Category Archives: video

STOCK CLIPS: How to build a B-roll library for a public sector comms team

In the words of Mark Zuckerburg, video has been the prime way that people consume content online for several years.

You may be used to image libraries of visual assets but how do you now create a B-roll library of shots that can be re-used in future content?

B-roll is the name for the supporting footage that illustrates your film. Maybe, that’s things like buses in the town centre, summer in the park or social care staff talking to a client.

Now, I don’t think every film should feature it but it is certainly useful from time-to-time. 

Here’s some ideas for you and some pitfalls to avoid.

GDPR and shooting for the public sector 

Firstly, anything you do shoot in the public sector is subject to GDPR. So, under the ICO’s office’s rules you need ‘explicit permission’ from people if they are recognisable. 

If you are conducting an interview, then get their permission and explain exactly how the footage will be used. That’s what’s meant by the ‘explicit’. 

So, the resident saying: ‘I think Dudley Council is great’ can be used for the video of the park event the council stepped in to save. However, the quote can’t be re-used for the budget cuts video unless the speaker agrees.

My colleague Julia suggests using something like Google Forms to create a form which can then be adapted for each job. Each form URL can then be run through a tool like qr-code.io to generate a QR code you can take with you while you are out and about. The interviewee then uses the QR code from their phone to access the link. Smart.

This avoids the issue of building up a sheaf of paper that then gets rained on or left in the car.

For big events, the ICOs office suggests a catch-all permission sign by the gate to the park informing people that Dudley Council are filming for social media a film that celebrates the park fun day. People can contact a steward if they want to opt out and can be given a coloured lanyard. That way the videographer knows to avoid them on the day or in the edit.

With children make sure you get that explicit permission.

Interestingly, journalism isn’t covered by GDPR. The Councillor accused of punching the bus driver can’t tick a box saying ‘no publicity’ as they arrive at court. Nor should they. 

Shooting B-roll 

Most B-roll you’ll want to shoot probably won’t have people who are identifiable. It can be things like the park in summertime or buses running through the town centre. This stock footage can then be repurposed in future for other film projects.

There’s an obvious advantage for shooting your own B-roll. 

Whatever you do shoot is likely to have local landmarks or be recognisable. Where I live, the buses are National Express West Midlands. If I see London buses illustrating a film about subsidised buses through Quarry Bank all credibility in the film has gone.

Do get into the habit of shooting B-roll when you are out and about.

Here’s what to do:

  • Shoot 20 seconds of landscape footage
  • Shoot 20 seconds of vertical footage
  • Shoot some alternative perspectives of the same in landscape and vertical.

Creating your own B-roll library

The first thing to do is save the file with the right key words.

So, a file name “Transport_Halesowen_bus_station_landscape” may work for the landscape shot of the Queensway bus station and “Transport_Halesowen_bus_station_vertical” will work for the upright.

Remember to use the same system of labelling for all your B roll.

Now that’s been shot where to store it?

Well, there are commercial providers I’ve looked at, but they start from around £4k a year and your budgets may not stretch to them.

I’m not totally convinced they are needed.

A perfectly workable alternative is to use Google Drive or Microsoft’s OneDrive. Create folders for the subjects you’d like. So, Parks, transport, social care or whatever works best.

Here’s an example of the areas to save as part of your file name.

Having a file naming system like this will help you recover it again. Feel free to change, adapt or simplify. 

Here’s an example of wide and vertical B-roll. This is St John’s church, Halsowen outside my office.

And here’s the landscape shot. This was shot straight after the upright.

I’ve kept the low murmer of the churchyard on as audio in these cases but there is an argument for removing sound for general shots like these. Not everyone remembers to adjust sound levels on each clip in the edit.

Spending time creating B-roll

There may be an argument for either commissioning a videographer to create you some B-roll. If you can’t do that, you may want to devote some time for gathering footage you know you are likely to re-use. That time spent can very quickly pay for itself.

If you are out and about filming once you’ve posted your video take a few minutes to add your individual shots to the library. 

B-roll libraries

Depending on who you are, B-roll libraries could be an option. They can be quite generic and the danger would be to use some footage which clearly wasn’t from the area you are talking about. A few years ago, a designer for Birmingham City Council famously used a shot of Birmingham, Alabama in some literature to wide Brummie derision. This is a risk you need to be aware of if you go down this path.

They can also be quite pricey. 

A good tip would be to make a search for what content is available. 

Here’s an example of bus B-roll from Pixabay. It was found using the search ‘UK bus’. Closer examination indicates it was shot in Liverpool.

Here’s an example of some footage from Pixabay:

Under the terms and conditions of Pixabay, you don’t have to credit the website or even the person who uploaded it, although they say they encourage it. You can also give the uploader a few quid, too. Again, that’s optional.

