162 Video Digital Communication & Production
Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Subject
The fi rst step is to identify the subject fi
matter. The easiest way to do this is by
assigning your project a temporary working
title that announces its topic, such as Our
Camping Trip, Ed and Darlene Get Married,
Warehouse Operations, The Lions Club in Your
Community, or, in our case, Acme Power Tools.
For your finished program, you may want to replace
the literal working title with a more imaginative
alternative.
Later, you will further limit and refine fi
your subject; but even at this first step, fi
your title may suggest that your topic is too
unfocused. For instance, the title Acme Power
Tools may tip you off that your topic is too
broad for a single training program. To reduce
it to a manageable size, select one important
product and plan a program titled The
Sidewinder Cordless Drill.
Objectives
The next step is to identify the client’s
objectives: what does Acme want this program
to achieve? The obvious answer is convince
people to buy Sidewinder drills. But, that is only
a start. Some potential buyers may not even
think that cordless drills are very useful.
Others may understand that such drills are
worth considering, but they are leaning toward
drills made by Acme’s competitors. Still
others do not think that they want any type
of drill, cordless or not. These facts suggest
two obvious objectives for your program—
persuade customers that:
• A cordless drill is a tool worth buying.
• The Acme Sidewinder is the best cordless
drill to buy.
Notice that these objectives are clear,
specifi and simple; and they are phrased in fic,
terms of their effect on viewers. An objective
like, “to demonstrate cordless drills” merely
seeks to present information. By contrast, “to
persuade customers that a cordless drill is
worth buying” is an improvement because the
objective in this form intends to actively move
the viewer.
Program Objectives
00:00:01
100000MB
It is not too hard to think up objectives for
spontaneous, off-the-cuff videos shot with your
phone or tablet. Try starting with a question:
what am I trying to capture on video—and why?
At a picnic, do you want to show how much fun
people are having? How good the food is? How
pesky the ants are? You may want to include all
three, but by selecting one objective and showing
it more completely than the others, you can make
a video that is about something more than just a e
snapshot of a picnic.
Casual Video
These program objectives are few in
number and they fi t together logically. To see fi
why limiting objectives is important, imagine
that Acme Power Tools initially wants two
additional objectives:
• To increase customer interest in do-it-
yourself projects in general.
• To develop positive feelings toward the
Acme Power Tools, Inc.
But, you realize that general “do-it-
yourselfi would make the subject too broad fing”
to cover properly, and that the Acme corporate
public image is not directly relevant to product
usefulness. So, you convince your client to limit
the program’s objectives specifi to those fically
that will sell the Sidewinder drill, Figure 9-2.
STILLFX/Shutterstock.com
Figure 9-2. “Do-it-yourselfing” is too broad a topic.