I have to be honest: I do a lot of video work in my professional library job. I create all of the video tutorials for my library, and I typically use Final Cut/Camtasia to create or edit videos. I have a fantastic professional stand mic, a sound box, and some pretty nice equipment to work with. That being said...I didn't think it would be fair to take advantage of that equipment, and I also thought it would be interesting to see what options are out there that are low cost or free for patrons and for librarians alike. I know that I'm extremely lucky, and that small, rural or budget constrained libraries might not have funding to afford specialized software and equipment just to make videos.
I've been very interested in the concept of digital booktalks for the past few months. I think that as more of our patrons move from the use of our physical space to using more (or just) or digital resources, a way to directly reach readers would be to offer digital book talks and interactive, online book discussions through the library's website. I decided to create 2-3 digital booktalks and 1 traditional book talk to see how viewers respond differently to 'digital' booktalks - booktalks with narration, images of book covers and scenes from the books, as opposed to the traditional book talk where the viewer is greeted by a friendly, smiling librarian. (Hopefully they're smiling!)
The digital booktalks seem to be more like book trailers than traditional booktalks. I think they could be very useful as teasers for getting patrons interested in coming to longer book discussions or programs. The digital aspect of all of the videos I created made it difficult to imagine a room full of patrons listening - or not listening! - to the booktalk. I think there's a narrow line between an online video book review and a book talk. You really have to sell the book, the author, and/or the plot without coming off as disingenuous or pushy. It's also difficult to make the talk interesting/funny/creative without coming off as too ridiculous or bizarre. Depending upon the audience, dressing up as a wizard when discussing Harry Potter could REALLY be the hook that could get a reader interested in a title; with the wrong audience, it could end up with the librarian being ridiculed. When I asked several RA librarians at my library if they ever dressed up or used props (aside from the book itself) for a book talk, discussion or program, NONE of them said they had actually dressed up, used voices (accents, etc.) or props. I was really surprised!
I played around with adding music to several of my videos, but found that using background music throughout the videos was too distracting for viewers after having several friends and family members viewing the videos. I focused on a plot summary (with cliffhanger) for Death Comes to Pemberley. This was a book that I truly enjoyed, and it was recently turned into a TV miniseries by the BBC. I was able to incorporate several screenshots and images from the television adaptation in the digital booktalk. One of my friends said she felt that having real actors/characters represented in the talk made her want to read the actual book more. One issue that I know could arise with digital booktalks and use of images is copyright - I couldn't post these videos to my library's website without permission from BBC and other copyright holders for several of the images I used, which is a huge issue! The Thirteenth Tale was also turned into a television special in December of this past year, and I used images from the film version, as well. For the booktalk of this novel, I used a first-person, character/mood based style of talk that included actual passages of the book woven in from the main character's perspective.
Some of the tech/content issues I encountered included:
- Poor sound quality recording with an iPhone 4
- Poor sound quality recording with an iPhone 5
- Better, but still poor sound quality recording directly through my MacBook Pro
- Discovering that I don't have iMovie installed, and it's $14.99....
- Discovering that my Animoto account ($5/month) doesn't allow users to include video clips longer than 10 seconds
- Trying to get my iPhone hooked up to a tripod
- Splicing video in a phone app
- Harkening back to freshman undergrad speech class - it's extremely difficult to not come off as being overly rehearsed and 'fake' while still trying to emphasize your key points in a clear, concise manner!
- Not a tech issue but actually a blessing - if you haven't played around with the basic YouTube video editor, let me tell you, it has a surprising amount of advanced features that you would find in a more expensive video editor, such as the ability to add transitions and pan and zoom! Best part - absolutely free!
- Video time - if I were to include several books in one video clip, I know from experience that many viewers won't/don't want to sit through a 6-9-12 minute video! Breaking up the talks into shorter videos can also allow them to stream/download faster for mobile users or those with slow Internet speeds.
Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James
http://animoto.com/play/LVad4iHHF18bML0vj85bEw
The Vanishing by Wendy Webb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piVzE5wtNgo&edit=vd
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
http://animoto.com/play/Dym2b2f2QPyVdDlVjeKEEA
The Strain by Guillermo del Toro
http://animoto.com/play/YNYrkMRstu0bpd0E8WG46A
Strangely, while these are in a web-friendly format, some of these videos seem like they might be good for kicking off a book club meeting. The alternative would be to introduce next month's book with the video. Either way, they would be a nice addition to an in-person meeting, too.
ReplyDeleteI like your videos and the explanations of the videos. You really made the books come alive with some great scenes. The background and your voice made it great on animoto.
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