TIME BASED INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO: How To Make Tea

October 20th- November 5th

LEARNING ABOUT THE TASK/ DIRECTION

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The task I picked was how to make tea. At first, I was stuck and confused on how to make an entire video on a task so simple. To me, tea was just boiling water in a kettle and pouring it into a cup with a tea bag inside. However, I realized there was more to tea making than using a simple teabag.

TWO METHODS OF MAKING TEA:

• Tea Leaves- more steps to consider (The greater number of steps in this method would help with the problem of having a short video) I would also have to consider which tea leaves I choose to demonstrate the task.
• Tea Bag- less steps to consider ( I can think about nuances to compensate for the fewer number of steps.)

How would I make an instructional video in a way that is not too expected/obvious?

Expressed in my thought process above, I realized there were various things to think about such as the different methods of making tea, the types of tea, and even the nuances associated with the task. For each option, there were different things to think about and distinctive objectives behind each option.

I chose to use a teabag because it is more common for people to use a teabag for convenience.

I wanted my video to be an instructional video that is relatable to many. Furthermore, I was interested in the different sounds and steps people often look past upon in the process of making tea. Actions like opening the tea box, taking the tea bag out, ripping the packaging, unraveling the string attached are all actions associated with tea making that I wanted to explore in my video.

TEABAG PACKAGING RESEARCH:

DIFFERENT TEABAG PACKAGING

Thinking about the type of tea I would use in my video, rather than the type of tea, I focused more on the visual packaging. There are many ways in which the teabag is packaged. Some come in boxes, bags, and other are very creatively packaged.

However, keeping in mind the purpose of my video and my intended wide range of audience, I opted to use a very conventionally packaged tea bag to prevent distractions.

YOUTUBE VIDEOS (INSPIRATION):

Aside from tea packaging, I was also curious to see how other videos portray tea making. I went on YouTube to look at other people’s interpretation on the same task. I researched how they used angles, emphasis, and choice to include certain steps to instruct their viewers.

THINGS I LEARNED FROM THE VIDEOS:

• Natural lighting is used in both videos and this played a crucial role in building my ‘trust’ towards the video.
• Both of the videos used close up shots when filming certain steps like the water being poured in the cup.
• There is satisfaction in the specific characteristics of sound found in tea making (water being poured in, water brewing, etc)
• Color plays a huge role in the mood the video portrays. The iced tea video has more bright colors, perfect for a video instructing how to make a summer drink, while the tea leaves tutorial has a very cool/relaxing color scheme, creating a calm/sensational experience.

Keeping in mind what I learned from the YouTube videos and the actions I wanted to highlight, I took a few pictures representing the process of making tea:

PROCESS OF MAKING TEA (STEPS):

8 STEPS TO MAKING TEA:

1. Fill kettle with water
2. Turn on the kettle
3. Rip packaging of the teabag
4. Take teabag out
5. Put the teabag inside the cup
6. Pour the boiling water inside the cup with the teabag
7. Dip teabag in the water multiple times to release flavor
8. Enjoy!

These are the basic steps I thought of when thinking of making tea. I realized that the transition from turning on the kettle and suddenly having boiled water may be a bit of a jump in steps for the viewer. While the viewer was told last to turn on the kettle, the water is suddenly boiled and poured into the cup. Questions to keep in mind:

How will the audience know when the water is boiled?

What transition can be used to go from turning on the kettle and pouring hot water into the cup?

REFLECTION

Taking a task that I thought was too simple and visualizing the steps with photos, made me discover that there is more than just showing the process. I had to consider the viewer’s experience, thinking if some steps portrayed in my pictures were confusing or not. I also had to think about which pieces of information I could afford taking out and which were crucial to keep. The angles are also something I have to be mindful of in my future explorations with this project.

STORYBOARD/THINKING ABOUT COMPOSITION

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In this assignment, I was told to make a storyboard. Unlike my previous exploration, my goal was to help the viewer get a general idea of what the video will look like when filmed.

How would I consider the composition, transition, and clarity in my storyboard?

