Creating powerful videos

JUAN PABLO MOREIRAS/FFI

Guidance on
Creating
Powerful Videos
P R E PAR E D B Y: C O M M UNI C ATI O NS T E AM


• Gettin g started
• Pros an d con s of u sin g vid eo
• Leg al
• Log os
• Len g th
• Storytel l in g
• Visu al & Au d io

JEREMY HOLDEN/FFI

OVERVI EW


G ET T I N G STAR T ED

Vi de o c a n be a gre a t wa y t o c o mmuni c a t e
y o ur me s s a ge t o y o ur t a rge t a udi e nc e .

To ma xi mi s e i mpa c t , i t i s i mpo rt a nt t o
ma ke y o ur v i de o a s f o c us e d a nd a ppe a li ng
a s po s s i ble .

LIZZIE DUTHIE/FFI

Thi s do c ume nt pro v i de s gui da nc e o n
pro duc i ng s t ra t e gi c , hi gh-qua li t y v i de o s ,
a c c o rdi ng t o F F I s t y le gui de li ne s .


G ET T IN G STAR T ED
Be f o re s t a rt i ng t o put t o ge t he r a v i de o , a s k y o urs e lf t he be lo w que s t i o ns a nd c he c k t ha t v i de o
re a lly i s t he be s t wa y t o c o mmuni c a t e y o ur me s s a ge .
W HO IS YO UR TARG ET AUDIENCE ?
W HAT ARE YO UR O BJECTIVES ?
I t i s c r i ti c al that y ou have an
objec ti ve f or y our vi deo. Thi s wi ll
gui de and f oc us pr oduc ti on. For
examp l e, do y ou want to gai n
suppor ter s, to i nf luenc e poli c y
dec i si ons or to r ai se f unds?

W H AT IS YO U R K EY MESSAG E?
The key message i s the mai n pi ec e
of i nf or mati on that y ou want y our
audi enc e to take away f r om y our
vi deo. Thi s should r elate to y our
objec ti ve s and be tai lor ed to y our
audi enc e.

Be as spec i f i c as possi ble –
y our vi deo mu st be tai lor ed to y our
audi enc e f or i t to have a
meani ngf u l i mpac t. Bear i n mi nd the

demogr ap hi c s of y our audi enc e when
c onsi der i ng language, tone and sty le .

W HAT TYPE O F FO O TAG E DO YO U
NEED?
To ac hi eve y our objec ti ve s, c onsi der
what f ootage y ou ar e pr esenti ng to
y our audi enc e. Tr y to ac hi eve a good
balanc e of wi ldli f e, sc ener y and
i nter vi ew s. Thi nk about what f ootage
y ou alr eady have ac c ess to, or i f y ou
need to buy i n stoc k f ootage.
C o n t i n u e d o n n e xt s l i d e .


G ET T IN G STAR T ED

HO W MUCH TIME DO YO U HAVE?

HO W MUCH MO NEY DO YO U HAVE?

Do y ou have enough ti me to pr oduc e
y our vi deo? Ti me must be f ac tor ed i n f or
planni ng, f i lmi ng, edi ti ng and appr ova ls. A
hi gh- quali ty, two - mi n u te vi deo takes at least
ei ght day s to f i lm. Edi ti ng ti me i s si gni f i c ant
and c an take weeks, goi ng bac k and f or th
betwee n the f i lm- mak er and c li ent.

D o y ou have f undi ng i n plac e to c over the

c osts of y our vi deo pr oduc ti on? Pr oduc i ng
two/ thr ee hi gh - quali ty, one- mi nut e f i lms
c osts ar ound £8, 000 plus tr avel and
soundtr ac k s. Costs f or edi ti ng a f i lm usi ng
exi sti ng f ootage c an be lower.

W H AT IS YO U R C ALL TO AC TIO N ?

HO W W ILL YO U SHO W AND DISTRIBUT E
YO UR VIDEO ?

W hat ar e y ou aski ng the audi enc e to do
af ter watc hi ng y our vi deo? For examp le,
do y ou want people to donate, to get i n
touc h or to shar e y our vi deo on soc i al
medi a?

Thi nk about how y our audi enc e wi ll
ac c ess the vi deo – wi ll they watc h i t at an
event on the bi g sc r een, or on thei r
phones? W i ll the vi deo need tr anslati o n s,
or on- sc r een text?


PR OS AN D C ON S OF U SI N G VI D EO

PROS

V i d e o c a n b e i m m e r si v e a n d c a p t i v a t i n g ,
es pec i al l y when us ed wi t h s t rong audi o.

V i d e o c a n h e l p y o u r e a c h n e w a u d i e n c e s,
t hereby broadening y our reac h.

C ONS

V ideo requires te chnol ogy
t o vi e w , s o m a y l i m i t y o u r a u d i e n c e .

V i d e o r e q u i r e s t e c h n i c a l e x p e r t i se
a n d sp e c i a l i st e q u i p m e n t t o p r o d u c e .

V i d e o c a n b e e a si l y sh a r e d o n l i n e t o a b r o a d a u d i e n c e .

V i d e o c a n c o n ve y i d e a s a n d e m o t i o n s a t t h e s a m e t i m e .

‘ Ta l k i n g h e a d s ’ c a n e x p l a i n c o m p l e x t o p i c s
a n d c a n b e c h a r i sm a t i c .

V i d e o i s t i m e - c o n su m i n g t o p r o d u c e .

V i d e o i s e x p e n si v e t o p r o d u c e .

