Category Archives: Science Video Tips

I provide various tips for improving your science videos, including information about lighting, sound, interviewing talent, shooting video, editing video, and sources of public domain images for use in your science video projects.

How Video Can Help You Give Better Talks

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I’ve heard that Jill Bolte-Taylor practiced her TED talk (My Stroke of Insight) 200 times. Was it worth the effort? Apparently so. Her talk has been viewed over 15 million times–one of the most popular on the TED website. Of course, her compelling story about suffering a stroke at the age of 37 and her thoughts about it from the viewpoint of a neuroanatomist had something to do with its immense popularity. However, her delivery was spell-binding. And that required a great deal of planning, effort, and, yes, practice.

I give this example to make a point or two about practicing your science talks and to make a suggestion about how to improve your performance.

Those of us in science often practice our conference talks and seminars only in our heads—rarely out loud—you know who you are. And it shows. The last conference I attended was filled with the usual boring, rambling, droning presentations that often went overtime, and my thought, sitting in the audience, was that these presenters probably had no idea how terrible they sounded. They probably thought their presentations were fine, perhaps even brilliant. Who’s going to tell them otherwise? “Hey, Professor Hotshot, your talk sucked!”

Students are told to practice, practice, practice their talks. Some do, but many try to emulate their professors—the ones who put their slides together the night before their session and then just wing it. Of course, the professor has a lot more experience speaking extemporaneously and also can get away with giving a bad talk occasionally. A student or early-career scientist cannot afford to take chances—especially in a high-stakes situation like a job interview seminar. In fact, it is just such a situation that a speaker must be well-practiced. An outstanding talk may be the main factor distinguishing the successful job candidate from the rest of the pack. The speaker not only must have internalized the talk’s content, but their voice, facial expressions, and body language should exude confidence, not nervousness or uncertainty.

So, how do you know if your talk is good or still needs some more practice? Well, how many professional talks have you given? One or two? If so, you probably need more practice than someone who has given fifty talks. If you consider yourself an experienced speaker, do people routinely tell you afterwards that your talk was great—without any prompting from you? No? Then perhaps some change is in order.

How can you assess the effectiveness of a particular presentation or, more generally, your speaking skills?

The typical advice is to give the talk to a group of friends or colleagues—several times, if possible. This is a good idea, especially for novices or anyone planning to deliver a high-stakes talk. However, this approach may not be possible or always convenient. We also may be reluctant to impose on others. Even when some speakers do get feedback, they fail to act on the suggestions because they don’t believe (or don’t want to believe) that their performance is less than stellar.

The other, less common, advice is to use video to record a speaker’s performance. I’ve found that students can especially benefit from watching videos of their speeches—particularly students who won’t accept critical comments from the audience. Actually seeing themselves fidgeting, mumbling, or rocking back and forth makes it difficult to deny what others are telling them. Often, observing themselves on camera is a great eye-opener, even for a seasoned speaker. So I think it’s a great idea to video yourself giving your presentation and then watch it to see where it needs improvement. This approach literally puts you in the audience’s shoes. You can see how you and your presentation will look to others. Is it understandable? Are there parts that are too fast, too slow? Is your voice clear and steady or squeaky and annoying? Are you using inappropriate gestures or standing like a statue? What overall impression does your body language and voice convey?

Some will balk at the advice to practice out loud and especially to use video to review their performance. “It’s too much work.” “I don’t have time–my talk is next week and I still don’t have my slides prepared!” “My delivery is fine; I don’t need to see a video to know this.” Well, I can tell you from watching videos of my talks that my perception of how well (or not) I was doing during the talk did not necessarily agree with what I saw on tape later. If you’ve never seen yourself giving a talk, then you may be in for a big surprise. You might discover that you have a distracting mannerism or that your body language says, “I don’t have a clue what I’m doing.” You might see that you spend too much time looking at your slides instead of the audience. Your voice may be a droning monotone that puts people to sleep. These are all problems of delivery that practice can help. And video can help you see what those problems are and whether you are improving with practice.