Before starting my storyboard, I wanted to have a balance between closeup and far away shots. For example, I wanted variation in the distance the camera captures water being poured into the kettle. I envisioned a scene where the water being poured is filmed from afar but gets very close up towards the end. I wanted this variation to show both the action and the texture of the water when poured. Another closeup scene I wanted to try out was zooming in to show the button pressed to open the kettle. These actions happen in a fairly small space which is why I thought it should be zoomed in more.

STORYBOARD ON PAPER

In my storyboard, I tried to be precise as possible by capturing the action through multiple frames. Keeping in mind the goal, I tried to capture every significant step of my task as well as how I would move my hand in the video. After taking pictures, I was left with a total of 25 frames on a strip of paper.

STORYBOARD FROM START TO FINISH

STORYBOARD CLOSEUP/DESCRIPTIONS:

FRAMES 1–5

• For the first five frames, I showed the ingredients and the kettle/water bottle being opened. For the opening of the kettle, I chose to zoom in so that the kettle is compositionally towards one side of the frame. I felt like the button being pressed should be zoomed in because the action is small and requires focus.

FRAMES 6–10

• I show the process of pouring the water inside the kettle, using both far away and close up shots. I also zoomed into the measurement on the kettle where the viewer would have to stop pouring. This shot was taken up close so that the viewers would be able to see which number I am pointing to. Then I turned on the kettle and showed the ingredients for the next step.

FRAMES 11–15

• The frames represent the stages where the teabag is taken out from inside the box and from its packaging. I open the tea box, rip the packaging, pull the teabag out, and unravel the string.

FRAMES 16–20

• I take the teabag and place it inside the cup, first from afar, then at an angled overview to show the inside of the cup. I then move on to a zoomed out shot of the kettle hovering over the cup, about to pour out water.

FRAMES 20–25

• The water being poured inside the cup is shot at an overview angle because learned this satisfying shot from the YouTube videos I watched. I liked this angle because I was able to see the texture of the water. The last step to my storyboard was showing the motion of the tea bag bobbing up and down to release flavor.

CRITIQUE:

• The ending/action of the teabag “bobbing” up and down is unclear. How can you clarify what is happening in the last three frames of the storyboard? What happens next?
• The sudden switch to the kettle in frame 18–19 is confusing. This is a case where my zoomed up shots detracted from the video.
• The lighting of the shots are yellow and dark
• The context in which the video is being filmed can be more thoughtful. Where is tea commonly made? What feelings are associated with the task?
• There are distractions (e.g. the logo on the mug, inconsistency of angles, etc)

THINGS I WILL KEEP:

• The use of close-up shots (e.g water being poured in the cup, teabag being opened/ripped, kettle being opened, pointing to the measurements) adds dimension and engagement within video.
• The overall shot of all the ingredients used in the task is informative and necessary.

THINGS TO IMPROVE FOR NEXT TIME:

• Find better lighting/ more relevant context to film in
• Get a cup that is less distracting
• Keep the boiling of water in the kettle together. Don’t spread the clips out. It creates confusion like shown in frame 18–19.

REFLECTION

Making a storyboard for the first time forced me to interact with all the different angle ideas I had stacked up in my head. I was also able to see what worked and what didn’t work because I saw the transitions tangibly. Before making my storyboard, I wanted to work with a variation of angles. However, I noticed that the flow of the video had to be considered as well when filming all the different angles. Furthermore, after this storyboard, I was more mindful of the context in which my video was filmed. I realized that although the white background was simple, it did not reflect the task. The studio lights were very yellow which did not reflect the delicacy of tea-making.

1ST ITERATION/ MAKING CLIPS

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CHANGES MADE:

• Instead of filming in the studio, I chose to film my clips in the kitchen of Donner. I thought this context was more relevant than the plain white background.
• A problem I had last time was that I focused too much on the angle of my shots than the way the video flowed as a whole. I kept in mind the transitioning as well for this video.
• Because the logo on the mug was distracting, I used a white paper cup for this video.

From the storyboard, I had a general idea of the steps my video would follow. Filming in a new location made me reconsider the noise level and also the background that would show up in my frame. While in the studio I did not think about the background because it was plain, at Donner I had to consider the distractions in the background.

