Guide to visual storytelling:How to develop, record and edit academic videos

This guide provides an introduction to the different stages of video production – as well as how to produce a inspirational and instructional video that is both compelling and informative, or a PR video for a project or disseminating research results.<br/>This guide gives you insights into the basic components of video production:<br/>Contents<br/>Structure<br/>Narrative grip<br/>Form and visual expression <br/><br/>The guide will introduce you to the techniques used by professional filmmakers:<br/>Planning will get you halfway to the finish line: How a thorough preparatory work can help you save time. <br/>Clarify the purpose of your film. What is the ‘WHY’ of your film? Have you settled on the purpose and target audience? Have you set a clear direction for your production?<br/>How do you develop a storyline? The narrative structure is crucial because people are more likely to remember, understand, and embrace a product or concept when it’s presented as a narrative. <br/>Define your points and make them clear: What do you want the viewer to do, learn and be able to afterwards? No points, no message. <br/>How to develop the pictorial narrative. Learn about how angles and compositions support your narrative and guide the viewer through the film. <br/><br/><br/>Recommendations<br/>At the same time, the guide gives recommendations for the technical work – how to produce your raw material in the form of usable footage and quality audio. You will get a brief introduction to video editing and learn how to give your video narrative its final shape. I will also recommend a few free video editors.<br/><br/>The guide also provides a template for informed consent for the recording of video material.<br/><br/>Last but not least, the message of this guide is: Constantly work on shortening and focusing on images and text while making your messages clear = crystal-clear points. therefore, constantly focus on what do you want to achieve with the video (why), to whom (target audience), and how does the video narration convince the viewers?