The Value of Production Values

When my sons want to work on their cars, they don't consult a printed manual. They don't even look up a manual online. They go right to YouTube and find a video tutorial for the model and part they want to fix. They don't take an entire course on all the ins and outs of that vehicle. They are laser-focused on the one task they are trying to accomplish. Now I've been designing "just in time" or "on demand" training for years so it's a pleasure to see non-designers / non-trainers be so successful at it. 

What's frustrating, though, is how often you can't see the task in action. Now I'll grant that it's difficult to get the right camera angle or the right light under a car hood. It's especially difficult when there hasn't been any thought in considering the problem. So here are some "most basic of the basic" considerations when you're creating your step-by-step media masterpiece.

Light it to be seen.

You'd think it'd be obvious with photography or videography, that the object of interest should be lit well enough to be seen. In the example of fixing a car, that could be as simple as hanging a shop light from the hood. Video cameras can pick up a lot in low light situations, but the image is immediately improved with some light shed on it. 

We were in New Zealand video-recording an interview with a golf pro. Unfortunately, our light kit didn't work well with our transformers for the different electrical system there. Keeping light in mind, we moved the interview outdoors to the porch (away from the sun), where we had a sky full of soft, flattering light shining down on us. Solutions don't have to be complicated. They just have to be thought out.

Mic it to be heard.

Believe me, I'm not an audio guy, but when I hear as much air-conditioning rumble as I do narration, I grit my teeth. A little secret is to place the microphone as close to the sound source as possible. Too often, would-be producers settle for a microphone placed across the room. That's excellent for including street noises, air conditioners, and echoing along with your narration.

Mike Rowe, the Dirty Jobs host, is also voice talent for audio books and documentaries. He certainly has the rich voice for them. He has joked about working with a blanket over his head in order to eliminate those extraneous sounds as he narrates.

Point it out or highlight it.

Returning to the car repair example, steps should be taken to isolate the part under repair from the rest of the engine. If possible, a blank card could be placed behind the part to make it stand out. I saw one video where the mechanic pointed at the bolt in question. That was all that was needed. 

I'm reminded of going to Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. I was tasked with photographing black lava rocks against a black lava background. I took the blandest photos ever of that epic location. I needed a virtual highlighter like they use in NFL videos.

Once I was having problems removing a part from a washing machine. I went to YouTube and found an expert video showing how to change out that part. They showed the part before removing it, then dissolved to the next scene with the part already removed. I suppose they had difficulty removing the part, too. But that was why I was watching the video!  Be sure to show whatever it is you're presenting.

Eliminate distractions.

Cluttered backgrounds can provide unintended results. Why would you record your host in front of a trash can?  Would-be film directors sometimes get so focused on the subject that they just don't see the background. I have to laugh at the network morning news programs that shoot the show in front of a street-level window. Any pedestrian can walk by and make faces or gestures at the camera, and they often do. So a serious news story gets presented with someone in the background mouthing out "Hi, Mom!"

Another distraction is camera motion. The learning audience can accept quite a bit of it in today's videos, but there comes a point when it's disorienting. (The point is where nausea sets in...) There is a lot to be said for setting the camera on a tripod and limiting the number of zoom-ins and zoom-outs for the sake of clarity. Or if you absolutely have to have the hand-held look, hold the camera as steady as possible. Also, please, focus up. Nothing says your subject is unimportant quite like leaving it out of focus.

Again, production values don't have to be complicated or expensive. With a little bit of forethought and planning, they'll increase your production's professionalism. You might just be able to teach something.

Put the Instructions on the Heel

One of the most colorful characters I ever met was my own father. He had an insult for someone who might demonstrate an inability to think clearly, "He's so dumb, he can't pour pee out of a boot with the instructions on the heel!" As a child, I wondered who would pee in their boots. As an instructional designer I thought, "What better place to put those instructions than right on the heel?"

I was once the de facto building manager of a two-story office. Whenever there was a problem with the elevator, I needed to call the company to report the problem and report our building code. I stored that information upstairs in a folder in a drawer in my cubicle. Where was the elevator maintenance room? Downstairs in the center of the building. When I got tired of running up and down those stairs, I asked myself, where is the heel of this boot? I took a Sharpie marker and wrote the elevator company's phone number on the cabinet of the elevator equipment. Instant access to the information I needed.  Instant improvement in response time and overall productivity.

There have been several names for on-the-spot training or prompting tools: job cards, "cheat sheets," step-by-step tutorials, online helps, just-in-time (JIT) training, knowledge-bases, and so on.  My current fascination is the possibility of combining those tools with augmented reality to meet this need.  I could point my phone camera at the elevator equipment cabinet and have the phone number and building code number pop right up.  I could point it at a control panel I need to use, and get walked right through the steps of using it.

