Tips for video production if you have no idea what you’re doing

Anyone who knows me professionally knows that writing is my passion and one of the few things I’m good at. But sometimes I wonder if anyone is actually reading the press releases, blog posts or features that I put together.

One of my objectives for the coming year is to include more rich content in everything I do. So over the past few months, I’ve been filming and putting together short videos for the staff newsletter, press releases and social media using Adobe Premiere Pro.

Before I go any further, I need to point out that I am a complete novice when it comes to video production. Everything I’ve learnt has been down to trial and error. So I thought I would share a few tips for anyone who wants to produce videos but doesn’t know where to start.

I’d also like to give a shout-out to Michael Hann, who has joined the Communications Team as maternity cover. We have worked as a team – Michael has gathered excellent footage which I have then turned into videos. Without his help, this whole process would have been a lot harder, so thank you Michael!

You don’t need expensive equipment

This is the kit we use - you can buy it here

We don’t use a fancy camera – just an iPad. The tech available on smart devices like iPads and iPhones nowadays means you don’t need to spend a fortune on cameras. We recently purchased some equipment, like a tripod which is designed to hold smart devices and a mic, which all cost about £25 from Amazon. You don’t need to spend a fortune.

You don’t need to produce an Oscar-winner
People don’t except Spielberg standard videos, unless they have paid a company to make it of course! Don’t worry too much if your first videos are a bit rough around the edges – at least you’re trying! Also, you’ll find that the more videos you make, the better they will become. You’ll get the knack for what works (and what doesn’t) and the process will get quicker and slicker.

Less is not more!

When gathering footage for your video, get as many different bits of footage from as many angles as you can. That way when it comes to editing you’ll have lots of footage to choose from. Remember you can’t add what you don’t have, but you can always cut what is already there.

When in doubt, YouTube it!
YouTube is full of short tutorials on how to do anything and everything in Premiere Pro. So take advantage of this free resource if you are not sure how to achieve something with your video, like adding a fade or adjusting the volume of the audio.

Below are some examples of what I’ve produced over the last few months. Like I said, I am no expert, but I am proud of what I’ve made and I’m looking forward to making more!

How to get media coverage during ‘silly season’

As it turns out, this is my last blog post of 2017. Where has the year gone?!

As some of my fellow PRs will know very well, this time of year is affectionately known as ‘silly season’ – a time of year when journalists far and wide have run out of stories and content.

Journalists take annual leave and leave their newsrooms short-staffed and their websites lacking in news. Anything that pops up in their inboxes is more likely to get their attention now than at any other time of year, simply because they are desperate for content.

So I thought I would pull together a few tips on how press officers in universities (and other organisations for that matter) can take advantage of this time of year to get some publicity.

Be creative

With so little news around, this could be your chance to flag up ideas that might be overshadowed at busier times. A funny story, an inspiring case study, some quirky research – all these things might grab a journo’s attention.

Piggy-back on stuff

There may not be much news around, but as we all know, that can change in a heartbeat. Has an airline gone bust? Pitch out your tourism academics! Specific health issues making the headlines? Dig out your researchers who can offer some words of wisdom. Even if it’s just a line in an article, it’s better than nothing!

Be a journalist’s best friend

A mentor once told me that we as PRs provide a service to journalists, and as such, we should provide the best service we can. If you can’t help a journalist with their enquiry, direct them to someone who can – even if it’s a competitor. There’s nothing in it for you, but the journo will remember the kind gesture and may come to you again in the future with something you can help with.

Get festive

Don’t underestimate the power of a good Christmassy story. Whether you’re fundraising for charity or encouraging colleagues to wear daft festive jumpers, all these are potential news stories, especially if you’ve got good images to go with them.

Pester your SU

Students’ Unions are a brilliant place to find news stories, especially around Christmas. I have found that quite often SUs are rushed off their feet with other things, so if you can give them a helping hand to get some media coverage for their festive events, they’ll love you forever!  

With that said, there’s nothing left for me to do but wish you all a very happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year, full of excellent PR opportunities and lots of media coverage!

Want to share best practice? We’re on the CASE!

So I recently attended the CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) European Annual Conference 2015 in Manchester. For those who may not be familiar with CASE, it’s an organisation that helps people within the education sector to share knowledge, best practice, and training. Each year they hold an annual conference, and this year I got the opportunity to attend.

An informative three days of networking and sharing knowledge!

It was a three day conference in Manchester (starting off with a 6am train the day after Bank Holiday Monday!), and it was three days packed full of presentations, case studies and interactive sessions. There’s something for everyone; people working in communications; alumni; marketing; management (strategy) and fundraising. And there were even people from the Netherlands and Australia in attendance. So lots of networking, note taking and learning!

I tried to mix up the presentations that I attended. I attended mainly marketing focused sessions, but I also went to some communications ones too.

A couple of things I’ve taken away from the conference:

• The contribution of location to the HE service scope
  
        A really good session which was run by Portsmouth Business School looked at the research they had done into how UK universities talk about themselves and how the majority of universities use location as a main focus. They also spoke about other factors such as physical, social and sociological dimensions that universities use when communicating to their audiences, and there was a group discussion about whether an emotional or cognitive response is more important. The conclusion was it doesn’t seem to make a difference in ‘who’ a university is or where they are in the UK; all universities want to ‘tick all boxes.’ As we’ve recently embarked on a verbal branding project, which we are now rolling out across the University, this was a particularly interesting session for me to take part in.

• Working with your research community
  
        Another great session run by the University of Huddersfield in which they presented the ways they worked with their research community to produce valuable content to show the gravitas of the university and its achievements. This was really interesting as the University of Bedfordshire have had a real focus on this, and it was good to see how another university has tackled this. They discussed the research literature they produce, including how items are distributed and to which audience and also discussed how they encourage academics to use social media to showcase their work and also link in with the universities core strategy around research. Food for thought…

The overarching themes that stood out in the sessions which I attended were the value of authenticity, producing more dynamic content and being more interactive are key to reaching the student audiences in 2016 and beyond!  

Events like these are invaluable for networking, meeting peers and sharing knowledge with people in the same industry. Market research is a big part of Marketing, and events like these go that little bit further in terms of discussing what’s happening within other institutions and learning from each other.

I hope I get the opportunity to go again next year.

Speak soon,

K