I’m surprised more people don’t use video to practice and improve their talks. Unlike when I was a student, making a video today is as easy as pulling out your cell phone. Modern smartphones have excellent video cameras, and you can use one to record and review your science talks. Here are a few tips:

1. To practice speaking, the idea is to simulate the conditions you’ll experience during the real talk as closely as possible. Stand up in front of your slides and deliver your talk out loud. Use a remote control to advance your slides; practice with a laser pointer if you plan to use one.

2. You might record your presentation in a small conference room that has a projector and screen. If that is not possible, then you’ll have to improvise in an office, laboratory, or at home. If you don’t have access to a projector, it may be possible to mirror your presentation on a TV screen. If you have Apple TV, you’ll be able to do this easily.

3. Try to stabilize your video recording device on a tripod, desk, shelf, or table and position it a sufficient distance away from you to film your entire body (or most of it).

4. If you use a phone or tablet as a recording device, be sure to position it in landscape orientation to record video.

5. It’s advantageous to have an audience for at least one of your practice videos because you want to record how well you make eye contact with audience members and also how you handle questions. If this is not possible, you might pin up photographs of people’s faces around the room to simulate an audience.

6. You might find it convenient to film your practice presentation in short segments instead of one long recording. This way, you can more easily review specific parts without having to wade through the entire film—especially if your talk is an hour long. You could divide the film, for example, at natural breaks: background/introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusions.

7. Review your video with a critical eye and ear for timing, body language, gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, and voice. If you spot a problem, try to figure out when and why it occurs, which may help you address it. For example, you may um and ah a lot whenever you get to information that you’re less confident about. Perhaps you need to rethink what you want to say so that you are more certain.

8. You may have to watch your video performance several times to let the initial shock (of seeing yourself as others do) wear off. However, you will become accustomed to seeing and hearing yourself on film and be able to watch critically.

9. It also helps to watch your video performance with someone else who can help you spot problems and to make suggestions for improvement. Students could work together to review each others’ videos, for example. You also could share your practice video with an advisor or some other mentor who may not have been able to hear the talk in person. Perhaps they are on sabbatical or doing fieldwork, but you really want their input. They can review the video and give you some additional feedback.

10. Courses designed to teach students how to give a scientific presentation would greatly benefit from having some or all of the talks recorded on video and reviewed by the instructor and classmates.

Very few people are naturally gifted speakers. Most of us have to work at it, but It’s difficult to improve if you have no idea of what you are doing wrong. Recording yourself with video can be an easy way to identify and correct problems.

A Site to Post Your Video Abstracts

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I’ve written previously about what video abstracts are, how they can influence visibility of your research papers, and how to create a video abstract from start to finish. The beauty of video abstracts is that they are freely accessible on media-sharing platforms, unlike many journal articles locked behind paywalls. As I’ve said before, people cannot cite your work if they are unaware of it.

One of the issues I touched upon in describing video abstracts is the fact that few journals offer the option for authors to submit and display a video abstract. I think this is slowly changing as more publishers see the value of video in making scientific articles published in journals more discoverable.

In the meantime, what is an author to do if their journal of choice lacks this option?

As I suggested previously, an author can always post their video abstract on their own website, perhaps in their list of publications. Instead of a boring list of pubs, visitors to your professional website will see a video player with a visual abstract explaining your paper. There is now another alternative: WeShareScience, a website that allows users to create a video abstract (with an online tool) or to upload one created elsewhere. When you visit the site, you see a Pinterest-type platform with “pinned videos”, which can be grouped onto boards, which organize videos by topic. There is a browse option to see videos organized by discipline or topic. There are social media options allowing a visitor to “follow” a researcher as well as to share a video with others. Here’s a screenshot:

screenshot_wesharescience_videos

The site was created by Ryan Watkins, an associate professor at George Washington University in Washington D.C., to facilitate teaching students in his courses. He wanted to use video-based, rather than text-based, assignments to assess student learning. That is, he would assign students the task of creating a video abstract about research they were reading in class, and he could assess how well they understood it by the video they produced. Of course, it also taught them an essential communication tool that will be needed by 21st century scientists. The WeShareScience platform was created to allow students to more easily create video abstracts and for him to easily aggregate and organize the student videos. The WeShareScience site is also open to anyone wishing to create a board to display their own research or that of someone else. Ryan has written an article, published on the Wiley Exchanges blog, about his approach to student learning. Another article on the Wiley Exchanges blog by Victoria Dickerson focuses on using video abstracts to enhance the visibility and usability of journal articles.

