As I’ve discussed previously, you want to make your science videos as brief as possible. If you are doing a methods video, include only as much information as necessary for the viewer to understand and no more. However, if you have an opportunity to illustrate some concept or other aspect of your topic that enhances the viewer’s understanding, then you should do so, especially if it does not add to the video length.

I wanted to make a short video to show how we measure salinity in the field. The method is not complicated and so is a good topic for a short video. I already had some footage (shot in a mangrove forest in Belize) in which I briefly explained the principle behind how a refractometer works and then demonstrated its use.

A key piece of information that was not visible during my explanation was the scale that is viewed through the refractometer ocular. To show this, I recreated the scale in PowerPoint and inserted that image into the video as a picture-in-picture during editing (see the last tutorial in this post to see how to do this in iMovie 11). This image appears in the video at the point when I look through the ocular.

Look for similar opportunities to enhance your videos.