Almost all footage in B-roll libraries are landscape so if you were looking to create in vertical you’d need to import the clip as a cutaway and layer it over so it overlaps in the edit.

I’ve had a look at different B-roll providers and made some test searches along UK, UK regional and UK rural options. The cost and quality varied.

Most libraries allow their assets to be downloaded and stored within your own libraries. Double check. 

Of course, you also need to be alive to the fact that a slick drone shot of a town centre at night you are using in a film to illustrate your council’s night time economy may lead to questions. Like ‘how much was that drone?’ 

External B-roll libraries I’ve looked at aren’t strong on people content. So, if you are making content for the NHS or social care there may not be anything down for you.

Lastly, be alert to the fact that some external libraries may have AI-generated footage. This may or may not be in line with your AI policy.


I deliver training to help you make sense of the changing landscape ESSENTIAL AI FOR PUBLIC SECTOR COMMS, ESSENTIAL COMMS SKILLS BOOSTER, ESSENTIAL MEDIA RELATIONS and ESSENTIAL VIDEO SKILLS REBOOTED.

HEADLINE NEWS: What you can learn from The Sun’s video strategy

A couple of months ago, I heard a senior executive from The Sun speak about how they’ve upended their approach to journalism.

Print was hardly mentioned and the priority is now the moving image.

On the one level, it’s not surprising but for someone who grew up with the aggressive tactics of the print-first tabloid it’s nothing short of astounding.

“Video is at the heart of the story process,” Will Payne Head of Digital at The Sun said at the event. “It’s our primary asset.”

It’s a line that stuck with me and I’ve kept a weather eye on what they’ve been producing.

The Sun of twenty years ago was a print-first monster whose newsroom and executives were mired in the phone hacking scandal. It was the title still not bought on Merseyside after their coverage of Hillsborough.

Prompted by the change of direction, here’s what public sector comms and PR people can take from this change of approach.

They have been open on how they have used video to transform their newsroom and have made video hugely important as part of their strategy. 

The hard numbers: print decline and online boom

In 2000, more than 3.6 million copies of The Sun were bought daily and the newspaper had declined to just over a million print sales when they pulled out of the ABC circulation audit in 2020.

In 2024, videos made by The Sun were seen by 1.7 billion people. That’s an astounding figure.

Here’s where they are coming from:

YouTube: 6 million subscribers

Facebook: 3.7 million followers

TikTok: 3.2 million followers

X: 2 million followers

Instagram: 500,000 followers

Strategy: Going to where the eyeballs are

Early newspapers were puzzled as to what to do with the internet. In 2025, this is not about driving traffic to their website.That’s a huge takeaway that the public sector can have for free.

Instead, The Sun wants to be in people’s timelines as opposed to be in news stands. This is about taking then news to people themselves.

This is absolutely a lesson to learn. Driving traffic as a tactic ended some years ago. Why? Because the algorithm suppresses posts with links. As I’ve said repeatedly, tell the story on the platform. If news titles like The Sun can get this, so can we all.

Style: Away from tabloid 

The Sun is no longer tabloid-first. It wants to be vertical on someone’s timeline. To state the obvious for someone who bought newspapers in the 1980s, there is no page three.

The great skill of the printed Sun was skilful writing. The sharpness is now into editing and creating hooks. Again, this is a skill to learn from.

YouTube: specialised channels

The Sun is the largest news outlet on YouTube. You can see why they have taken this path. Views can be monetised. That’s not really an option for the public sector.

But what is an idea to learn from is that they don’t just have one channel they have several.

For example, there are 320,000 subscribers to the Sun Sport channel and 150,000 to the Sun Fabulous magazine. These sub-channels cater for different interests.This echoes the Daily Mail approach to WhatsApp. They don’t have one single channel there but instead have multiple special interest channels.

It makes sense. If you have one interest, you’re just not interested in other things. Many council YouTube channels, for example, run their live meetings as well as everything else. Who cares? 

Instagram: The white hook box

The white box is the hook on the screen that pulls in viewers and The Sun are sharp at this.

In this case, it flags up the death of Brummie singer Ozzy Osbourne.

This is absolutely something that should be transferable to any organisation looking to make video content. It makes people stop scrolling and the best are a tease or an encouragement to watch more.

TikTok: Journos as podcasters

Go onto a video first platforms and you’ll often find teaser clips from radio programmes or podcasts. These can be 30-second clips with the juiciest soundbite. They work, too. A short clip with Stoke fan Nick Hancock on just how bad Kurt Wimmer was as a signing reeled me in to listen to an hour long podcast.

In the past, podcasters were happy to film themselves in their lockdown spare rooms. Now, it often looks as though they’re investing in a swanky studio. The Sun have taken this idea and run with it. 

