I am not a professional filmmaker.  The methods I’ve been describing in this blog are those that have worked for me, a scientist. Some are standard among filmmakers and others are not. I present my ideas and experiences, not as rules to be followed, but as information that may help or inspire.  In fact, I would encourage you not to be constrained by anything you read here (or elsewhere) and to develop your own style.  That said, there are certain principles that must be understood and mastered.  I’ve mentioned a few of these on this blog and hope to describe more in coming posts.  It’s possible to break those rules and produce something really different and creative.  However, one must achieve mastery of those basic skills before thinking about breaking them. Otherwise, your videos will look amateurish and not attract viewers.

If you are a scientist or student of science who has not yet dipped your toe into the waters of videography, you are where I was five years ago. Since then, I’ve developed a few skills, mostly by trial and error.  We are accustomed to this approach in science.  We get some basic training in lab technique, technical writing, or oral presentations, for example, in graduate school, but only later are these skills honed and expanded….often during our first jobs.  I view videography as just another tool in my toolbox…but a tool that will become increasingly important in the future as science communication evolves.

The reaction I get most often from colleagues is why are you bothering to learn videography and spend (they mean waste) time creating videos?  I am reminded of the time when people asked me why I was bothering to learn PowerPoint and no longer using 35 mm slides and overhead transparencies.  They were really asking me why I was upsetting the status quo.  The older scientists in particular were comfortable with the old technology and simply did not want to change or bother with learning a new way of doing things.  Well, we know what happened.  Eventually, everyone was forced to learn the new way….or they got left behind.  The same is happening with science communication (and communication in general). Even if you are a student now and already familiar with what are new methods to older scientists, you will likely face similar dramatic changes at some point in your career.

It’s really a matter of whether you want to stay on the peak of the wave or let the wave pass you by.  Keeping up doesn’t take as much of an effort as most imagine.  And that’s what this blog is all about:  to show that riding the wave takes some effort initially to get up on the peak, but then requires only minor adjustments to stay abreast.  And like surfing, it can be a lot of fun learning how to ride the wave.