ELEVATOR PITCH

A TECHNICAL GUIDE
How to produce good video footage and send it to the editors

YOUR TASK IS:

producing a video of yourself that talks of your unique perspective on circular economy and sustainable development in… 60 seconds!

USE THIS STRUCTURE FOR YOUR PERSONAL VIDEO PRESENTATION:

just answer the questions below and you will nail your Elevator Pitch perfectly.

1. NAME, SCHOOL AND NATIONALITY?

2. A “CIRCULAR THING” YOU OR YOUR FAMILY DO AT HOME?

3. EXPLAIN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TO YOUR YOUNGER BROTHER OR SISTER IN 5 WORDS!

4. WHAT WILL YOU DO FOR SUSTAINABILITY WITHIN THE NEXT 30 MINUTES?

GO STRAIGHT TO THE POINT:

we will edit your video with those questions on the screen, so don’t digress!

WHAT ABOUT FILMING?

First let’s see what equipment is absolutely essential to shoot a video with an excellent result:

Smartphone or digital camera with full-hd or 4k capabilities: choose the best resolution!
Smartphone or camera tripod: avoid shacky footage!
Medium-sized light point: go natural… a large window is sufficient!
Neat environment to use as a background: a monochrome background can sound great at first, but in the end often turns out dull and pretty sad… a nice desk or a well-ordered studio setting can be much more eye-catching!

LIGHT, CAMERA… ACTION

It’s time to shoot the video: the tips listed below can be very useful to save time and effort, while nailing the best result.

CHECK THE CAMERA (OR SMARTPHONE) SETTINGS: they must match the technical characteristics of the file required (we will talk about it later).
CHOOSE A ROOM THAT IS NOT TOO LARGE to avoid the echo effect.
FIND A WELL-LIT POSITION for your set and… for you.
GET THE RIGHT ANGLE FOR THE CAMERA: avoid the light source right in front of you (the camera will cast a visible shadow) or just behind you (your face will turn dark and the background colors will look burnt out).
MAKE ORDER IN YOUR BACKGROUND removing gatherings of objects that can distract the eye.
CHECK THE CONTRAST! Let’s say your tan is out of shape and you have a white or pale background… it’s a bad choice 😊; also stay away from that pinstriped shirt or jacquard sofa: fewer textures, more solid colors!
SHOOT STRICTLY HORIZONTALLY (videos made vertically with the phone, are fine only for the phone and are completely unusable in the editing process).
THE FIELD OF VIEW IS IMPORTANT: frame large enough not to cut off the head and the hands, but without exaggeration, otherwise, the subject will be too small.
TEST, TEST, TEST: make a video and audio sample, if it’s okay then everything will be okay!
DOWNLOAD THE FINAL CLIP TO A COMPUTER and carefully check the actual result before considering it done.

DELIVERING THE RAW FOOTAGE TO THE TEACHER

Once you have followed the checklist everything should be okay; now it’s up to your teacher collecting all the clips and send it to the editor, but there are a few things you should do to help your teacher:

Name the file properly like this: name_surname_nation_cielo (ex. Maria_Rossi_Italy_cielo).
Use wetransfer to send the file: don’t clog your teachers’ e-mail box.

TECH-SPECS

Minimum resolution 1920×1080 FullHD
Aspect ratio 16:9 (square, 4:3 or vertical videos will NOT be processed)
File format mp4 (preferred) or .mov

FOR THE TEACHERS:

DELIVERING THE CLIPS TO THE EDITOR

Good organization is key: please collect all the clips of the students you are responsible for, do not send the materials in different tranches. Once collected and checked the clips, make sure you have all the photo and video releases documents signed and scanned.
Make a folder with two subfolders inside: in the first one please put all the documents (name “nation_release”; ex. Italy_release), in the second put the video-clips of the students (name “nation_epvideo”; ex. Italy_epvideo); now you can finally zip the folder and send with wetransfer.

THE RELEASE

Before publishing the videos it is important to be sure that you have all the releases signed and filled out in each of their sections.
Using the linked pdf file you can have the students fill in the releases even at home, completely digitally (being able to sign them with applications such as Adobe Sign or similar), and then send them to you via e-mail. If you are printing hard copies, you will still need to send them in the form of scans once completed and signed.