So, here’s Sun journalists talking as though they were on a podcast:

@thesun

What Chris Martin REALLY thinks of the Coldplay gig jumbotron scandal

♬ original sound – The Sun

It’s an interesting idea that I can working for what was once called Fleet Street. The problem for the public sector is who do you put in front of the camera? Politicians often aren’t that great, to be honest. A museum demonstrator talking about the new exhibition? Fine. But I don’t think comms people are the right people. 

Besides, kitting out a studio isn’t the right look for many organisations facing tough budgets.

Overall, we should absolutely be looking to see how news organisations are using the internet to talk to people. 
I deliver training to help you make sense of the changing landscape ESSENTIAL AI FOR PUBLIC SECTOR COMMS, ESSENTIAL COMMS SKILLS BOOSTER, ESSENTIAL MEDIA RELATIONS and ESSENTIAL VIDEO SKILLS REBOOTED.

Creative commons credit: Newsagents and Refreshments Kiosk, Keighley Station by David Dixon, CC BY-SA 2.0.

30 Days of human comms #62: The JustPark app social advert

An elderly couple going shopping may be one of the greatest social videos I’ve ever seen.

The pair go with their son and use the JustPark app as a way to locate and pay for a parking space.

The video is shot POV by someone close to the family so the couple Michael & Teresa behave naturally for them.

The couple look in their late 60s and get into the car. There’s a minor squabble about the number of times Teresa took her driving test. She says two. Her husband Michael says four.

They drive along and Teresa struggles with the idea of using a stranger’s drive to park.

“That’s tresspass isn’t it?” she worriedly asks.

They park. It’s fine. She’s converted.

You can see it here:

It’s a beautiful film filled with warmth and humanity.

You can’t fail to like them both.

It’s also a fast edit that also has a voiceover intro from what is possibly Michael & Teresa’s son.

It’s human, it’s not AI generated and is filled with the rough edges of people’s relationships. There’s a feeling Teresa’s driving test has been discussed before. You are entering priviliged space.

So, could this be replicated?

Well, maybe Michael and Teresa can’t come to your [Insert service here] but what it does open the field up to is for people to capture an experience.

So, what does the family make of the trip to the leisure centre? Open with the excitement of getting into the car, the drive, the heading into the baths, the post-swim drink, the children’s feedback in the car on the way home, maybe.

All this needs the consent of participants, of course.

But spent a couple of minutes on options and there’s a whole vista of experiences.

A shopping trip to the town centre, testing a smoke alarm, putting out the recycling, or whatever.

I love that this captures the lived experience rather than the corporate message or the slick marketing that in comparison falls down flat.

Bravo.

FACE THE SKILLS: A rough guide to getting the most out of video on Facebook 

In the early days of video training I helped deliver we’d have a clip that showed how landscape was the right way to shoot footage and upright video was plain wrong. 

“People have eyes side by side,” the video joked, “not above each other.” 

How we laughed.

It’s an example of how things have changed that Facebook have announced plans to move ALL their video to upright video. That includes Reels, live video and what they describe as other longer video. 

It’s a huge shake-up but I’m here to tell you it needn’t be daunting. 

Why are they doing this? Because more people watch video on a mobile phone holding their phone in one hand upright scrolling with the other. 

When will this take shape? This transformation is taking place in USA and Canada first before being rolled out globally. 

This huge shift in approach and demands we all take a fresh look at how video is created.  A key part of this is to look at what the recommendations Meta themselves are making.

Here’s some help with making sense of video. 

Types of video on Facebook 

There’s three types of video you can post to Facebook. Each one has a role to play. 

Short-form video 

Firstly, you can still post longer video to Facebook. Soon, you’ll have to do this as portrait-shaped as opposed to landscape-shaped. Facebook have said that you can re-purpose existing content for this but it is unclear as to how this will take shape.

Landscape footage can still be posted with a button to convert the clip from a portrait viewing experience to landscape.

Optimum length: Ten years ago, Facebook went from 16 seconds to two minutes for optimum video to encourage ads popping up mid-way through clips. Now, more than 90 seconds is the new optimum length for shortform.

Reels

This is where I’d be putting time and effort. Reels is Meta’s TikTok equivalent that they are pushing strongly. 

Recent research on public sector content put Reels head and shoulders above other content. When Reels was first launched it came as a laboured version of something that should be fun. You could see what they were trying to do but it was limited spark. That’s got better although the search algorithm still has some way to catch up with TikTok.

Be creative. Start with a hook so a teasing intriguing question or arresting footage. Keep it short. People work best because people connect with people.

If you are not creating Reels then start now is Meta’s advice.

Optimum length: Between 15 and 20 seconds is best.  

Live video 

Live video has pulled in huge numbers but often the public sector is a little hesitant. 

