Planning your filming

The first thing to do when creating a video is decide on the purpose, target audience and format. Your purpose and target audience will inform the content within the video, and the format will inform how the video is filmed and edited. Keep these things in mind as you plan for the below.

Equipment

You will first need to decide what equipment is needed. If you are creating a social media video, we would recommend using a smartphone. If you are creating a higher quality video that will sit on a webpage or act as part of a campaign, you might want to borrow our camera equipment. You can borrow 

• DSLR cameras
• Microphones (useful if you need high-quality audio). Either wired or wireless lavalier (lav) mics work well. 
• Tripods (if you need your camera to remain still during filming)

Location

You will need to decide on your filming location(s). This is especially important if the location - 

• Needs to be booked in advance, or you need permission to film there.
• Will require signs to notify people that they are being filmed. Read more about our consent policy and when you need consent. 

Participants

If you will be filming other people, you will need to make sure you have the appropriate consent. You will also need to think about what the participants will be doing in the video, and whether you will need to prepare anything in advance. For example - 

Scripts

We would recommend producing a script for participants to work with, even if it is not very detailed. This will ensure you have a structure to your video, and include all of your key messages. You can email content@qmul.ac.uk to ask for feedback on any script you draft, but make sure to contact us far in advance so that we will have time to provide feedback.

We do have an autocue that you can borrow, but it is important to remember that some people will struggle to deliver scripted content in a natural way. So it is best for them to answer questions.

Tips for asking questions

• Don’t ask simple yes/no questions.
• Avoid leading questions.
• You can ask follow-up questions to tease more out of the person speaking if needed.
• Ask the participant to begin their answer by paraphrasing the question itself. So, if the question is “Why did you choose Queen Mary?”, ask the participant to frame their answer as “I chose Queen Mary because…” 
• If you share the questions beforehand and the participant sounds scripted when answering, you can change up the order or wording of prompts to get a more natural response.

Video structure and scheduling

It is important to plan the overall structure of your video so that you have a clear beginning, middle and end.

Information to include -

• A simple outline of what will happen in the video.
• Opening (introduction), middle (main content), closing (summary or call to action).
• Whether additional footage (B-roll) is needed. 
• If creating videos for social media, remember to include a good hook at the beginning with the pay-off after.

You can then use this to produce a schedule for your filming. People often underestimate how long filming will take, so make sure to give yourself plenty of time to capture the footage you need.

Things to consider -

• Allowing time for setup and retakes.
• Have back-up locations in case something doesn't go to plan (Eg the weather).
• Scheduling participants.
• Building in review/approval time if needed.