I f e x e c u t e d w e l l , vi d e o c a n i m p r o v e b r a n d
p e r c e p t i o n , m a k i n g y o u l o o k m o r e p r o f e ssi o n a l .
‘ Ta l k i n g h e a d s ’ c a n b e u n c h a r i sm a t i c a n d e ve n d u l l .
V i d e o b r i n g s f a r - o f f e n v i r o n m e n t s a n d sp e c i e s t o l i f e .

V i d e o c a n i n sp i r e , sh o c k a n d m o t i v a t e a n a u d i e n c e .

A s w i t h o t h e r m e d i a , vi d e o i s a u d i e n c e - sp e c i f i c
a n d c a n n o t b e e x p e c t e d t o w o r k f o r e ve r y a u d i e n c e .


I f yo ur vid e o has m us ic , yo u
m us t have p e r m is sio n to us e it.
W itho ut the c o rre c t lic e nc ing ,
yo u will b e re s tric te d with whe re
yo u c an s hare yo ur vid e o , and
y o u m a y b e fin e d if yo u d o no t
have p ro o f o f lic e nc ing . I t is als o
im p o rtant to b e ar this in m ind if
yo u are us ing p re -e xis ting
f o o tag e no t o wne d b y yo u.

I f p e o p le are id e ntif iab le and /o r
s p e aking in yo ur vid e o , yo u m us t
have a s ig n e d r e le a s e fo r m , o r
r e c o r ded p e r m is sio n f ro m all
p e rs o ns f e ature d .

JEFF WILSON/FFI

L EG AL


L OG OS
D O NO T c h a n ge th e F F I lo g o
D o n o t s tre tc h it
D o n o t ad d d ro p s had o ws

D o n o t c hang e the f o nt o r c o lo ur
D o n o t ad d anim atio ns
… o r anything e ls e .

I f yo u are p ro d uc ing an F F I
vid e o , us e the tab lo g o
thro ug ho ut, p lac e d at the to p
le f t c o rne r.
P le as e s e e o ur film s ty le
g u id e f o r m o re inf o rm atio n.

I f yo u are us ing the F F I
lo g o alo ng s id e o the r
o rg anis atio ns ’ lo g o s at the
e nd o f yo ur vid e o , c ho o s e
the m o s t ap p ro p riate
ve rs io n. F o r e xam p le , the
s q uare lo g o m ay b e a b e tte r
f it alo ng s id e o the r lo g o s .
I f f ad ing to b lac k, us e the
white F F I lo g o . NB this c an
lo o k untid y if m ultip le ,
c o lo ure d lo g o s are us e d , s o
ke e p it s im p le .


L EN G T H

P e o p le ’s atte ntio n s p ans are d e c re as ing and yo u m us t
th i n k o f a h o o k to g r a b th e ir a tte n tio n f ro m the s tart. T his

is p artic ularly ap p lic ab le f o r s o c ial m e d ia – the re is no
tim e to s e t the s c e ne , yo u ne e d to g e t to the p o int s traig ht
away.

E xam p le s o f aud ie nc e re te ntio n c urve s f ro m thre e d if f ere nt
vid e o s are o n the rig ht. T he s e s ho w the p e rc e ntag e o f
vie we rs who c o ntinue watc hing until the e nd o f the
vid e o . T he d ram atic d ro p -o f f s ho ws that f e w p e o p le us ually
watc h the e ntire vid e o .

A ud i e nc e r e te nti o n

K e e p it s h o r t . T hink ab o ut yo ur ke y m e s s ag e s and ho w
yo u c an c o m m unic ate the s e in the s ho rte s t am o unt o f tim e .

Ti m e ( m i ns )


STORY T EL L I N G
W he n p lanning yo ur vid e o , ke e p in m ind yo ur a u d ie n c e
and w h a t y o u a r e tr y in g to a c h ie v e .
•

Ho w m uc h kno wle d g e d o e s the aud ie nc e alre ad y have ?

•

Ho w m uc h d e tail d o the y ne e d to kno w?

•

W he re d o e s this vid e o f it within the re s t o f F F I ’s wo rk?

C HE C K : have yo u e xp laine d :

1 2 3

The k e y
message

Ho w F F I fi ts
i nto the s to r y

W ha t yo u wa nt
the a ud i e nc e
to d o

Try te lling a s to ry with
yo ur m e s s ag e . A g o o d
s to ry f o r vid e o inc lud e s 1 )
f ram ing the is s ue , 2 ) the
s o lutio n and 3 ) the c all to
ac tio n.
Make s ure yo u have
p a u s e s in yo ur s to ry g ive the aud ie nc e a
c hanc e to ab s o rb the
inf o rm atio n yo u are
te lling the m .

VISU AL
S till p ho to s s ho uld b e us e d s p a r ing ly in vid e o , and
o nly as a las t re s o rt, as the y inte rrup t the f lo w.
D o n o t us e trans itio n o r anim atio n e f f e cts whe n
c utting b e twe e n c lip s – e d its s ho uld b e c le a n , c r is p
a n d m o d e r n.
D o n o t us e trans itio n o r anim atio n e f f e cts o n any
te xt.
F o r g uid anc e o n te xt s izing , c o lo ur, f o nts and
p o s itio ning , p le as e s e e o ur film s y le g u id e .

Hig h-q uality aud io , p artic ularly o f inte rvie we e s ’
vo ic e s , is c ritic al – o f te n m o r e im p o r ta nt than
hig h-q uality f o o tag e .

MATT GLUE/FFI

AU D IO


B e aware o f and try to
avo id m is s io n d rif t
thro ug ho ut the vid e o p ro d uc tio n p ro c e s s.

D o no t ad d e xtra
as ks in yo ur vid e o .

KEEP IT SIMPL E.

JEREMY HOLDEN/FFI

Yo u will ac hie ve m o re .