Upright live video may be challenging but it’ll be interesting to see how tools like the landscape video tool Streamyard can sync with it. This tool that takes people’s webcams and adds them to a desktop studio where they can give guests name titles, add banners to the screen with questions and add the title of the discussion. I’m a huge fan. 

Alternatively, you can take the Spudman or Max Out in the Lake District approach and go live direct from your mobile device.

Optimum length: 20 to 30 minutes.  

Facebook’s tips on creating video

There’s aa few pointers that Meta have made to give people a steer. This is so much better than the earlier days of Facebook where people were left pretty much to guess. 

If you’re making video then pay attention. 

Record in vertical video 9:16

The 9:16 format is portrait-shaped. This content will be rewarded. 

Engagement

This is a big one. 

In their update, Facebook have been keen to stress engagement. That means comments likes and shares as well as eyeballs where people are watching. So, the question to ask yourself is how you can encourage this. Is it asking a question or maybe questions? 

“Focus on engagement: Our recommendation systems favour videos that have a lot of engagement,” is the guidance. 

“Beyond plays and watch time, this also includes interactions such as reactions, comments and shares.”

This on its own should encourage people to play around with live video.

Storytelling

Being able to tell a story with a who, what, when, where and why. Meta’s own guidance is that authentic storytelling is more likely to perform well, regardless of whether it’s a Reel, medium length or long video.

Authentic 

Meta still want you to be authentic. If you think you need special effects, slow motion, drone footage and exploding space rockets then you can relax a touch. Rough around the edges has a place on Facebook. 

Use Meta’s editing tools

The advice with Reels is to still finish off using the tools that Meta provide. So, use their music and their text on screen. If you use the Reels editing tools on Instagram you can add subtitles that use the AI tool to make a stab as to what they say. You still need to check that out to avoid inaccurate subtitles. 


If you’ve found this useful you’ll like ESSENTIAL VIDEO SKILLS REBOOTED training to help you plan, shoot, edit and post effective comms and PR video.

SWITCHED ON: A basic guide on how to run a live broadcast on social media

Live video is very much a thing yet it surprises me how it’s often not part of the comms tool box.

If you’re making data-led decisions then live needs to be part of the mix.

Here’s some fresh Ofcom data around who is using live and in what channel.

If you think live is just the arena of young people you’d be very wrong.

Who uses what

The broad figures from Ofcom are really useful in decision making. The only complaint I’d make is that LinkedIn is very much part of the live video mix which the regulator’s snapshot misses out on.

Leaving the LinkedIn issue aside, 16-24-year-olds are the heaviest users with more than half regularly watching YouTube and TikTok lives narrowly beating Instagram as their favoured platform.

For 25 to 34, around half regularly watch Instagram and YouTube lives and as you reach the over 45s, around third of 45-year-olds are regularly watching Facebook lives falling to a quarter as you reach 55-year-olds.

Live video stops being a meaningful proposition to over 65s.

How do you choose a channel for live video?

The data around who uses what is your starting point. If your audience is on Facebook then head to Facebook. If you’re looking to reach a younger audience then look to use something like Instagram or TikTok. If you’re looking to reach a professional audience then head to LinkedIn.

How do you plan it?

You need to plan out a rough shape for the broadcast – and yes, lets call it by the right term – and you need to shout about it in advance so people can head to that spot at that time. There’s things to do afterwards but we’ll save that for a second.

The plan needs to be who is taking part, what ground and what you’ll cover in what order.

It’s also a good idea to think of some questions to get the ball rolling in the first few minutes of the broadcast.

During the planning stage, there’s a couple of other things to think about. The BBC have good guidance on what they plan for for live broadcasts. Included is being aware of strong language and stage invasions. That’s certainly something to be aware of. Start a live broadcast in the middle of Pride and the chances are someone will shout something. So, think about where you film it.

Have a plan for if something goes wrong. I’d say switch it off.

You’ll also need to be aware of GDPR. You need contributor’s permission. They’ll also need to be aware its live.

Whatever you do, run a test beforehand and if the participants aren’t used to live broadcasts this will be especially beneficial. You can test the tech, too.

Lastly, have someone in your corner, too. That’s someone from the team who can keep an eye on the broadcast and can WhatsApp you if there’s a problem. If you do that, keep your device with WhatsApp near.

What tech should I use?

You can use a smartphone or a tablet. It’s certainly authentic. But if its more than just you I’d look at something like Streamyard. This is a tool that can plug into your platform and you can broadcast using it. All you need is a webcam and you can invite guests to join from their webcam too. You can add titles, have a ticker running along the bottom and you can pull in questions from the platform while ignoring others. Its a real game changer.