Check out WeShareScience and see what you think. The availability of such platforms will likely increase in the future, so that there may be other options to promote the visibility of your research. However, I do recommend that you submit your video abstract to the journal (if they provide that option), since research by Scott Spicer shows that a majority of views occur on the journal’s website compared to views on YouTube. However, you may reach additional viewers, especially those outside your field, by posting a video abstract on a media-sharing platform (YouTube, Figshare). If you know of other platforms where researchers can post video abstracts, please leave a comment.

How to Shoot Fisheye, Wide Angle, and Macro Views with an iPhone

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If you would like to take your videography/photography with the iPhone to the next level, you might be interested in the Ōlloclip, a 3-in-1 lens (fisheye, wide angle, macro) combination that clips onto the phone. It’s small, lightweight, and easy to use. My husband gave it to me as a gift, and I finally got around to testing it out on a recent trip. The version I have is the original Ōlloclip with three lenses for the iPhone 5/5s. The company has newer versions with four lenses (fisheye, wide angle, 10x and 15x macro). They also sell a telephoto and a few accessories (see www.olloclip.com). There is also an app for the Ōlloclip in the App Store, which helps to compose your shots during filming.

I’m still exploring ways to use the Ōlloclip, but thought I would do a quick video review/tutorial about it:

I was impressed with the design and quality of the device. Basically, there are three lenses fashioned into a double-sided clip that can be easily flipped around to access either the fisheye lens (one side) or the wide angle-macro lenses (other side). The fisheye provides a 180 degree view of a scene, and the wide angle approximately doubles the field of view from the normal iPhone camera. To access the macro (10x on my version), you unscrew the wide angle lens. You have to get within about an inch (10-15 mm) of the subject to focus the macro properly (the app contains a loupe that helps to ensure a good focus with the macro).

The clip slips onto the top edge of the iPhone so that the desired lens is covering the rear-facing camera. The clip fits over a screen protector, but is too snug to work with a standard phone cover (other than one that Ōlloclip sells). The clip also covers the power switch on the top of the phone, but this is not a problem as a slot in the clip prevents it from pressing on the switch. You can still access the phone menu through the “Home” button.

All in all, I found the Ōlloclip to be well-made and easy to use. It seems to be pretty rugged, although it probably would not survive a drop to concrete. Due to its small size, the Ōlloclip is convenient to carry in a pocket or purse; however, the Ōlloclip’s small size also makes it easy to lose–so be careful. I carry it inside the provided bag but then store that in a larger bag along with some other iPhone accessories.

I especially like the macro, which works quite well to get close-ups of objects. See the next series of photos (of a dried rose) for a comparison. I snapped all of them without the aid of a tripod to see how much blurring might occur with minor hand shake (normally with macrophotography, you would want to use a tripod and also a remote shutter to eliminate movements that would blur the image).

The first one was taken with the regular phone camera–as close as I could get and stay in focus. If you zoom in, you see that the image is blurred, which I could not see when I took the photo.iphone_regular

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second one was also taken with the regular phone camera, but I used the pinch-zoom gesture to get a bit closer. The image is better but still out of focus.

iphone_zoom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The third one was taken with the Ōlloclip macro lens attached to the phone. I got the image in focus, and you can begin to see the individual cells of the rose petals; however, it was difficult to see if I had the focus just right while I was shooting (I was aiming for the crack in the center of the image).iphone&macro

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The final image was taken with the macro lens plus the aid of the Ōlloclip app. I set the loupe in the app for 3x, which let me better see how well I was focused on the rose petal (this does not affect the view of the final photo). Although the point I selected (crack in theiphone&macro&loupe image center) was in focus, you notice that surfaces in other planes of view are not in focus. The iPhone is limited in controlling depth of field, but The Ōlloclip app allows you to select which part of the image you want to be in focus (AF) as well as the point of reference for exposure (AE), just by sliding two targets around on the screen. This dual setting provides a lot of flexibility in composing a shot. The native iPhone camera app, by comparison, only allows you to set the AE/AF together by tapping on a point on the screen.

