Participatory Video Methodology

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Participatory Video Guide

Contributor(s): Nelson Walker (last revised August 18, 2013), as adapted from Insights into Participatory Video: A Handbook for the Field.

1. Introduction 2. Name Game 3. Disappearing Game 4. Interview 5. Conversation 6. Guided Tour – Cameraman as Guide 7. Guided Tour – Onscreen Guide 8. Storyboarding Technique 9. Body Map 10. Community Map 11. Fiction Short 12. Basic Camera Tips

1. Introduction

This is a guide for anybody who wants to try making films. It gives basic tips for using the camera, games, and starting points for making short films. These activities are easy ways to start thinking creatively about filmmaking. We hope that you will find them meaningful, but also be inspired to depart from them. Most importantly, have fun!

Many of these exercises were adapted from Insights into Participatory Video: A Handbook for the Field. It has been prepared by Nelson Walker as of March 20, 2011, and then updated by David Germano on August 17 2013.

2. Name Game

This should take about 30 minutes in the game itself, and then more time to lead the discussion.

1. Get together a group of friends.

2. Have them sit in a circle, including yourself.

3. Hand the camera to somebody who has never used it before. You should not touch the camera again until it is your turn to film.

4. Sit next to him or her, and without touching the camera explain how to:

Open the viewfinder screen
Switch the camera on and off
Zoom in and out
Locate the record/pause button

5. Show your friend how to properly hold the camera. The position is demonstrated in the diagram below. For more stability, you can rest the back of the camera against your body.

6. Ask your friend to film the person sitting directly across from him or her. He or she should zoom in on the person, framing just their head and shoulders.

7. Have your friend make eye contact with the person he or she is filming, and ask if they are ready.

8. The friend with the camera hits record. The person who is being filmed says his or her name and something about him or herself.

9. When the person being filmed has finished speaking, the friend with the camera should stop recording.

10. Ask your friend to pass the camera to the person next to him or her. When handing over the camera, the friend who has just filmed should explain how to use it.

11. Repeat this process until everyone in circle has a chance to film and speak.

12. After everyone has filmed, watch the footage as a group. Here are some things to notice about the shots:

Exposure: Are people lit properly? Where is the light coming from in each shot? What angle of light produces the nicest images? When are people dark or lit from behind?
Framing/Angle: What kinds of framing to you see? Which frames feel the best to you? Which ones show too much of something that is not important?
Stability: How stable are the shots? Notice the effects of camera movement or zooming.
Recording: Was the shot held for long enough or did it start too late or end too soon?
Do not criticize your fellow camera person! What seem to be mistakes are the best way to learn, and sometimes even make the best shots!

Goals:

Familiarity with camera and sound
Basic recording and camera technique

Introduce Basic Visual Language/Shot Types

Shot
Scene
Sequence
Extreme Close-up
Close-up
Medium
Wide
Zoom
Push/Pull
Pan
Tilt
Track

3. Disappearing Game

1. Get together a group of friends.

2. Have everybody stand together as if posing for a photograph.

3. Position the camera on a tripod across from the group and make sure everybody is in frame.

4. Ask everybody to stand still. To make it more fun, encourage them to be humorous with their poses.

5. Push the record button and record for three seconds.

6. Stop recording and choose somebody to leave the group. Remember, the others must not move.

7. The person who was chosen should stand behind the camera and record the group for three seconds. When he or she is finished, he/she should choose another person to leave the group and film.

8. Continue this process until nobody is left. The last person to leave should film the empty space for at least 5 seconds.

9. Watch the video immediately. Play it both forward and in reverse so that people magically appear and disappear.

4. Filmmaking 101 (45 Minutes)

Shots

Demonstrate the concept of a shot by showing a short segment of a film. Having the participants clap at every cut.
Explain that filmmaking is telling a story with images. Shots are like sentences. They should have a purpose and convey information.
Explain that shots can be put together to create new meaning. For example, if you show a shot of a smoke-stack followed by a shot of someone coughing it is implied that the person is coughing because of the pollution. The same shot of someone coughing could be juxtaposed with other shots to imply that the person has a cold or inhaled secondhand smoke from a cigarette.

What makes a good image?

