Technology and Innovation

Try your best to stay detached from the story and its characters, so that you can be an objective observer. Break the video down into its essential elements and enjoy the discoveries you will make as you enter the video classroom. If you or I made a video ten years ago. we would be extremely lucky if anyone other than our family and friends saw it. Television or a movie screen was the only outlet, and it would have cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars to get your work there.

You are working with charities and, therefore, many of the people you serve are in a vulnerable state or sensitive situation. They could be hospitalized or in need of a home and food. Establish a rapport with people before you stick a camera and microphone in their faces. Many are nervous or just bad on camera. The best way to make them comfortable is to talk to them, conducting an interview without their knowing it.

You are teaching video techniques and storytelling, and you are not overly concerned about how it looks. I’ve found two productive ways to teach video. One is to start with a storyboard I wrote ahead of time and concentrate on the technical aspects of video. The other is to approach students with an open slate by letting them decide what to say and how to say it. Both have benefits and drawbacks.

When video is used as a promotional tool, quality of the final product is key. The charity is going to show this video to others, so if it looks cheap, your production will hinder rather than advance the cause. Nonprofits can benefit from video in many ways, including volunteer recruitment. Frequently, representatives will go to community groups to talk about the charity. It’s great when they have a video in hand that shows happy volunteers and clients