Preproduction
- Write script and have it approved.
- Make sure shoot locations are available and reserved
- Have available equipment capable of accomplishing your anticipated vision.
- Make a plan for recording sound.
- Schedule any talent (actors) being used in the video.
- Make a plan for video output.
- Determine desired camera settings before shooting (resolution, frame rate, etc.).
Production
- Bring all necessary gear to the shoot.
- Set white balance.
- Make sure camera settings are correct.
- Make sure tripod is level.
- Use headphones when recording audio.
- Shoot establishing shots.
- Get shots of the environment (coverage, B-roll) to make editing easier.
- Get wide, medium and close-up shots of on-camera talent delivering his or her lines.
- Make shots as stable as possible.
- Don’t zoom during shots.
- Keep the subject of each shot in sharp focus.
Post-production
- Add UNT intro and outro graphics.
- Keep footage organized and together.
- Watch for flash frames (black frames caused by gaps between clips).
- Make sure audio levels are consistent.
- Use only essential footage/audio in the final piece (to avoid videos that drag).
- Make sure any titles included are appropriate and look professional.
- Avoid typefaces: Comic Sans, Papyrus, Chiller, Curlz, etc.
- Use the standard UNT typeface for video titles, Helvetica Neue/
- Make sure you adhere to standard export settings.
- Set H.264 codec, 1920X1080, 30p or 24p, at least 20mbps (bitrate).
- Set audio at 44.1kHz or 48kHz (usually set correctly by default).
YouTube
- Include relevant video title.
- Include relevant description.
- Include relevant video tags and include UNT-related tags as well (i.e. eagles, mean green, unt, north texas, university, etc.)
- Set the category as “Education.”
- When upload is complete, change the video settings so comments are allowed “by approval only.”