In my very first exploration of taking pictures of the steps, I photographed at Donner Kitchen as well. However, I felt that the background of the sink and the utensils were distracting. I chose to film somewhere where it was more simple like near a window.

One of the many things I noticed while filming at Donner was that it was very loud. Because the Kitchen at Donner is a public space, there were many side conversations in my video. Furthermore, the lighting in the kitchen was yellow and dim. The time I filmed my video did not help with the lighting because my light source was artificial.

How can I represent the task within the video using lighting?

After this iteration, I decided that natural lighting would provide the most comforting feeling for the viewer. While filming, I tried to get a variation in the angles my scenes were being shot like the focus of the boiling water, pressing of the buttons, and pouring the water into the cup.

Once I filmed all the clips, I used iMovie to cut and stitch these clips together. It was my very first time using iMovie, so getting used to editing the clips were a task at first, but I slowly got used to splitting and emerging the clips together. As I was editing I realized that, I did not include a clip portraying a time where the teabag is seeping in the water. This step is crucial to tea-making and I will definitely add it to my video in the next iteration. People also like to customize their tea with milk and sugar and I thought it would be interesting if I could include this as a step as well in the future.

CRITIQUE:

• Too much time is spent in getting the teabag out of the box.
• The use of a disposable cup does not portray a comforting feeling. The cup was also bent.
• The lighting is still dark and yellow
• I used the kettle wrong; do not press up the button or open the lid of the kettle
• Add human interaction at the end

THINGS I WILL KEEP:

• Better than my storyboard, the steps of my video overall are much more clear.
• My explorations in the different angles are heading towards the right direction.

THINGS TO IMPROVE FOR NEXT TIME:

• Prioritize filming in the right context that has natural lighting.
• Get a real mug that is not distracting.
• Add human interaction/seeping time.
• More consistent/stable angles and filming techniques.

REFLECTION

This was my first time filming clips for my instructional video. The transitions I envisioned through my storyboard was made to life through the video. Using iMovie to cut and stitch these clips, I learned how to take out parts that weren’t necessary. For example, for many of my clips, I had seconds of the video where the task was either redundant or where I did not start the step. The ability to take these portions out of the clip changed the way I will approach video taking in the future. I now know that I don’t have to rush to start my step but rather focus on the quality and clarity of the step I am portraying.

2ND ITERATION

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CHANGES MADE:

• I filmed in a new room, got a new cup/plate.
• I introduced milk as one of the steps of making tea.
• I added the step of seeping tea in my video.
• I also added human interaction with the final product at the end.
• Although I could not film in the morning , I used white lighting for this iteration.
• I tried to make my angles/shots as consistent as possible.

One of my biggest concerns regarding my last iteration was the lighting. For the past few tries, I struggled with finding lighting that was not yellow. For this iteration, I used a pair of lights I borrowed from my friend that had white lighting.

Another thing I addressed in this iteration was the location I filmed the video. While before the background was either too distracting or not the right context, I borrowed a room in Margaret Morrison A11 to film my video. I chose to film in this room because it had a lot of natural light and the color scheme of the room was generally white. For this iteration, I chose to film by a window sill because it both fulfilled my requirement of having natural lighting as well as the right context.

Tea is associated with comfort and I thought filming my video by a window would give the impression of a relaxation.

I filmed at night due to the room availability that day. However, I still wanted to try out the space and see how my task would interact with the new environment. Filming at night was a problem, especially because I filmed in front of a window sill that has a reflective surface. The camera picked up my reflection in the window and also the lamp post light seen through the window was a distracting factor. Along with the white mug and plate I purchased for my video, I included a scene at the end of human interaction where I take a sip from the tea and eat pastries along with it.

NOTES I TOOK DURING CRITIQUE

IN CLASS CRITIQUE:

In class, we got into groups two times (once with people with the same task and the other time with people doing different tasks) From both of these critiques, I received the following comments:

• The entire video seemed too rushed. The boiling of the water is missed completely
• The sound of the timer going off is very alarming.
• Video is not comforting.
• The amount of water poured in the kettle is not clear.
• The plate is too big for three pastries.
• Some scenes were too cinematic, drawing emphasis on the wrong steps (e.g. taking the tea bag out of the box)
• The human interaction was long while the actual tea making was rushed. This made it seem like that was the purpose of the video.