Not only is Streamyard a handy platform but there’s a free version and you can run it with Facebook groups and pages, LinkedIn profiles and pages, YouTube and Twitter. There’s a pro version for more functionality.

How do you get an audience?

Shout. Tell people about it beforehand not just on the channel but in every way possible online and offline. If you’re looking to run an explainer on how to apply for your child’s senior school place then tell people and signpost people towards you ahead of time.

Create an event if you’re able on the platform in question.

What to do when you’re live?

When you go live leave a bit of a buffer. You press the button it’ll take a few seconds for the stream to work. It’s one of the reason I like Streamyard because it gives a 30-second countdown clock at the start.

There’s a few basic tricks the presenter can think about.

Welcome people.

Acknowledge a cross section people when they join.

Ask them to say where they are watching from.

Ask them to ask a question in the comments

Sell forward. Say what you are heading to and sell your sword of Damocles.

How do you end it?

Thank people and then end the broadcast. From experience switching to a short piece of footage is useful as there’s a few seconds of uncertainty.

Then what?

Once you’ve executed the broadcast, make the most of it. Facebook say that seven times as many people often come back and watch the live broadcast if its available than those who saw it live. People are busy so that makes sense.
Facebook gives the ability to re-post the live video. If you can, do it. Then embed the broadcast on a relevant webpage.

I hope you found the post useful. Live video is included in my ESSENTIAL VIDEO SAKILLS REBOOTED workshop. For more information head here.

FILM VIEW: Video will continue to grow as a channel for marketers in 2022

As 2022 gets into gear, the useful stats are starting to be published and for those interested in video use this year’s Wyzowl stats are out.

The UK and US based company have seven years experience mapping attitudes amongst marketers.

While Ofcom is the gold standard for what UK consumers are watching Wyzowl’s stats are handy to read the trends for marketeers omn how to use video to get in front of them.

Don’t use the data as a template but instead use it as an indication of direction of travel.

Wyzowl stats for how marketeers will use video in 2022

92 per cent of marketers continue to value video as an important part of their strategy.

79 per cent of marketers who don’t use video aim to start in 2022.

48 per cent say the pandemic has made them use video more.

74 per cent of marketers create video explainers.

68 per cent of marketers create video for social media.

88 per cent expect to make video for YouTube in 2022.

68 per cent expect to make video for LinkedIn in 2022.

65 per cent expect to make video for Facebook in 2022.

33 per cent aim to make video for TikTok in 2022.

Conclusion

Video is growing as a platform used by consumers in the UK. Marketers would appear to grow their use of video.

Perhaps surprising ion marketers’ channels to target is LinkedIn with more than two thirds – twice the rate for TikTok.

For more information on ESSENTIAL VIDEO SKILLS REBOOTED workshops head here.

LONG READ: Now half of all time spent on Facebook is spent on video… so what are you going to do about it?

Five years ago I came across a stat that changed the direction of whast I do… that 70 per cent of the internet would be video by 2017.

I looked at the data and I looked at the skills that comms people have and saw the gap and saw the need for bespoke training for comms people to plan, shoot, edit and post to the web using a smartphone.

By 2019, in the UK Ofcom confirmed that it was.

By 2021, that pace of change is accelerating.

I’m pleased to say working with filmmaker Julia Higginbottom over the past few months I’ve rebooted the Essential Video Skills for Comms workshop to deliver it online. You can find out more here.

But rather than just blog about the exciting new workshop I’ve been quietly beta testing I want to blog about where video is in 2021 and why these skills matter.

Firstly, two big announcements.

Half of Facebook is now video

For public sector people, Facebook is now the key primary route to reach peiople aged 30 to 70. In the UK more than 40 million people use the platform and two thirds use community Facebook groups.

It is the Parish pump, the local noticeboard and the place to learn, ask and check in with friends and family.

So, the news from Mark Zuckerburg in a conference call to Facebook investors that Facebook users now spend half their time consuming video is now deeply significant.

The direction of travel from a couple of years ago has become faster.

Video, in particular, is becoming the primary way that people use our products and express themselves. Now I know this is a theme that we’ve been talking about for a few years now, but we’ve been executing on this for a while, and video has steadily become more important in our product. Video now accounts for almost half of all-time spent on Facebook and Reels is already the largest contributor to engagement growth on Instagram.

Mark Zuckerburg, earnings call transcript to Facebook investors, July 2021

To put that clearly, if half the time people spend on Facebook is video, you need to be factoring in video content for Facebook.

Instagram is becoming a video platform

Follow that up with the news that Instagram is moving away from the still picture to become a video network.

Video is driving an immense amount of growth online for all the major platforms right now and its one I think we need to lean into more… I want to start by saying we are no longer a photo sharing app. The number one reason people say they use Instagram is to be entertained so people are looking to us for that. We’re trying to lean into that trend into entertainment and into video. Because, lets be honest, there;’s some really serious competition right now. TikTok is huge, YouTube is even bigger. We’ll be experimenting with how to embrace video more broadly.

Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, June 2021

You can see the full clip here:

From Zuckerburgh’s comments and those of Mosseri, a key direction Instagram will take will be its TikTok take off Reels. These are portrait videos that may now be full screen as they are on TikTok.

Right now, I’m not so convinced that Reels are a competitor to TikTok. They haven’t really developed their own sense of spece and innovation but it’ll be fun to see.

And TikTok

I’m spending more and more time in my downtime on TikTok. I’ve blogged before that I think that the platform is moving away from it being a platform just for under 24s and into a space where older demographics and brands are.

Not just that, TikTok have been also being busy wooing small business too. It’s not the global brands like Adidas that TikTok are after. It’s business with a more local reach, too.

While the Facebook ad-engine is undoubtedly more powerful and able to reach more segmented people there’s a sense that TikTok is making strides in that area.

And the UK data supports video as a booming channel

I know what you are thinking. All these big picture trends are all well and good. Right now my chief executive / councillor / Minister just wants a poster / tweet / Facebook update. That’s fine. But I firmly believe that its the job of comms to understand the trends and educate the client. A comms person in 2008 who just wrote press releases was an asset. They have long been a dinosaur.

The good news is that the Ofcom UK data support these global tectonic shifts. In Ofcom’s 2021 Online Nations report, 97 per cent of internet users had used video. Under 24s spent on average an hour and 16 minutes a day on YouTube with the figure for all over 18s being 35 minutes.

Daily users of social video are also significant. Almost three quarters of under 24s fall into this bracket. The figure remains high with 45 to 54-year-olds with almost a third watching on a daily basis.

Arghh! Public sector video? Where do I start?

Research, experiment and learn. Have a good planning process to work out if its a video you need at all and then a swift workflow. You’ll need big ticket expertise for that really important film to showcase your town to new investors. But you’ll also need video skills across the team to shoot the Mayor / Councillor / Minister / Leader’s response to breaking news or a Punjabi doctor speaking in Punjabi to other Punjabi speakers.

I’ve helped train more than 3,000 people in person over the last five years but I wanted to wait to get the online delivery right before letting you know about it. After trials and working with Julia I think we’re there.

For more information about ESSENTIAL VIDEO SKILLS FOR COMMS REBOOTED head here or drop me a note via the web form.

Picture credit: istock.

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SHOT LIST: 8 key lessons on how to make engaging video from joe.co.uk

A while back I sat next to a journalist from joe.co.uk and the conversation turned to video.

Video was a central plank in how journalists reach an audience and good images made a story, he said.

Crucially, good images at the start of the video were crucial, he added. That’s something that I wholeheartedly agreed with and it was good to hear it from a journalist, too.

This week, I saw a joe.co.uk video that really brings strands together. It looks into how a no deal Brexit will affect Northern Ireland. The video is longer than you’d think it would be. It rolls on for more than nine minutes but doesn’t have slack.

It has an audience of 1.6 million on Twitter.

Whoever you are, take inspiration from where you can find it.

News organisations online are giving you a free lesson in how to assemble good content.

Social media video best practice

Put the most arresting clip right at the start

In training, we often talk about putting the exploding helicopter in the first three seconds.

In other words, put a clip of the strongest footage in the first three seconds to grab attention and stop people from scrolling on.

In this clip, the quote from one man: “Ten of my friends were shot beside me.”

That would stop anyone in their tracks. Why? How? When? What happened? Your interest is piqued and you want to carry on watching. While visually not arresting the strong line coming from a kindly-looking old man certainly is.

Leave the office, find the real people and talk to them

Real people can be far more interesting that a politician reciting lines to take or trying to make them up on the spot.

Real people also have more friends on Facebook who are more likely to view and share the content. It also shows that real people are affected by decisions made by politicians.

Add a logo in the corner

Some people are wedded to the idea of having three seconds of logo to act as a kind of MGM Lion roaring into your consciousness.

The problem with this approach is that this doesn’t meet social media’s scrolling and goldfish-lite attention span. The way round that is to add a logo in a corner in the style of Channel Five’s football coverage.

Add a title to each interviewee

So, as each interviewee is introduced, they have their own title to display their name.

Joe.co.uk use black on yellow for titles – in other words people’s names – to introduce them to the viewer. The title sits above the sub-title which is what the person is saying. It puts them into context.

Add sub-titles into the video itself

When you burn the sub-titles into the footage you don’t have to worry about whether or not the viewer has switched settings to allow sub-titles on Facebook.

