Raitis Linde

Some time ago in two week project we learned how to use video for inspire engineers with a video. This was part of the requirements phase in the project where a power generator for Congo is being developed.

Until so far I knew only the “paper” version of specifications document and didn’t think that video could be successfully used in that step as well.

We were divided in 4 teams by two members. Got a plenty of poor video materials from Congo. Then we had lectures on requirements, specifications, innovations. And also had a great lectures on how to make a successful video and use it in a design process (usability testing, scenario design, ethnographic field studies).

Some of the points that are important in the filming process:

• Don’t hurry – film a frame for a while, fix it, don’t change too fast to the next point of attention.
• Think not only about object’s present position, but also it’s possible position. This is useful when filming a person, so it (or part) doesn’t go outside the visible frame.
• Think about eyes of the movie viewer when editing. Make sure that, when next frame starts, attention stays in the same position as in previous frame, or is lead smoothly.

Different viewpoints

We made 4 categories that could inspire the building of power generator. These categories included people, activity, transport and environment. One team picked up one category and then we sorted video scenes into these categories. There were hundreds of GB, so a lot of work!

Tips for cutting

• Keep in mind who is a receiver of your video?
• Think about the place of the central action in current and next video scene. When the next scene starts, central action should start in the same place where it ended in previous scene. Lead the eye of the person watching video smoothly.

Video card game

After that we played a video card game for making the stories. For making video cards, we trimmed our video scenes to 2min max, extracted a screenshot and made a description. This made much easier to refer to video scene. Then we mixed all video cards we have made and tried to make a story of the cards we have. If we found that some of the cards don’t belong to our story, we tried to exchange those. We discussed much why our story is important, how it goes into our 4 categories, why the video cards we want to exchange are relevant for the other person?

After that, we had 8 interesting and relevant stories with a titles and a logical sequence of video scenes (cards).

Making a documentary video – ethnography field studies

After we had stories from video card game, there was a need for bringing these stories for a life. We trimmed our videos, add effects, showed to other, got feedback, made improvements. And in the end we each had a meaningful 2 minutes long video. All the videos were burned into the DVDs. Posters were made as well and we had a common design to make everything look professionally.

Using video for inspiration and requirement specifications

In the end of our project engineers making power generator were invited to a workshop. Their task was to discuss and build a power supply based on the information they have. We prepared the tinkering stuff, paper and toys for them to build a tiny power generator. They watched the first video and started to discuss and build. Then after some 10 minutes we showed other video, which brought even more inspiration and in the same time – constraints. We continued until all 8 videos were shown and in the end they came up with different concepts of that power generator to present.

That’s how video could be used for starting up project and opening the mind for new solutions. Video is a powerful tool for provoking ideas.