Video

Who do you want your message to reach, resonate with, or impact? Whose opinions or behaviors do you aim to influence? And who else might be involved?
Before you get to work creating a video, it's crucial to identify your audience and determine the emotions you want to evoke in them.

In the communication toolkit, you'll find tips for defining your target audience and setting communication goals.

Storytelling refers to the process of using narratives to convey a message. We aim to tell stories that captivate, reinforce our brand identity, and leave a lasting impression on our audience.

Stories evoke emotions, and emotions foster connections. This is what we aim to achieve when communicating.

But how do you tell a compelling story?

Keep the story simple and engaging: Ensure that the story in your video is easy to follow. Start with a strong opening that grabs the viewer's attention and follow a clear storyline with a beginning, middle, and end. Focus on an individual (or a group) in your video or utilize interesting locations to bring your story to life and maintain the viewer's interest.

When creating videos for various social media platforms, consider the specific characteristics, demographics, and user behaviors of each platform.

YouTube
Opt for longer videos (10 minutes or more) with more in depth content and a clear narrative structure.
If you'd like to publish a video to the UU YouTube channel, please check that it complies with the publication guidelines. If your video complies with the guidelines, fill out the Formdesk form to have the video published.

Instagram
Keep videos short and concise, preferably less than 1 minute long, to retain viewers' attention. Use interesting visuals and text to stand out from the crowd.
A large majority of posts have an 'Informal' tone. These posts also have the best interaction ratio. An enthusiastic tone-of-voice remarkably doesn't do well with audiences, so opt for authenticity over performative enthusiasm. Check the following page If you'd like more tips on creating content for Instagram.  

LinkedIn
Videos on LinkedIn should be professional and informative, geared towards business objectives and a professional audience.
Check the following page if you'd like more tips on creating content for LinkedIn. 

Facebook
Facebook videos can range from short clips to longer narrative videos, depending on the objectives and preferences of your audience.

Use good lighting

Lighting plays a crucial role in video quality. Whenever possible, film in well-lit environments or use natural light to illuminate your subject. Avoid harsh shadows and backlighting, as they can make your video look unprofessional. Consider investing in affordable LED lights or using reflectors to enhance lighting conditions.

Check your audio quality

Clear audio is essential for effective communication. If the audio quality of your smartphone recording isn't sufficient, consider using an external microphone to capture high-quality sound.
A lavalier microphone or a shotgun microphone can significantly improve audio clarity and reduce background noise, ensuring your message is heard loud and clear.

Stabilize your shots

Shaky footage can distract viewers and detract from your message. To achieve smooth, professional-looking shots, use a tripod or smartphone stabilizer. These tools help stabilize your phone and minimize camera shake, resulting in more polished and professional video content.

When creating videos, it's important to consider accessibility. Here are some pointers:

Subtitles
Subtitles are required with every video. Subtitles transcribe the spoken text so that the video is accessible to people with hearing disabilities.

• In addition to the spoken text, subtitles must include important sounds, such as music or certain background sounds.
• Subtitles should be available as closed captions (in a .srt file) and not embedded into the video itself.

Need help using subtitles?
Using subtitles on the UU Video platform
Using subtitles on YouTube
The online tool Clideo SRT File Editor allows you to easily create or modify subtitle files for free.

Clarity of speech and sound effects
Ensure that spoken text is clear and audible, and avoid background noises that may drown out speech. This helps people with hearing impairments better understand the contents of the video.

Visual elements
As with images, you should make sure videos have sufficient visual contrast. This applies particularly to illustrated videos and animations. Use contrasting colours and clear fonts (in line with UU brand guidelines), and clear imagery to make the content of your videos more accessible to people with visual impairments. Check the tools page on how to check this.

An overview of the top concerns regarding the digital accessibility of video, and how to address them, can be found on intranet.

Editing is a crucial step in the video making process as it turns raw footage into a polished final product, adding effects and adjusting colors and sound to make it look and sound its best.

While a clear story structure makes a video more engaging, the use of compelling visuals can be just as important to bringing a story to life. Use pleasing imagery, animation, graphics, overlays, etc., to convey your message. Maintaining our brand identity in videos is also crucial for creating a consistent, lasting impact.

Utilize UU video intros/outros, transitions, and bumpers to ensure that your video aligns with brand identity guidelines and contributes to the existing brand identity of the UU.

Editing Software

The UU offers employees a few different video editing programs, which help you create professional-looking videos even if you're not an expert.

Adobe Premiere Pro is a professional-grade video editing software used by filmmakers, editors, and content creators worldwide. Its advanced features make it ideal for producing high-quality videos for various purposes, from films to social media content. Adobe offers tutorials and resources to help beginners get started. Once you are familiar with the basics you can gradually explore more advanced features to enhance your editing skills.

Adobe Premiere Rush is a simplified version of Premiere Pro designed for on-the-go video editing on mobile devices and desktops. It offers intuitive controls and pre-built templates, making it perfect for creating quick, polished videos for social media, vlogs, and online presentations. 

Both Adobe Premiere Pro and Premiere Rush are available in the Adobe Creative Cloud in the UU Software Centre. 

The FSC-AV Department organises customised workshops for making videos on cellphones and training courses for making videos in the do-it-yourself studios.

Click here for more information.

The ICT & Media Department organises customised video workshops for employees and students of the Faculty of Humanities. Workshops for people from outside the faculty are provided if there is time for that.

Contact Person:

Hans Schuurman, AV Media consultant

The MCM Department advises employees and students of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine on video. The department does not organise any workshops or training courses.

Contact persons:

Onno van Veen, videographer
Jonathan Joosten, videographer

If you are an employee of Utrecht University and you want to enrol in a videography programme besides your work, Open Studio can be a possibility for this.
The university does not have any contracts with this organisation.

Utrecht University employees -who are already very well-trained in photography- can enrol in master classes organised by the photographer collective NOOR.
The university does not have any contracts with this organisation.