Best Practices

A good place to start is to review our Visual Identity Guide for the basics on our brand, including logo usage, colors, and fonts.

Tips to remember

• Short and sweet. People are more inclined to watch a short video all the way to the end. Aim for no more than two to three minutes total. A minute or less is best if you plan to share on social media.
• Connect. Build a connection with your audience.
• Let’s chat. Talk to your audience in a conversational way.
• Show, don’t tell. Use descriptive language and images that resonate with your audience. Highlight what makes L&C stand out from its peers.
• Honesty is the best policy. Be true to your message and brand.
• Consistency is key. Your video’s style, tone, and message should be clear and connected.
• Represent equity and inclusion values.
• Meet ADA digital accessibility standards. Closed captioning is required. Contact videoproduction@lclark.edu if you need assistance.

Video Production Brief and Storyboard

Before you hit record, complete a Video Production Brief. It will help define the scope of your project so that everyone involved will have a clear understanding of your vision, strategy, and goals.

Then spend some time storyboarding, or mapping out the ideal visuals for each scene. This will ensure that your video shoot is more efficient and productive.

Copyrighted Materials

Videos must be free of any copyrighted material such as music and photographs unless legal permission is granted and documented.

Model Releases

Please be aware of these guidelines for campus videography. All video interview subjects must complete a Media Release Form to authorize the use of their image prior to the video shoot. 

Rule of Thirds

When you film, keep in mind the rule of thirds. This is a general guideline where you imagine the image space is broken into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, to create a grid. Standard practice is to have the most important visual element in the center of the grid or along the intersections of the grid lines.

Note: The bottom area with the tool bar and closed captioning should not be included in the image space/division into thirds because important elements may be obscured during playback.

Graphic showing rule of thirds: screen broken into thirds horizontally and vertically.

Feedback

Show your video to someone who wasn’t involved in the video production who can offer a fresh perspective. Would you like our office to review your video and offer our professional guidance? Contact videoproduction@lclark.edu.

Quality Check

Always check video quality before posting online. Once a video is posted on YouTube, the number of views, user ratings, comments, and other community data cannot be transferred to a revised version. Here are some basic quality checks to keep in mind:

• Are the interviewees easy to hear?
• Does it look good when uploaded to YouTube?
• Does it look good on a mobile device?