“How To” Scripts Hi and welcome to the “Threads How To” video. We’re really excited about this series from Hope Channel because this is all about personal testimonies. And there’s nothing more powerful than a personal testimony in sharing God’s grace and love. If you’ve never done any video production before, that’s ok. Because that’s what this video is all about. Helping you capture these stories so we can share them with the world. So lets get started. First, lets have a look at what type of equipment you’ll need: -‐ a good quality High Definition video camera -‐ OR a DSLR camera with High Definition video recording capabilities -‐ a good solid tripod with baseplate -‐ 4 medium strength lights (LED’s or Fluro’s – spotlights or lamps) -‐ a 2 by 3 metre clean white sheet or photo paper background -‐ a good quality lapel or shotgun mic, transmitter and receiver with connecting cables -‐ sufficient memory space, for example, 16 or 32 gigabyte memory cards -‐ a quiet space or room, away from noise and activities that may disrupt filming and interfere with the quality of the audio -‐ a copy of the “Hope Channel Release” form to be signed by the participant -‐ power leads and adapters for the lights During the preparation of the equipment, make sure all batteries for the camera are fully charged, memory cards empty and the lights and microphone are ready for filming. Make sure the participant understands the purpose of Threads and how sharing their testimony fits in with Hope Channel’s aim and existence, to share faith and hope experiences. Each testimony is like a “thread” which when woven together with other “Threads”, makes up the Tapestry of the Seventh-‐day Adventist Church. Ask the participant to start their testimony with a casual introduction such as “Hi, I’m Patricia and I’d like to share with u…” The testimony is basically made up of four sections. First a short background segment of about 3 minutes. Here the participant shares a little bit about their upbringing and any significant parts of it. The second part (about 2 mins) is one that should tell about the participant’s experiences with challenges and controversy being part of daily life, when Christ was NOT an integral part or focus of their life. Participants don’t need to go into details but give a generalized overview. The third part (about 2 mins) should be about the change in the participant’s life when they accepted Christ and the fourth part (about 3 mins) is for sharing about the impact of this change -‐ How the participant’s life has been impacted and how it has influenced those around them. At the end of each testimony, have the participant sign off with the line “my name is Patricia Goncalves [pronounced Gonsalve’s], and this, is my thread”. Make sure the participant signs and dates the “Hope Channel Release Form” which enables us to broadcast or post the testimonial online. Here’s how the setup should look. In a small and quiet room, away from loud noise, you will need the white 2 by 3 metre background, for example a white bed sheet or white photographic paper which can be hung on a frame, a support or otherwise taped to a wall as well as a backless chair or stool for the participant to sit on. As the diagram indicates, you’ll need to place the participant’s chair about 3 paces from the white background. At the base of the chair, a backlight should be placed to illuminate the white background with bright and evenly spread light. About 4 or 5 paces directly in front of the participant’s chair, the tripod and video camera are to be placed and set at eye level when participants are sitting. A few paces from both sides of the camera, a (bright) key light should be placed which shines light at about 45 degrees (from camera view) onto the participant’s face. A fill light should be placed a few paces away from the white background to the right or left, which shines onto the back of the participant’s head. Make sure the fill light is not over powering the key lighting, which will over-‐expose the shot. The main things to remember; are that the background needs to have an evenly spread but strong source of light in the frame with the participant’s face in front. Make sure the participant’s face is not over-‐exposed in the shot. If applicable, use the iris and exposure controls to make adjustments. Allow up to 30 minutes for filming each participant’s testimony, as each person will vary in the delivery method and ability. Some are great speakers but will ‘freeze’ up when they have to speak directly to a camera. Always make them feel comfortable and get them to pretend they’re talking to a friend, which allows for ‘conversational-‐style’ everyday language. When setting up the camera and tripod, always adjust the height to suit the eye level of the participant. Have them sit comfortably and then adjust the camera to suit. Once the participant is sitting comfortably, attach the lapel mic onto their shirt/top/jacket about the second or third button down, so the mic is out of the shot, with the mic head facing down towards the floor. To keep the framed shot ‘clean’, take the rest of the mic cable and hide beneath the jacket or shirt top. If a shotgun microphone is being used, make sure that the connecting cables are not being touched, so as to prevent unnecessary noise and audio interference. Connect the lapel mic to the transmitter and the receiver to the camera XLR input and switch on. Make sure both the transmitter and receiver are on the same audio wavelength frequency. A shotgun mic may have to be powered via the Phantom Plus 48 Volt switch if used instead of the lapel mic. Keep the shotgun mic aimed at the participant’s mouth and close enough to pick up audio, but still stays out of the shot. Once the participant is miked up, get them to talk to you in their normal voice so that audio levels are tested and set. The best audio levels to have would be around the 7 or 8 mark. Anything more or less may cause headaches in post-‐