Framing – The image has a center of interest, is at an appropriate height and angle, and is level (unless there is a reason for it to be crooked).
Exposure – The image is well lit (not too bright and not too dark). The best way ensure this is to avoid pointing the camera toward the light source.
Color Balance – The color looks correct. In certain types of light the color appears to have a blue or orange tint.
Focus – The center of interest is in focus.
Movement – There is no extraneous movement. If handheld, the camera must be held as steady as possible. If the camera is on a tripod, the camera only pans, tilts, or zooms if there is a reason to do so.

Sound

In film, sound is a separate element that can be manipulated independently of the image. This creates a number of options:

Voice-Over Narration
Cut-Away shots during interviews
Music

General Recording

The director should tell the camera operator when to press record and call “action!” when the shot is to begin.
Always roll the camera at least 3 to 5 seconds before the shot begins. Explain that participants need not be concerned about wasting tape.

Reviewing/Editing Footage

After shooting, review the raw footage with participants. Explain that they have the option of making changes to their initial plan depending on what footage they have obtained. As a group, form a consensus on what shots to use and what (if any) changes are to be made to initial storyboard.
The facilitator use’s the groups plan to edit a rough cut of the film. Participants can observe and/or take part in the process if circumstances allow.

5. Interviewing

1. Ask participants to sit in a circle.

2. Conduct the name game, but now incorporate an interviewer. The person to the right of the cameraperson should take sound, and the person to the left (interviewer) should ask questions.

3. The interviewer should ask three questions to the subject before the camera is passed to the next person. Try to keep the responses relatively brief.

4. View the interviews and discuss relevant aspects:

Framing/Shot size
Angle
Exposure
Sound
Zooming
Focus
Stability
Interviewing technique

5. Interviews

Continue into a formal discussion of interviews: see the separate document on Interviewing Techniques.

6. Conversation

1. Find two people who are willing to discuss an issue or event in front of the camera.

2. Position them in a place that is appropriate for the conversation.

3. Begin filming. The two people should be relaxed, and allow their conversation to flow naturally. Here are some pointers:

Is everybody comfortable?
Can you see both people’s faces?
Can you hear both people when they are speaking?
How does it sound? It may be worth doing a sound check before recording too much. Play back the tape and listen with headphones. Is there wind or too much background noise?
Who is speaking? When is it appropriate to film just the person who is speaking? When is it appropriate to film both people in one shot?
Are both people are enjoying the conversation?

4. When your subjects have finished their conversation, thank them and replay the tape.

7. Guided Tour – Cameraman as Guide

1. Think of a place that is important to you. It could be somewhere in nature, a street-corner, or even a room in your home. The goal of this activity is to give a tour of this space.

2. Make a list or draw a picture of all the important features of the space. Think about the details that make the space unique. What is your relationship to these details? How would you describe them to other people?

3. Go to the space with a friend. Have him or her film you giving a tour. You can use the list or picture you created as a guide for what to film. Feel free to film continuously, or start and stop recording as needed.

4. If you prefer, you can also do this exercise alone. Use the camera to film the important features of the space. As you film, describe the significance of each feature out loud, giving the tour from behind the camera.

5. After you have completed your tour, replay the video for friends and family.

8. Guided Tour – On-screen Guide

1. Think of a person who has a special relationship to a place. Ask this person if he/she will give a tour of that place on camera.

2. Find out where the person would like to start. When you have settled on a suitable place, you are ready to begin filming.

3. Ask the person if he or she is ready. Press record on the camera. It should roll for a few seconds before the person begins to speak. Here are some tips:

Is the person relaxed and ready to begin?
Can you hear the person when he/she speaks?
How does it sound? It may be worth doing a sound check before recording too much. Play back the tape and listen with headphones. Is there wind or too much background noise?
Are you capturing what the person is showing you?
When you move the camera, are the movements controlled and purposeful or haphazard and confusing?

4. Feel free to ask questions. Many of the tips provided in the Interview exercise also apply here:

Are you asking clear, short questions?
Are you listening to what your subject is saying, and asking good follow-up questions based on the answers they have just given?
Are you allowing enough time for the person to answer?
Is the tour flowing well, or does it jump from one subject to another without reason?
Is the person enjoying him or herself?

5. When the tour is finished, thank the person and replay the tape for him/her.

9. Storyboard Technique

This takes 1-3 hours.

1. Alone or with a group of friends, determine what story you would like to tell. If you need help generating ideas, you can use the Community Mapping, Body Mapping or Fiction Short exercises.

