I while back I wrote about solving problems when they need to be solved - and it's still very applicable.  With every video we continue to learn and solve new problems. 

In almost any video project, lighting is a huge factor we've learned so much.  There are few more stark examples of our learning curve than the listing of our videos on our YouTube page.  Notice the gradation of the white backgrounds:

 You can see, right in the listing, our learning curve.  Here are a few things we learned:

• Software works for lighting.  We use Final Cut Express for editing our videos and Sachi has become a pro at adjusting the videos to be more bright using the color correction settings in the software. Color temperature is a big factor in making the whites look clean and bright.
• Exposure.  We have become much more manual users of our camera - a Sony DCR - PC1000.  We experimented with exposure and have found a manual exposure setting that works on the whiteboard.  It's easy to tell when it's over-exposed by the look of skin tone.  Also, over exposed videos come out pink when viewed online.
• White Balance.  The same is true for white balance - manual settings create consistency.
  

Of course, when it comes to the actual lights, we're still using good ole' shop lights from the hardware store.  We'll continue to tinker with these - maybe the tinfoil and posterboard isn't sustainable and may be a fire hazard.

Either way, we're excited to have discovered small things we can do to raise the visual quality of the videos.  

Since our first couple of videos came out, I've been talking to a lot of people about what makes the Paperworks format work. Aside from the content/message, I often say that a set of constraints is what makes the format a great fit for our goals.

In this case, a "constraint" is a rule that we have decided not to break in making our videos.

Examples: We only use certain materials (paper, whiteboard, markers, string), we won't make a video over 4 minutes long, we only use our hands to tell the story and we don't use any external music (just humming, snaps, claps, etc.). Further, everything we make in the format is 100% copyright infringement free. These are the Paperworks constraints and they have a huge impact.

You might think that having constraints is limiting, but I think the opposite. Constraints are liberating. By narrowing the scope of possibilities down to only a few ways to present ideas, we can eliminate needless decision making and complexity.

Consider these examples:

Materials: By limiting ourselves to paper, markers and a whiteboard, we don't have to think about all the things we *could* do with flash animation, 3D, focus, perspective and the like. Our materials, while limited, keep us lightweight and simple.

Time: By limiting the video's possible length to 4 minutes, we limit ourselves to major points. We don't sweat the small stuff.

Hands: By using only our hands, we don't have to think about clothes, hair, make-up or even facial expressions.

Music: By not using external music, we don't have to pick the right song or worry about being sued.

The Lesson: The lesson is that constraints work to limit the number and depth of decisions we have to make. By eliminating the decisions about technology, presentation, music, etc. we have time to focus on the core of what makes Paperworks work: the ideas.

The essence of the Paperworks format is simplicity - bringing down the bar of technology and presentation to it's most basic level. By doing away with fancy graphic and soundtrack options, we can make room to think more deeply about the idea and concept that will convey the message in the simplest way we can. Further, it's a format almost everyone can use - it's not limited by complex technologies.

A Bit of Inspiration: If you haven't read The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz, I recommend picking it up. It made me think about the hidden dangers of having too many options. Another inspiring book is Made To Stick by Chip and Dan Heath, which I reviewed briefly here.

Just after posting our first video on RSS , I learned a few valuable lessons:

1. Video is inaccessible for the hearing impaired

2. Video is not easy to translate into other languages

3. There is a new site that addresses both of these issues called DotSub .

DotSub makes it easy for me to transcribe the spoken words into text subtitles. Then, once the subtitles exist, it enables DotSub members to voluntarily translate the text into other languages and post the video to their blogs. This makes videos international and more accessible - for free.

So far, the Wiki video has been translated into Chinese, Dutch, German and Swedish . The RSS video has been translated into 11 different languages . I'm just amazed.

Here is the Wiki video in a player that allows you to change languages. Use the Up^ and Down arrows at the bottom to see the subtitles.