Educational Video Critique

Hi All,

Sorry if this is late compared to the rest, but I have been crazy busy.

The background:
I chose this video to critique due to the fact that I am indeed crazy busy.  This assignment has all been about hitting two birds with one stone.  As I am also in Rick's 802 class, I have had the psychology of learning on the back of my mind.  Although we tend to think of 'educational videos' as those that are linked directly to education, I am starting to think about how learning is tied to everyday activities.

It just so happens that my wife found a nice puddle of water under our sink.  After cussing for some time... I decided that I was going to try to tackle the job on my own.  What job you ask?  I have no idea.

My initial thought was to find a video that showed the inner workings of a faucet.  If I could find out how to replace some of the parts, that was just a bonus.

I stumbled across this video.

The Goal:
This video deals with changing the cartridges (along with a few other parts) for a two handled faucet.  The host goes into some detail about the types of tools used, some common pitfalls, and some things to keep in mind.  He generally shows the proper procedure on how to replace these cartridges.  The goal at the end of this video is that the viewer could successfully replace the stem and cartridges in their two handled faucet.

One question that must be asked is: is this the best media for this topic?  My initial answer is absolutely.  The next best thing to having a plumber in my house is a plumber on my computer screen.  Video is a great way to hit two birds with one stone; that is, get a visual as well as an explanation.

Production Techniques

The Setting:

• The first thing I noticed about the setting is that it is not practical.  The host is obviously in some kind of set or hardware store.  The faucet is not attached to a sink, which leaves the viewer with a few challenges not viewable in this video (the fact that a sink would exist where there is counter in this video).  These challenges are brought up, like lime build up on a real sink, but it would be nice to see how one would deal with it.

The Camera:

• The camera is on some kind of mount or tripod for the entire length of the video.  Although this is to provide stability for the camera, it is clear that the operator is giving the camera a little too much attention as the camera rarely is sitting perfectly still.  Or, the tripod/mount is not tight enough.
• The main shot is of the host at an appropriate distance away.  From this main, stationary shot the camera goes through a series of tilts throughout the video as the viewer's focus is taken from the speaker to the faucet/parts.
• At 2:48, there is an unnecessary zoom in.  The effect seems like a mistake by the camera operator as there is no benefit to the viewer.
• At 3:33, the speaker begins to summarize the last few steps he did.  However, the camera operator tilts up to view the speaker.  Unfortunately, the speaker thinks the camera is still on the parts and is therefore explaining with his hands.  The viewer misses the summary as the speaker is referring to parts that the viewer cannot see.

The Audio/Editing

• In general, the audio is great.  The speaker is very clear, with a nice volume.
• There are some interesting editing happening in this clip.  First, there is a title screen that explains what the video is about. This looks nice.  There are also some subtitle type of links that appear so viewers can jump to other videos in this series.  Finally, there are a few cuts.  That is, the speaker must have made a mistake that was fixed during the editing process.  The interesting part is that the audio is seamless.  Therefore, there could have been a voice over element to this video.

My Suggestions and Conclusion
Although this topic is best portrayed in a video (for an inexperienced plumber like myself) I feel that this video is poor.  I would have had multiple camera angles so that I could see an above view of what the host was doing.  For example, when the host has his screwdriver where the stems were I would have liked a view that showed what was in the holes.  Even more important, some close ups of the parts that were brought out would also help me out (when he refers to the 'cup' I am wondering exactly what it looks like).  Needless to say, I was left wondering too much about the process and was able to find better productions that explained the process much better.