Subtitles are the text of what the interviewer, interviewee or narrator is saying. By using sub-titles you are reaching a wider audience. Not just by making it accessible to those who have hearing difficulties but also making it accessible to people who are second screening at work, on the bus or while on on the sofa while their partner watching Eastenders.

Use cutaways

Cutaways are shots which add colour and context. They make the video more interesting.

So, shots of road signs, the garage and the countryside show the Northern Irish community that will be affected by a Brexit ‘no deal’. The fact that they look ordinary and every day reinforces the message of concern from those interviewed. This is not Beirut or Kosovo. This looks like many parts of the Brritish Isles and island of Ireland.

Build a story

The video builds a narrative. The story is of a journalist who voted for ‘Leave’ in the EU Referendum in 2016 but is now having misgivings.

He returns to Northern Ireland where he has worked as a journalist before to ask how people there feel. He asks what the town was like during the Troubles from the late 1960s to the large 1990s. The people who lived there were often anxious and there was a large police presence, he is told.

He finds disquiet amongst people that a hard Brexit may see a return to the bad old ways and his final interviewee recalls how he was dragged off a bus with 10 workmates by terrorists who shot them leaving him as the only survivor. That’s a powerful story. But as we’ve seen the stand-out quote has been pulled out to form the first four or five seconds to draw the viewer in.

Put your logo at the end

The Joe logo animates into the screen right at the end. It;s the full stop to the video.

The video shot list

1.Opening shot. Interviewee: “Ten of my friends were shot dead beside me.”

2. Journalist Peter Oborne talks of how he voted remain but he now thinks he didn’t have enough information on how it will affect Northern Ireland where he worked during his career.

3. Cutaways: The Irish countryside and road signs in Bessbrook. Armagh, Northern Ireland.

4. Bessbrook resident Ray Collins: It was scary in The Troubles with a strong Army presence and the risk of murder by the UVF.

5. Bessbook resident Tracey Feehan: Wants the British government to get real.

6. Bessbrook resident Joe McGivern: We’re in limbo here.

7. Bessbrook resident Alan Black: Ten of my friends were shot dead beside me.

8. Journalist Peter Oborne: His reaction to the interviewees.

9. Danny Kennedy, Ulster Unionist Party: When the Referendum was fought there was little attention to how it would affect Northern Ireland.

10. Jarlath Burns, Principal of St Paul’s High School in conversation with Peter Oborne: The Referendum was an English Referendum and English people didn’t fully realise there was a land border, Jarlath says. Peter accepts that.

11. Cutaways: the car journey to Dublin and Dublin landmarks.

12. Journalist Peter Oborne, reacts to his Northern Ireland visit.

13. Senator Neale Richmond, a member of the Irish Dail.  The border issue didn’t arise during the Referendum but it is an issue to the PSNI.

14. Montage of candid clips of interviewees.

15. Journalist Peter Oborne: conclusions.

Conclusion

Overall, the joe.co.uk video is an engaging video on what could be a dry topic. The backstop for Irish border arrangements is not the most engaging content on the face of it. They’ve made it interesting by talking to the real people. They’ve made sure it reaches a wider audience by including titles and sub-titles.

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NEW SOCIAL VIDEO: What are the optimum video lengths for social media in 2019? UPDATED

 

I’ve mapped optimum video lengths for a few years now and the landscape is often moving across that time.

Earlier in 2019, it was the shift from Facebook to steer people towards three minute videos from the previous optimum of 15 seconds.

Now, looking at it fresh there has been a further tilt. Filling the 15-second void is the Chinese-owned video network TikTok. I’ll blog a quick explainer on how public sector people can approach TikToc as a platform.

Video in the UK remains a key part of a comms strategy

Globally, video consumption over the internet is expected to rise by 13 per cent over the next five years, according to PWC.

With 87 per cent of UK adults using the internet daily or almost daily, according to the ONS internet use is baked in to what we do. It’s no surprise that on a smartphone or a tablet is where a lot of video is going to be consumed.

According to Ofcom, 18 to 34-year-olds are watching more than an hour of YouTube on its own.

But as with everything, video is part of a raft of channels that can be used to the 21st century communicator. The best comms is the right content in the right place at the right time.

Research platform-by-platform

YOUTUBE: The maximum length of 15 minutes can be increased to 12 hours through a straight forward verification step.  Optimum length is much shorter

INSTAGRAM: Maximum length was increased from 15 seconds to 60 seconds with research via Newswhip suggesting a much shorter length. 

TWITTER: Maximum length of 140 seconds is comfortably within Hubspot’s suggested 45 seconds.

SNAPCHAT: Maximum length is a mere 10 seconds but Hootsuite suggest five seconds is the sweet spot.

PERISCOPE: A maximum length and the sky is the limit but there is little research on what the optimum length of a live broadcast is. The average length of top 12 videos on liveomg.com is 18 minutenew video lengths 2019s.

