Category Archives: Science Video Tutorials

I produce tutorials showing how to make science videos, for example with an iPad. Other tutorials include how to do animations for your science video project, how to use the rule of thirds in video composition, and many other aspects of videography.

How to Avoid Wind Noise While Filming a Video

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You’ve spent the day filming and have recorded reams of footage for your video. Unfortunately, you discover during editing that much of that footage is marred by wind noise. Even clips filmed during a mild breeze sound terrible, with the speaker’s voice almost obscured by the noise. There is not much you can do at this point because it is exceedingly difficult (if not impossible) to edit out wind noise. For this reason, it is essential to take precautions during filming to minimize or avoid the sound of the wind blowing across the microphone.

In the following brief video tutorial, I cover several tips that will help you avoid wind noise in your videos.

Preparing for a Life on Mars and Filming the Experience

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An increasing number of scientists and science organizations are using video to show how science is conducted and why scientific research is important to society. Such videos are particularly effective when they not only show what scientists do, but show who scientists are and what motivates them. The video I’ve embedded below explains how a NASA-funded project is studying the effects of isolation on a group of people—in preparation for establishing a colony on Mars.

To make such a video interesting to viewers, the videographer needs to use a variety of perspectives. In the following tutorial, I describe 20 basic camera shots that filmmakers use and that you can easily replicate, even with a smartphone.

How to Film Your Science and Overturn Stereotypes about Scientists

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In a previous post, I talked about how the public’s view of science and scientists is skewed toward the laboratory as a primary location where science takes place. I pointed out that for many scientists, their laboratory is a rainforest in Central America, a desert in the US Southwest, the bottom of the Pacific ocean, or a cave in Canada. Yet the layperson’s image is most often of a white-coated scientist working in a sterile laboratory (google “draw a scientist” and see what images you find).

To raise awareness by the public (especially prospective science students), more field scientists need to film where they do their research and post them on media-sharing sites. The video embedded below (Spelunking in Search of Antibiotics) is a good example. It is only two minutes long and required only a brief break during their field trip to film. Yet the message it sends is that scientists work in fascinating places and are often intrepid explorers seeking answers in the most remote corners of our planet.

Such a video is incredibly easy to film and edit with a smartphone. The following tutorial provides a few, basic tips (using an iPhone, but the tips are relevant for all smartphones):

How to Conduct an Interview While Filming a Video

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As I’ve talked about before, conducting an interview is one of the biggest challenges the scientist videographer may ever face—especially at noisy venues such as a scientific conference. In a previous post, I described how I had conducted and filmed a series of interviews at a scientific meeting and pointed out what I had learned from the experience.

Now, I’ve created a short video that covers ten tips for conducting interviews while filming a video:

Use Video to Promote the Mission of Your Science Society

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This week, the Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS) rolled out their new media initiative and YouTube Channel. Their website explains how video can be used by SWS members to share their work and why video can be beneficial to the SWS mission:

Exposure: Video can raise awareness of wetland issues, new research, and society activities.

Communication: Video augments other forms of communication, such as technical articles, but is a more accessible and modern way to share information that appeals to a broad audience.

Education: Video can enhance the public’s understanding of the importance of wetlands, can inspire current and future wetland scientists, and help in recruiting students to the study of wetland science.

The SWS New Media Team is currently soliciting videos from members and non-members with an interest in wetlands. If you are a wetland researcher or student studying wetlands…or just a wetland enthusiast, consider submitting a video (see the video preparation and submission instructions). If you’ve never made a video before, the following tutorial provides some basic guidelines for making a video with a smartphone.