So, when you're designing on-the spot training, ask where's the best place to put the instructions? Put them on the heel.

The Biggest Cuss Word in Training

There is a cuss word in training and education circles.  It begins with "FU" like other cuss words, but it ends in "N"..."Fun".  A quick way to have a design dismissed from consideration is to bring up the need for a "fun factor". Never mind that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. Never mind that making content interesting can move it through the first stages of Krathwohl's Affective Domain of Learning (at least Receiving and Responding). In that mindset, though, serious training can't include anything frivolous.

When I was teaching programming, I found that if my students had interesting projects to work on, they could learn the most intricate and tricky structures. When they couldn't see the purpose of an exercise, they had difficulty working through it, let alone learning and retaining its principles. If the exercise/project were to build a computer game, my students pitched themselves enthusiastically into the effort... and they learned from it. Though the underlying programming principles were exactly the same for both game and dry exercise, the students were far more ready to learn with the game. In short, it was fun.

I have a colleague, Dave Swenson, who advises to “Find a way to get students out of their seats.” I know that’s critical in motivational-type training. Is it possible in corporate software training? I’m certain of it. Another colleague, Dave Brady, is constantly advising, “Hands-on! Hands-on! Hands-on!” He wants students learning by doing, not by hearing. What they don't realize is that they're both advising to find the fun factor in training. The other thing they don't realize is they're preaching to the choir. I'm big on using the biggest cuss word in training: "Fun".

Check out these sites for tools and ideas:

Online Teaching Activity Index

National Institute for Play

Incredibly Good at What They Do

In the course of a career, you manage to meet people who are incredibly good at what they do. I'm certain that I know well over a hundred men and women who fit that category. I'm not exaggerating. I think I'll pick on a few of them now.

Long, long ago on a campus not so far away, an aspiring student filmmaker brought me his 16-mm films to be transferred to video. Yeah, that was back before everything was shot digitally. I was struck by Ken Cromar's creativity in his storytelling as well as his technical ability as shooter and director. I've managed to run into him at grocery stores and post offices ever since, but I haven't had the chance to work shoulder-to-shoulder with him on a project. I'm still looking forward to that opportunity. I'm impressed with his interactive programs, though, which gets him into a blog about media in learning. Check out his work at Blue Moon Productions.

Jon Clark was audio guru and virtual set lighting director when we both worked on computer games for Access Software. We worked on the Links golf game as well as the Tex Murphy series of adventure games. As jazzed as I was about doing the video work, his audio expertise knocked my socks off. I have to admit, not only did he raise my technical expectations about how tracks should sound, but also my creative expectations with how narration should be delivered. I'm finding even now that I want to raise my own audio standards on all my projects. Jon's now an associate professor of theater at Salt Lake Community College.

Gerry Graves and I also worked at Access Software together. He and I tromped all over St. Andrews, Scotland together. Then we brought our footage home and edited it into several mini-documentaries about the history of golf and the development of the courses there. I've been impressed with Gerry's work at TestOut, Inc. They develop software to help students earn certifications in many areas. Gerry raised the technical values of the video they use, but he also improved the content delivery by the talent.  

Technical skill and a creative inner eye (or ear) make these individuals incredibly good at what they do. I'm fortunate to associate with them.

How We Got Here

As a baby boomer, I grew up with television.  My father used to tell me that he didn't have TV as a kid. Say what? I couldn't imagine a world without it! How could there not be a window on the world? He really was from the dark ages.

I saw the movie 2001: a space odyssey when it was new. Not only did it show humans living and working in space, but they also had flat, flexible, personal TV sets!  I couldn't figure out how they even mocked up such a thing for the movie.

It was a natural career choice for me to go into video production. I was interested in more than news and advertising, though. I wanted to explore ways to use video for more.  So I dived into "non-broadcast" video: corporate, educational, and documentary video.


One of the realities I faced back then was the incredible cost and inflexibility of video production. Someone else had to invest in the hardware, because I was never going to put together a studio (or location-based team) on my own.  It was too technical... too unwieldy... too expensive.

So fast-forward to the present.  Wow, what a difference! I looked around the commuter train this morning and paid attention to the number of people using phones and tablets.  What was so amazing before has become commonplace. Really, no big deal.  Want to make a video and post it?  There's nothing holding you back but your own creativity. 

I count myself lucky that I've always been on the pioneering edge the whole way.  I've got an appreciation for where we've been and where we're going, especially in my field of instructional media. So, what's the latest and greatest?  What are you doing to use media in learning?

See?  I'm not done yet.