FACEBOOK: Facebook has shifted the algorithm from 15 seconds as optimum length to three minutes.

TIKTOC: This video platform has been storming it in 2019 and the default length is 15 seconds with a maximum of 60 seconds.

FACEBOOK LIVE: Can run for 240 minutes but 19 minutes is best say Buzzsumo.

LINKEDIN is the new kid on the block with native uploaded video. Five minutes is the most you can upload and there is research that the best length is 30 seconds.

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WOOOAH: What 5G will mean for all comms people

‘The future is here,” scifi writer William Gibson once said, “it’s just not evenly distributed.”

It’s a line I thought of while travelling through London this week while looking at an advert for 5G on the back of the Evening Standard.

What is 5G?

In a nutshell, it is the new mobile network that predicts hugely ramped-up connection speeds not just for mobile devices but for all internet connections. It is a UK government target to have the country entirely 5G by 2033. We’re behind on broadband so we’ll catch-up through 5G is the plan.

How fast will 5G be?

To download a full HD film, the timelines are:

  • More than a day at 3G.
  • Seven hours 4G.
  • Four to 40 seconds at 5G.

Of course, what you find  is often slower than what the poster offers. But even so.

This week, I spent a few hours reading-up on 5G and what it may bring. It’s a mistake to think this is just a quick way to watch movies on your phone. It meant reading through a list of new technologies.

The advent of 5G is predicted to lead to massive changes for how organisations operate. There’s a whole new babble of new technologies that 5G can open up. Reading through them is mildly mind blowing.

What’s the upside for comms?

Marketers will love what the platform can do as it will supercharge many of the things they struggle to do. Internal comms will need to understand it so they can explain what’s coming. Comms people will see how they need to adjust their communications.

This isn’t just a quicker way to download blockbusters. This could change a lot of things.

Video gets bigger. Even bigger

As download speeds increase, video becomes an even more important part of the way people consume content. Especially on mobile devices. The kid on the bus heading home can download a feature film in seconds will do so. They’ll also be able to create and post video even faster, too.

A two speed comms strategy short term

If you live in London and key British cities where there’s a patchwork 5G roll-out then you’ll be fine. Outside of those hotspots people will be disadvantaged until they roll out across the whole of the country by 2033. You’ll also need 5G-enabled phones to make the most of it. Short-term while it is tempting to make lots of lovely video content for new 5G areas and their high speeds there may need to be super-aware of audiences.

But that’s just looking at existing comms.

Virtual reality and augmented reality can happen

I’ve blogged before about virtual reality and how comms can make more of it. With the platform to more easily serve it the ability to stream VR content gets easier and it gets more of a proposition. So does augmented reality.

This will lead to innovation… and internal comms

As 5G evolves, what organisations can do with technology will change. Intelligent automation is a phrase you’ll hear more of. What’s this? This is a blend of automation and artificial intelligence. It is software that replaces tasks but it can apply some thinking to those repetitive tasks. Self driving cars is one use. So is voice recognition. But so is a system to serve marketing based on the user’s previous choices.

All of this is going to need communications to explain it to customers, service users and residents as well as the staff who will be deploying it. It will also make for less members of staff. So, it will be useful for comms people to understand exactly what intelligent automation is.

And an end to big rooms with servers in

5G can allow for cloud computing. Cloud computing can do away with traditional networks. So, the organisation can run without rooms full of servers. It’ll take some time for the public sector to feel comfortable with this approach and some parts won’t ever be cool with it. There is a risk the cloud-stored data will be hacked or stolen. But where the technology exists, the carrot of saving money may be enough to shift some organisations. I’m reading that 5G also leads to mobile edge technology. There’s a limit to what you have to know in detail. To a comms person like me it means less servers in the server room.

Prepare for those cloud computing data breach media queries, comms people.

Marketers will love it

Reading through what’s out there I kept reading about ‘closed loop analytics.’  In plain English, this is the ability to see what your customers did before they made that transaction. There’s a handy Hubspot guide here.

Good news, bad news…. comms people will need to read and get up to speed more

In every day use, comms people are plenty busy as they are. Bad news is that they’ll need to keep abreast of the changes. Good news, is that comms people will be key to explaining and exploiting the 5G changes. DCMS are sponsoring a network to encourage innovation and industry which you can join here.

Comms people will need to think through the business case to upgrade their equipment.

And there’s a danger

Working in and around the public sector for the past 14 years I can see there’s a real mile-wide risk. Predictions for what 5G can bring are bold and imaginative. But is there the funding to transform? Not just in communications but across the organisation? I’m not convinced. I’ve seen too many comms people with dated phones to cope with 4G let alone 5G.

Let’s see, shall we?

Picture credit: istock

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