The correct steps for creating short videos

I have to stick to the short video flag I set at the beginning of the year. Although I work for three days and rest for two days, I never give up.

Today, let’s summarize the correct steps for video production, which will surely save a lot of time for new students!

Let me give you an outline first, and then we will gradually explain what you need to pay attention to in each step.

By following these steps to make short videos, new players can save a lot of time!

1. Steps for making short videos

1. Write a script

2. Shoot the material

3. Cut video

1. Delete useless clips;
2. Add transition video;
3. Add background music;
4. Add title subtitles;
5. Video trimming and beautification;
6. Add a video outro.

Today’s title is the correct steps for video production, so we will focus on the third part. The first two parts are of course also very important, and we will summarize them specifically later.

2. Writing a Script

The key to writing a script is style and content. For example, how should we write short videos on knowledge sharing?

If we just talk about the concept of PRD document and how to write it in a dry way, it would be just like those boring courses we took in class when we were in school. I believe that not many people would like to recall it.

Therefore, I think the first element of short video style is "edutainment".

Because the short video platform itself is an entertainment-based platform. Short videos are designed to make you secrete dopamine and adrenaline, so as to form the so-called "immersive experience."

As for the styles of short videos and the characteristics of these styles, we will write a special article to summarize them in the future.

Today, all you need to know is that the first step in making a short video is to write a script.

And for a short video of about 1 minute, the script should be about 300 words, and you can also think of the title of the video at this stage~

3. Shoot the material

Once you have the script, you can start shooting short video footage.

Here we summarize two things for you, one is what tools are available for shooting, the other is what methods are available for shooting materials.

1. Tools

• Mobile phone: As for tools, we don’t need any professional equipment like SLR. Just using our mobile phones can meet the shooting needs of ordinary self-media people like us.
• Tripod: You still need to buy a tripod. It is an important tool to ensure the stability of our video, and it can also adjust the angle and distance of our shooting. A tripod is not expensive, you can get it for just a few dozen dollars.
• Microphone: Sound is also an important part of short videos. If you want to shoot a good short video, I suggest you buy a microphone. In this way, your voice will be brighter and clearer, and the key is that it can also reduce noise. The one I bought is the kind that can be put on the collar of clothes, and it’s not too obvious. It cost me more than two hundred yuan.

2. Methods

Let me first talk about the method I used when I first started recording videos.

I just memorized the entire script written in the first step, and then the shooting method can be described in one word as "one shot". As a result, sometimes it takes me most of the day to shoot a 1-minute video.

Because there are always mistakes somewhere, or the tone is wrong or the rhythm is not good, so everything has to be re-shot.

Later I gradually discovered that "one-take" seems to be a level that only professional actors need to achieve. For us little guys, this requirement is indeed a bit too high.

What should I do? There is an easy way to do it: just record it sentence by sentence, and then cut it into a complete video!

It is very difficult for us to memorize a line and record it smoothly, but for us to memorize a line and record it smoothly, I think it is ok for most people.

So, this step is to shoot a bunch of video clips, and the third step is to edit and record them.

Of course, if you want to shoot the whole thing in one shot, there is also a simple way, but you need to use a tool, which is the "teleprompter".

With the "prompter" placed at a suitable position within our field of vision, we can achieve "one-shot" shooting.

But I always use the first method. After all, it is not difficult to memorize a line and then record it.

3. Cut video

Well, this part is our focus today. For video editing, there are several steps:

1) Cut out useless clips

Isn't our second step to record a lot of video clips one sentence at a time? So in the editing stage, the first thing is to correct these clips and get rid of useless content.

What is useless content? For example, when we click the start recording button, doesn’t our hand have to click the phone? And when we end the recording, don’t we also have to click the phone? These have to be deleted first.

2) Add transition video

If your video contains transitions, then in the second step, you can add the transition video as well.

In a word, first get the content related to the video material done, and then deal with the text aspect later.

For example, in my video style, there are several little tricks for transitions, and I can arrange them now.

3) Add background music

If the full score of a video is 100 points, then the background music can increase this 100 points to 120 points.

On the contrary, if some videos do not have background music, the pure content may only be worth 60 points.

It should be noted that the volume of the background music needs to be adjusted, otherwise if the background music is too loud, you won’t be able to hear what you are saying at all.

As for what this value is, you can adjust it according to your own video. Anyway, I always adjust it to -25. This data is also obtained through my continuous practice~

4) Add title subtitles

The video is almost done, now it’s time to move on to the text content.

A reminder here is that the text content must be put at the end. Otherwise, if you adjust the text first, once the video is adjusted later, you will have to redo all the subtitles because your speech and the subtitles will not match.

Although it is a small experience, it is also a bloody lesson.

Jianying provides a subtitle recognition function. Of course, there is also a second method, which is manuscript matching.

But I usually don't use this because the written script sometimes sounds a little different when it's actually recorded.

But the text recognized by the subtitles may not be completely correct, so next, we need to verify the area on the right.

Then, we can put the title up.

There are also some lessons learned here, that is, the title should be placed close to the center, that is, directly above our video.

The reason is that on our homepage, the title appears too high and sometimes it is difficult to see clearly.

And when we share the video account, such as inserting the video account in the official account, this situation is even more obvious.

5) Video editing and beautification

Okay, after the above steps, the video is basically ready.

But just like when we take photos, who doesn’t beautify the photos? We just post them, right? The same goes for short videos. Next, we need to beautify the short videos.

For example, things like skin smoothing and face slimming must be done, hahahaha.

For example, the brightness, saturation and other things need to be adjusted.

Everyone should know about this first. I would like to summarize it specifically later, similar to questions like "Why is the video you took not clear?"

Anyway, everyone should remember that when shooting videos, you must not use beauty filters, you must use the original camera, and when transferring videos, you must use a data cable. When making videos, these related contents also need to be adjusted.

I will have a special article to explain this later.

6) Add at the end of the video

Okay, at this point, the video editing is basically completed.

Finally, there can be a fixed ending.

For example, this kind of guidance on likes, follows, and reposts is the same every time, so just add it at the end.