THINGS I WILL KEEP:

• The new room I filmed in matched the comforting aspect of making tea because of the white color scheme.
• The human interaction scene was a good ending to the video
• The steps will be kept similar to how I have it in my 2nd iteration.

THINGS TO IMPROVE FOR NEXT TIME:

• Focus more on tea making/ elongate the clips that is related to task of tea-making
• Go slower with the steps
• Shorten the human interaction at the end/ put more pastries on the plate
• Stick to pouring one water-bottle inside the kettle for clarity.

REFLECTION:

Until the peer-review critique from my peers and feedback from Steve and Stacie, I was blind to the problems my video had. I thought the way I stitched my video was effective and straight to the point. However, I realized that I went too fast and showed too many different angles for one step, which led to confusion. My desire to add the close up shots in my video was not executed well because rather than adding information, it distracted the viewer by leaving them more confused. Filming in A11 was a lot better than filming anywhere else because it had a comforting color scheme in the room (white, light grey, light blue)that matched my goal of my video. Although in this video I was filming at night, I believe that once natural lighting is incorporated, my video would be more clear and visually pleasing.

3RD ITERATION/FINAL

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CHANGES MADE:

• I made the scenes that show the steps to tea making much longer/simple. (e.g. boiling water, pouring water into the kettle)
• I put less emphasis on taking the teabag out of the box. In other words, I made my video less cinematic but more purposeful in fulfilling the task of the assignment.
• I filmed in natural lighting which is suited for the task because natural lighting is more comforting than artificial lighting.

For my final iteration, I filmed in natural lighting in A11, the same room as my second iteration. However, filming for the second time at different times of the day brought up problems that I did not consider before. When I planned on filming by the window sill during the day, I expected the outside scenery to be less prominent. This was not the case. In fact, because of the bright yellow parking lot lines on the ground, the bright green trees, and even the mural seen through the window, the entire video was very distracting.

With this problem that I did not expect to occur, I was conflicted on whether to keep the direct lighting provided by the window sill or move to another location in the room that had less distracting elements.

After much though, I chose to move a table next to the natural light source in the front of the room so that the only thing seen in the background was the front wall of the room. Because the window sill was right next to the table I situated my camera, I got a good source of natural light as well.

While filming, I had a scene where I had to re-film. It was the scene where I poured water from the kettle into my mug. I filled it up too much, almost to the rim, which left the viewer uneasy. After asking my peers for their feedback, I received several comments about how close the tea was to falling out of the mug. This was more than enough for me to decide to re-film this scene.

Furthermore, I shortened the time focused on the human interaction scene in my video. While shortening the clips, I also decided to add one more detail to the scene. I wanted a lipstick stain to appear on the cup after the person took a sip of tea.

REFLECTION:

It took a lot of filming, planning, feedback, and editing to get my final product. This project was had its challenges in its own way like finding a place to film that was quiet, provided good lighting, but was also easily accessible. While before I was not aware of all the effort required to get a well-crafted film, after this project, I am more aware of all the details that has to be sorted out to get a product I was happy with.

I learned how to book a room at Margaret Morison, something I would need to know how to do for the next four years I am here, and also learned how to figure out a solution to all the logistic problems I was faced.

I also learned that sometimes less is more. Less can be more communicative and I realized this when my different angle shots of the kettle actually confused the viewer instead of making the experience of the video easier. Multiple times throughout the project I lost sight of the main focus of my video. At one point, I was focused on how to make my video aesthetically pleasing rather than actually communicating the instructions. I learned that while creativity is encouraged and a big part of design, it has no point if the purpose of the task is lost.

Making a video clip with a specific purpose in mind, I learned many things that I was blind to before. Overall, I really enjoyed this project and I had a fairly smooth journey in producing my final work. I will definitely look back to this project with positive memories and will incorporate what I learned in my future projects.