How to Make a Video

First things first, you will need to come up with a compelling concept for your video. To finetune your idea, ask yourself: What story do I want to tell? What is my message? Who is my audience? What do I want to achieve with my video? For inspiration, be sure to check out previously recognized PLURAL+ videos.

All film genres are accepted at the PLURAL+ Youth Video Festival —including comedy, drama, action, documentary, music video, and animation, among others — as long as the films demonstrate the potential to make the audience think in constructive ways about the PLURAL+ themes of migration, diversity, social inclusion, and the prevention of xenophobia.

This goes without saying that it would also be important for you to research the topic of your choice to ensure the information in your film is accurate and that you address the relevant nuances and complexities in sophisticated and in-depth ways.

Once you have your idea, you will have to develop your storyline or plot: this is the succession of events that will unfold in your video. Your storyline should follow a 5-step structure: exposition or introduction to set the scene; conflict and rising action to build tension; climax as the ultimate crescendo or peak; falling action or denouement to resolve the main tension; and lastly, resolution or conclusion to bring the story to a close.

You will need to take your time to think about your characters thoroughly, too, because audiences are more likely to connect with the storyline through characters who are well-developed and defined.

Once the succession of events is established and your characters are well defined, start drafting your script by breaking the storyline into sequences and scenes, which will allow you to build an initial outline and sharpen the pace of the plot.

Visual representation of your video and how it will unfold, which is known as a storyboard, is a useful tool for planning and editing. Development of a storyboard and technical script or screenplay can be done in parallel.

A storyboard is like a comic book version of your script because it illustrates how the story will be told. Each scene should be made of as many visual panels as needed to tell the story. You don’t need to be a professional artist for this step as the storyboard is only meant to help you visualize how the story will look on camera and screen. There are several free online tools that you can use to develop a simple storyboard.

A screenplay is a more detailed and elaborate version of your script that provides details on the technical aspects of filming, such as how and where the actors move, the type of lighting, sound, and what needs to happen during the recording and editing processes.

It’s time to hit the record button! Plan to record your video per scene. The order you record each scene isn’t critical as you will have an opportunity to piece the scenes together in sequential order during the editing process. Here are a few tips to keep in mind while recording your video:

• Quality and Format: Make sure to record in the best quality possible. We recommend shooting in Full HD (1920×1080) resolution or superior mode. For an authentic cinematic feel, you can opt to use a frame rate of 24 frames per second, but it is not imperative to do so at this stage because frame rate can be revised in the editing and/or exporting process. On the other hand, more information is retained by recording at frame rates of between 25 and 29/30 frames per second, which results in smoother motion.
• Audio: Pay special attention to the audio. The voices of your actors should sound clear with no background noise or saturation. Visually impeccable videos can get sullied by low-quality audio. Make sure that’s not your case.
• Lighting: Get the lighting right. Light helps set the mood. The deliberate use of contrast and/or colour can help make a scene look more dramatic. You can opt for natural (outdoors) or artificial lighting. Check out these resources to learn more about lighting techniques.
• In-between Scenes: In addition to the shots illustrated in your storyboard, we recommend you record some B-roll, which you may find useful when editing your video, if you feel a need to provide additional context for your scenes and the action.

Once all of the components for the film have been recorded, including images and audio, it’s time to put your film together! You can use whatever video editing software you prefer. We recommend Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, or DaVinci Resolve, however, there are plenty of other open-source and free video editing software options available online. Just make sure to choose software that does not add a watermark to the video file once it is exported.

Here are a few helpful hints to consider during the editing step:

• Use the same resolution and frame rate in your project settings as you did when you recorded your video and make sure these align with your preferred settings when you export your video. Failure to do so may result in loss of quality and information.
• Correct the exposure and white balance of your clips as needed. We also recommend colour-correcting and/or applying LUTs (Lookup Tables) to create an authentic cinematic look.
• Unless you employ the one-take technique, bear in mind that, when editing, shorter clips transmit dynamism, while longer clips can transmit calmness and relaxation. Make sure to time the length of your clips with the feeling that you wish to convey and that each clip is consistent with your film’s overall theme.
• Use your B-roll to introduce your scenes and locations. This will help the viewers understand where the action is taking place.
• Avoid overusing transitions. Transitions serve a distinct purpose, depicting a change in time or location, and they should not disrupt the flow of your video.
• Keep your voices, music, sound effects, and ambient noise separated in different layers or channels. This will allow you to adjust the volume of each element, thereby ensuring the overall volume level is balanced and consistent, and seamlessly apply effects such as EQ, Reverb, Compression, etc.
• If the original language of your video is not English, you would need to add English subtitles, per the submission guidelines. In such cases, please ensure that the captions are synced accordingly and that the text is legible or easily readable (e.g. the text color does not blend with the background, the font size is not too small, etc.).
• Don’t forget to add credits at the end of your video!

Once the editing is complete, it is time to export your video! If selected, you must be prepared to submit a digital copy of your video in one of the following formats: MOV (preferred), MP4, AVI, QT, MKV, or FLV. Full HD (1920×1080) resolution or superior is preferred but not required. If using open-source or free video editing software, please make sure that your file has no watermarks.