Screencast Best Practices

I tend to take the hand-held, 'burn tape', cinema verite approach to screencasting: just start, and see what happens. Multiple takes give you a better chance of finding something you want to use.

I find that if I script it, it sounds scripted, so I don't write anything down. I do, however, have a general idea of what I want to say and what I want the viewer to take away from the screencast.

I also attempt to practice, if I can. This was not the case in this week's screencast, where I had little idea of the game, the interactive function of the game, and the ways that Facebook operated things like 'challenges' or chat while in the game. I was also operating in a time-crunch: I literally sat down, opened a game, began to set up Jing - and then there was Debi, who had agreed to give me a half-hour on a Friday night (we won't even talk about the time difference between NJ and WI!). But an important thing I learned when I began shooting film is that you need to factor in the unexpected - and sometimes the things you don't plan are far more entertaining than those you do. So I've applied the same approach to screencasts when it's appropriate. In the context of a game, where fun and confusion are part of the reality, this week's off-the-cuff aspect makes sense.

I practice more when I am focused on instruction and clarity. I want to make sure the links work and the transitions are smooth. I put a lot of 'screen rehearsal' into the 'how to use IRIS' screencast because there were a number of links, screens, and tasks to integrate, and I wanted to be sure to make this simple and fluid.

I also factor in that the technology won't work, or work as expected. It's what happened with equipment at my school's film program, and it's what happens with all technology every day, everywhere. It's something you did or some glitch or some simultaneous perfect storm - but you have to roll with it. Re-shoot, reconfigure, re-do. Deal with the frustration that your perfect take vanished, or stopped in mid-cast.

And, last but not least, try to enjoy the process for the process. Could you do this before? No? Then, look at the cool thing you just learned!