2. Draw 4-6 boxes on a piece of paper or chalkboard.

3. Ask yourself or your friends “How would you introduce your story?” Draw a simple sketch in the first box. It does not need to be detailed. The important thing is to communicate your idea.

4. Each box should express at least one action (like a sentence if you were writing the story).

5. When do you choose a wide shot, or a close up? From whose perspective do you want it to be seen? Decide what the best angle is to show the action. Are you going to keep the camera still or moving? How can each of these choices help your story?

6. Continue to outline the story. Feel free to add more boxes if you need them.

7. At the end, go back and get the details for each box. Ask the following questions and write the answers below each box:

What do you want the shot to convey?
Who is in the shot? What will they be doing? What will they be saying?
Where will you be filming this shot?
Who will be filming the shot?

6. You now have a plan to go out and begin shooting!

10. Body Mapping

1. Find a friend. You will need somewhere to draw an outline of your bodies. You can use markers and a large piece paper, chalk on a sidewalk, or even lines in the dirt.

2. Carefully draw a line around your partner’s body. Ask him or her to do the same for you.

3. Decide how you would like to divide up the body. Each part should have a different meaning, for example the feet are our roots, legs are the places we’ve traveled, the stomach holds our fears, the heart is who we love most, the head contains our dreams… Feel free to make up your own meaning for each body part.

4. Decorate your body map with drawings, objects, and collage (old magazines, pictures, etc.).

5. You may also decide to shoot a very short film that expresses something associated with a part of your body, and “attach” the film to that part.

6. Film your partner describing his or her own body map.

7. Use ideas included in your body map to develop a storyboard and make a short film.

11. Community Mapping

Note: This exercise should be completed before Storyboard Technique if it is to be the basis for the film.

1. Get together with a group of your friends. You will need somewhere to use as the basis for drawing a large map. It could be a chalkboard, large piece of paper, or even the ground.

2. Together, decide on a community that you would like to map. It could be your town, your neighborhood, a school or monastery -- anywhere that is made up of various significant places.

3. Before drawing the map, make a list of the significant places you would like to include. Here are some ideas for choosing places:

Important manmade or natural features
Important cultural, social, or religious places
Places where important people live, work, or get together.
Places where an important event has occurred, will occur, or regularly occurs in the physical or social landscape
Places that have changed
Places that you want to change

4. When you have completed your list, begin to draw the different places on the map. If you are using the ground, you can use objects to represent each place. There is no need for the map to be precise. The main point is that it represents the way you see this community.

5. Have one person in the group film the others describing each significant place on the map.

6. When you are finished filming, plot a route across the map, and identify people from there whom you might want to interview.

7. Use this route to create a storyboard for your film using the Storyboarding Exercise. You can also use the Guided Tour Exercise and Interview Exercise.

8. Go out and make your film according to your plan.

12. Fiction Short

1. Start by deciding what story you want to tell, and use the Storyboarding Exercise to plan it visually.

2. Make a list of the shots, listing the following information for each shot:

Which actors are needed

Where it will be shot

What time of day
Anything special you need to remember for this shot, like objects (props) you need to bring, costumes, other people.

3. With this list you can decide what is the best order to shoot your movie. If you want, you can film the shots in the order they will appear in the movie - this way you will not need to edit the movie later (which would require a computer). If you will be editing the film on a computer, you don’t have to shoot in the same order as will appear in your final movie.

4. Make sure everybody knows what they are doing and when, and have fun!

5. You can also repeat takes to make sure you get it right, but remember that too many times may not make it better!

13. Basic Camera Tips

1. Is everybody ready and comfortable before you start filming?

2. Is there enough light?

3. Is the image in focus?

4. Are you holding the camera steady?

5. Is the camera at an appropriate height and angle? Is it level?

6. What are you seeing in the image? What is the center of interest? What do you want viewers to see? Which is the best angle to view it from?

7. When you move the camera is there a purpose for doing so? Are the movements controlled or haphazard?

8. How does it sound? It may be worth doing a sound check before recording too much. Play back the tape and listen with headphones. Is there wind or too much background noise?

9. Have you pressed record a few seconds before the meaningful action begins? If not you risk losing the beginning of what you are filming.

10. Has the camera recorded for a few seconds after the meaningful action has ended? If not you risk cutting off what you are filming.