Have you wondered how people create and embed interactive maps into their websites like the one below? These are quite useful in showing not only where you have been sampling, for example, but to also link text descriptions and photographs of each location that pop up in a box when the placemarker is selected on the map (select the “view in a larger map” and click on one of the placemarkers for an example).
In addition to enhancing your website, these interactive maps might be incorporated into a video to show the locations of sites that will be described or where footage was shot. In this tutorial, I show how to create such a personalized map using Google Maps, which is free (for best viewing, select the HD version and full-screen options (see menu bar at bottom of player window):
As I’ve been trying to emphasize in past posts, visual story-telling using a good dramatic question can be a powerful way to spread sound science ideas to a diverse audience. Here’s a video that is highly effective in getting across the concept of the “domino effect in nature”. It was made by graduate student, Megan Callahan, who used simple props (dominoes) to create a compelling video:
The video was made during a workshop held by Randy Olson, scientist turned filmmaker (more about the workshop here). Let’s apply my features of a good video and see how this one does:
1. The video is short. Imagine a scientist getting across an abstract concept….by talking. This video does it in one minute, with minimal talking.
2. The information is presented visually as well as verbally. Yes. Even without the beginning dialog between the two women, the point of the video is clear.
3. The video keeps adding information at a steady but rapid pace. Yes. In this case, the video uses falling dominoes in different habitats to move the story forward.
4. There is constant motion going on throughout the video. Yes, the falling dominoes and cuts from one scene to the next create the impression of constant motion.
5. Colors are intense and dramatic. Not so obvious because the colors are those of nature. The video could have used a few close-ups of the images on the dominoes with dramatic colors (of a butterfly or flower, for example).
6. The text is minimal; only what is essential to understanding the message. Yes, a brief text segment at the end poses the key questions.
7. There is a dream-like quality about the video. No.
8. The video elicits an emotional reaction in the viewer, largely driven by the music, which is compelling and carefully keyed to the visual shifts. The music (mostly bongos) adds to the feeling of movement or motion, which along with the sounds of the falling dominoes, creates a mood.
9. All visual and audio components are rendered to the highest quality possible. Yes.
10. The video has people, animals, or cartoon characters that are doing something interesting, unusual, or surprising. In this case, the falling dominoes with attached images representing species are a surprising element.
11. There is an element of suspense. Yes. Where will the dominoes end up?
12. There is no traditional beginning, middle, and end. In this case, there is: the opening scene with the two women, the falling dominoes, the ending text sequence. However, it’s not really that obvious.
So this video clearly adheres to most of the elements I’ve identified as being important to creating an effective message. Let me hasten to add that these are not the only features that characterize an effective video. There may be some that break the rules (and these, I’m guessing, will be highly effective). The point is that there are some common attributes that the scientist videographer can keep in mind when planning a video project.
Use your imagination, as Megan did, and create something memorable. In this case, she took the name of the scientific idea (domino effect) and used it to develop a visual aid that reinforced the concept. She went a step further and attached pictures of organisms to the dominoes, which drove home the point that each domino represented a species. By putting the questioning woman’s picture on the last domino, Megan emphasized that humans are part of nature’s interconnectedness.
Many other scientific concepts lend themselves to such visual storytelling. We just have to be creative in finding ways to tell those stories.
A final point about Megan’s video: it did not require an expensive film crew, elaborate stage settings, exotic shooting locations, or a huge budget to create. The students had NO prior experience with film making. I’m not sure what equipment they used to capture the footage, but it would have been possible to shoot it with a smartphone. The students did their own acting. The only prop was a package of dominoes. Their “shooting locations” for nature scenes were different habitats in their region, apparently close by and easily accessible. This is a great example of how someone using minimal equipment and visual aids can create a compelling audiovisual message.
Scientists sometimes have difficulty explaining their work in everyday language that most people can understand. How do you know if the language you are using in your videos or other science communication products are comprehensible by a 10th grader, for example?
Most word processing programs have an option that allows an assessment of the “readability” of the text in a document. The science videographer can make use of this tool to check and modify the language you plan to use in your video project….essentially tailor it to a target audience. This tutorial shows how to turn this option on and how to use it to revise a technical explanation so that it is understandable by a broader audience (for best viewing, select the HD version and full-screen options (see menu bar at bottom of player window):
View or download the entire script for the video here (click the arrow at the top of the document window for full page view):
You want to make sure the information in your science video (or other science communication product) is remembered. This video describes several ways to ensure that the content of your video is remembered (for best viewing, select the HD version and full-screen options (see menu bar at bottom of player window):
View or download the transcript of the video here (just select the arrow to see it full screen).
One of the biggest obstacles for scientists is explaining our work in everyday language. How do you know if you are succeeding? In the next post, I describe a tool that will allow you to quantify the readability/understandability of your language.
When designing your video and developing your storyboard, you want to ensure that it will ultimately attract attention. Here are a number of ways to capture and keep your viewer’s attention, starting with the one I described in the previous post (be sure to select the HD version and the full screen option for best viewing):
