How can I make great screencasts?
I am an educational technology trainer and have to make videos for teachers to show them basics of online tools like Google Classroom. Most videos/tutorials out there are dry, a person with their face in the corner going through the site and explaining. This is great when someone is seeking quick directions, but boring for people who need to be convinced that this is the right tool for them.
Any ideas? Thinking in shots is hard to do when the only shot is a computer screen.
— Keri Haas
I'm with you on how boring screencasts are. But is it true that your only available shot is a computer screen? Just because your fellow screencasters are locked into that format, who says you have to be? If you literally think outside the box, it's possible to make screencasts more interesting and informative—and shorter (which is almost always better).
You do it by creating additional non-computer screen footage, and spending more time editing your finished product. The extra footage costs nothing to make, and using it lets you accelerate the pace of your lesson, clarify points, and make the video more watchable by cutting out the boring parts.
I'll take you through it step by step, and you can see what I mean:
