Eureka Prizes nominations, Superstars of STEM applications, the Shaping Australia Awards and many other opportunities now require short videos as part of submissions.
Here are our tips for making videos for award nominations, applications and profiles:
- Decide who your audience is and what you want them to think or do as a result of seeing the video. This will help you decide what to include in it and where to share or broadcast.
- Focus on the impact and outcomes that matter to your audience. This applies to ALL science communication, not just video.
- Keep it short. People don’t have the time or attention span to watch long videos.
- Plan what you want to say but don’t write a script. Think about the key points you need to get across. Write some bullet points that will help you remember what you want to say. Don’t try to write and memorise a script word-for-word as this can make your delivery stilted and unnatural.
- Have things you can point a camera at. Items relevant to your research (plants, animals, specimens, landscapes, technology, rocks, etc) can help you tell your story visually.
- Choose the right location. Film at a location(s) relevant to your science or its application. For example, a video about food science could be filmed in a research lab, restaurant, grocery store or farm. Locations can help tell the science story or set the context it is happening in.
- Follow instructions if you’re making a video in response to a request to support an application. For example, the Shaping Australia Awards ask for a “two-minute video demonstrating the real-world impact of your project/initiative”. Stick to the time limit, and don’t waste time on the process of your project at the expense of the impact information they’ve asked for.
- Include other people who can help tell the human story of your research. This might be a patient story for medical research.
- Have a plan for filming. Many of the tips here require forethought and planning. Don’t wing it, especially if you’re paying a videographer or film crew by the hour.
- Have fun. Show enthusiasm. If you don’t look excited about your research, how can you expect viewers to be?
- Show your humanity. Scientists are humans too! Don’t be afraid to be yourself, show compassion or emotion, or talk about why you’re interested in your particular field.
- Dress carefully. Avoid wearing fine stripes as these can vibrate or strobe when viewed on screen. Avoid wearing patterns, accessories, slogan t-shirts or other items that might be distracting for the viewer. If they’re trying to read your funny t-shirt, they’re not paying attention to what you’re saying.
- Check the weather forecast if filming outdoors. Have a back-up plan to film indoors or at a later date, should the weather make it too wet or windy for filming.
- Don’t film in a noisy location. This will make the audio much harder to hear.
- Use sound that enhances your story. Videos are auditory as well as visual. Ambient sounds – such as water flowing, birds tweeting or children laughing – can be really powerful if they suit the story. Music is also powerful – just make sure it sets the mood without being a distraction and that you are using music you have permission to use.
Do you have other video needs?
Video brings science to people’s eyes, ears and hearts. We can help you make video content to suit your needs, working with our videographer Jerome Pelletier. Get in touch to find out more.
Science in Public has produced videos and short films for the CSL Centenary Fellowships, Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science, L’Oreal For Women in Science, individual scientist prize nominations, NHMRC public consultations, research announcements, impact stories, and more.