production. Set the focus to manual mode and zoom in to the participant’s face and use the expanded focus buttons to get u even closer. Focus and sharpen on the eyebrows or cheeks of the participant. By keeping the focus on manual mode, the risk of the camera automatically trying to refocus once the participant moves a fraction, is avoided. Once the focus is set, you’re now ready to frame the shot. When framing the participant, always have their eyes at halfway between the middle of your camera-‐viewing screen. In other words, the participant’s eyes should be at about three quarters way of the viewing screen and slightly off to the right of the screen, giving space for title text to the left. Ask the participant for minimal movement during the filming. This helps with reducing unwanted or un-‐editable microphone noise and the lessens the risk of their face going out of focus. The participant should be looking straight at the camera lens and smiling when appropriate. During the testimony, it’s a good idea to let your participant be aware of how much time is left. This can be done by the camera person signaling and indicating the time, using their fingers to represent a pre-‐arranged time amount. The participant should not be distracted by this arrangement. They should be able to see the signals out of the corner of their eye. Let the camera record right from the beginning in one continuous take till the full testimony is shared and the participant ‘signs’ off with the “I’m Patricia Goncalves [pronounced Gonsalve’s]…and this, is my thread”. Leave the camera rolling through any interruptions or ‘blank’ spots during the sharing. Once the testimonial is over then you can stop recording the shoot. Well done. Post Production/Editing Once filming is complete, download the footage for editing. In this instance, the Apple Mac operating system version of Final Cut Pro 7 editing software is used. Nearly all steps and editing functions taken in post can be applied in alternative video editing programs and software such as Sony Vegas, or Adobe Premiere Pro. Open Final Cut Pro 7 and set your system settings as usual, where the scratch disks, auto save/render cache and functions are stored. This can be done by clicking on the Final Cut Pro Header Tab and selecting System Settings. Once that is done, click ok. Next, click on the Sequence drop down menu and select Settings (Apple zero). Here are the settings for optimal HD broadcast quality: -‐ Frame size is 1920 x 1080 and the Aspect Ratio is HDTV 1080i (16 by 9 widescreen) -‐ Pixel Aspect Ratio is Square and leave the Anamorphic 16 by 9 option un-‐
ticked -‐ Field Dominance is Upper (Odd) and the Editing Timebase is 25. -‐ QuickTime Video Settings: Compressor: XDCAM EX 1080i50 (35 Megabits VBR) with the quality at 100%. -‐ Audio Settings: Rate is 48 kiloHertz -‐ Depth is 16-‐bit -‐ Config is Channel Grouped Now you are ready to import your clip and start editing. First of all “Save” your project to an easy to reach location with the following naming convention; “HOPE_YearMonthDay_THREADS_PersonName_TimeLength”. Import (or Apple I) the monologue clip to your project and double click to view the clip in the viewer slug. Use the In (I) and Out (O) points to select only the parts of the clip that will be used. Now drag the clip with the in and out markers from the viewer slug to the timeline. Once that’s done, you may need to render (Apple R) your clip so it can be played and viewed on the timeline. Its good practice to use the viewer slug to pin point parts of the monologue that need to be edited. Make sure the transitions are simple and precise. A white coloured solid is best to be placed under the actual video footage to enable the video to fade to white during any transitions on the timeline. Now, go to the Effects tab at the top left of the screen and click on Video Filters and then the Color Correction folder. Select the 3 Way Color correction option and drag onto the video clips on your timeline that need colouring and lighting changes. In the Filters tab, choose the Visual option under the Parameters section of the viewer slug. This will open up the 3 Way Color visual control panel with adjustment levels and guides. With sections of the clip highlighted, make the adjustments needed in the Blacks, Mids or Whites control tool. It may take a while to get the correct settings and right results for lighting and skin tones. The main aim is to get a clean white background with the participant in the foreground in focus. After finalising the coloring, highlight the whole timeline again and choose the Broadcast Safe color correction tool and drag onto the entire timeline. This should make the necessary changes in Final Cut Pro to compensate for over-‐
exposure and peaking levels. Your edited footage is now ‘broadcast ready’. Once you have edited the footage as best as you can, then turn your attention to the audio. Make sure any unwanted noise and interruptive input is turned down or deleted as needed. Double click the audio on the timeline to bring it up onto the viewer slug for detailed editing. Highlight the audio clips and select the Filters tab. Within the Audio Filters folder are the Apple and Final Cut Pro folders. Drag and drop the Monologue Audio AUDynamics Processor and the Vocal DePopper onto the timeline and adjust the settings as needed to help improve sound quality and consistency. In essence, try to deliver a clean and crisp look and sound in all post-‐production elements of the monologue. That way, the story is effectively presented to and easily understood by the viewing audience. And whatever the content, if these monologues are set up, lit, miked and recorded according to the How To video instructions, each story will be clear and effective in its final presentation. Thanks for taking the time to watch our Threads How To video. We hope to see your Thread and the Threads of people you know, on Hope Channel soon. So from everyone here at Hope Channel South Pacific, happy videoing and editing.