 

The app also works without the Ōlloclip, allowing you to independently set the AF and AE for filming through the native iPhone lens. Conversely, you can use the Ōlloclip with other photography apps, but I’ve not tested those sufficiently to say how well they work with the Ōlloclip lenses.

You can find out more about the Ōlloclip at www.olloclip.com.

 

 

 

Can I Use Media Found on The Internet in My Science Video?

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In talking with colleagues and students, I find that quite a few of them are confused about intellectual property, copyright, “fair use”, and public domain. The ready access to material on the Internet has added to the confusion. So I thought I would write a series of posts on the topic.

In this first post, I will define those terms and provide some useful links to additional information. Note that I am not an expert on copyright law; if you need legal advice, please contact an attorney.

Intellectual property:

Intellectual property is any creation arising from one’s mind. Such creations may be literary or artistic works, musical works, machines or devices, software, original processes, drugs or other chemical compounds, designs or images, and datasets, to name a few. Intellectual property is protected by either a trademark or service mark (for a name brand or logo) or by copyright (for a form of expression, such as a book or video). Read more at http://www.uspto.gov and http://www.copyright.gov.

Copyright:

A copyright is a type of protection afforded to the creator(s) of “original works of authorship” (literary, artistic, musical), both published and unpublished, for a period of time, which varies by country and other variables. As soon as a work is fixed in any medium (including the Internet), it is automatically copyright protected. Copyright only protects the form that the work takes, not the subject of the work itself. Ideas, facts, concepts, principles, and discoveries cannot be copyrighted. Read more at http://www.copyright.gov.

Fair Use:

The term “fair use” refers to the limited use of another’s work without permission. It is generally used by those who create commentary, criticism, satire, review, or scholarly critiques in which small portions of the original work need to be displayed for illustrative purposes. The concept is often misunderstood and improperly applied, however. Read more at http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html. The application of fair use to video is thoroughly discussed in this video:

Public Domain:

Works in the public domain can be freely used by anyone in any manner. However, it is not always easy to determine the status of a work. In the U.S., works published before 1923 are in the public domain, but guidelines for later works are more complicated and based on several criteria (date of creation, whether published or not, lifespan of the creator, whether copyright was renewed). Works created by a U.S. Federal Government (not state or local) employee in the course of their duties are also in the public domain; however, Federal agencies may employ contractors or hire a private company—their works may not be in the public domain. Read more and find additional links at http://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/public-domain/welcome/

Determining the true status of a work often involves quite a bit of sleuthing. Keep in mind that many works have been reposted on multiple websites, often without permission; tracking down the original content owner is your responsibility.

How To Use Video Effectively to Communicate Science: 10 Tips

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screenshot_Union_Concerned_Scientists_klmckeeA video tip I created is being featured on the Union of Concerned Scientists website this week. They have a great series called “Science Network Tip of the Week”, which features useful suggestions for communicating science effectively. They also provide additional resources such as workshops, videos, publications and web tools for scientists who wish to make a difference through science communication.

Video is a powerful tool for science communication, but many scientists don’t know where to begin when they first try to make a science video. Or, they make common mistakes that could be easily avoided. I’ve created a series of tutorials and tips to guide the novice and, of course, wrote a book that covers all the basics in great detail. However, sometimes, people just need a short, simple set of steps to guide them in their first video project.

Consequently, I created a brief video, which covers ten points to keep in mind when making a science video. You can watch the video at the link given above or below: