The ADDIE model for instructional designers is a familiar framework from which to start the design of a video segment. In this post, I will focus on the “A” or Analysis phase as it relates to video planning and production.
The Analysis phase is an opportunity for you to educate yourself about the content, the audience and the individuals who are important to your audience. As you conduct your analysis activities, identify interview candidates and topic areas that may be supported by video. I generally consider the following when conducting analysis research and SME interviews:
- Who is the audience and with whom do they identify?
- Who can best tell the story about your content?
- What person or persons do Learners most respect as subject matter experts or leaders?
- Will these individuals agree to appear on camera?
- Where are the individuals physically located?
- If they are remote, do they travel to your location for meetings or other events?
- If you plan to conduct interviews with SMEs or Learners to collect other analysis information, is it practical to record a portion of the interview on video?
- Are there other activities related to the content that would be helpful to show with visual media? For example equipment operation, people working together and other related scenes.
The answers to these questions will help you determine whether video is helpful to support the instruction. This information will also help determine if adding video to your project is practical given budget and time limitations.
You should also consider the legal implications of shooting and distributing video as part of a training program. You should have a signed release from each person appearing in your video. If you are creating a training product for your company, employees of the company may have already given permission for the company to use their likeness for internal video and training products. Non-employees, however, should sign a “model release” document that you will retain on file.
Do not assume that a verbal agreement is adequate. You may invest many hours of time shooting a video only to find that you don’t have the legal authority to distribute it. There are several Apps for smart phones and tablet computers that allow you collect a digital signature and then send pdf copies to the talent. I recommend using these apps or a standard release form provided by your legal department. If you don’t have a legal department, consider using a document from a supplier like LegalZoom. The forms are relatively simple so you don’t need to hire an attorney.
At the end of the Analysis phase, you should have a pretty good idea of “who” and “what” will appear in your video. You should make this determination based on what will be valued by your audience and learner population. It may be tempting to choose individuals you know or are easily scheduled. You may be surprised to find that subject matter experts and Executives are flattered to be in your training video. Later I will discuss how to minimize fears and ensure that even in experienced subject look and sound good on video.
