, sound, frame, video quality, and set for filming. The theory is applied to each style of video, where the authors clearly lay out how to record to achieve the desired look.

Initially proposed in Choe et al. (2019), educators can produce three main styles in their videos: speaker, screen, and room.

1. Speaker 

   • The main focus of the video is the educator/presenter. 

2. Screen

   • Lecture slides or a virtual whiteboard is the main focus of the video.

3. Room

   • The educator in a room presenting the lecture material or demonstrating an experiment is the video's focus. 

The final stage of production is postproduction. This stage typically includes editing the recording and adding visual elements, music, or other sound effects to enhance the final video. The authors recommend two options for video editing software. If the videos were shot on the phone, the first option, Adobe Premiere Rush is an editing app that can be used, available for both Android and IOS. The second option is using Camtasia, which is a video editing software made for educators in mind.

During postproduction, educators should reference their storyboard to edit the video to meet their learning objectives. In addition, the educators need to edit the video to be clear and supplemental to what is being presented to not add confusion or extraneous information. The authors direct readers to Mayer's (2014) multimedia principles on editing the video to improve retention of information without cognitively overloading the students. 

Having gone through the entire production workflow, educators can walk away with technical skills to produce well-thought-out videos that are a step above the default Zoom lectures we've become accustomed to. High-quality science videos for the classroom can be produced using personal smartphones or computers.