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522

To Create a How-To Video

  1. Question the communication situation.
    • Subject: What will the video show how to do or make?
    • Purpose: Why would a viewer want to learn how to do or make this thing?
    • Audience: Who will watch the video? What type of person does this subject appeal to?
  2. Plan your how-to video on a planning sheet. (See page 361.)
    • Tools: Find out what tools, equipment, or supplies are needed for the demonstration and for making the video.
    • Team: Decide who will perform which tasks in putting the video together.
  3. Research your topic and technical requirements.
    • Topic: Research the subject of your demonstration and develop a basic script.

      Topic ideas: How to perform a difficult dance move; how to build a canoe; how to cook empanadas; how to play a card game

  4. Create your how-to video.
    • Beginning: Introduce the subject of your demonstration, its outcome, and its value for the viewer.

      Sample: Do you wish you could design your own prom dress? Here’s how.

    • Middle: Describe steps in the demonstration process.
    • Ending: Display/discuss the outcome and provide a closing point.
  5. Improve your how-to video.
    • Evaluate your video against your goal and situation.

      Goal: Does the video accomplish your goal?

      Situation: Does it explain the process clearly? Will a viewer know how to complete the process after watching the video?

    • Revise your how-to video.

      Cut parts that don’t belong.

      Reorder steps that are out of place.

      Redo weak parts to make them stronger.

      Add materials and steps as needed.

    • Perfect your video, polishing it to professional standards. (See video-editing tips on pages 524–526.)
  6. Present your how-to video by posting it online.
523

How-To Video

Here is the script for a how-to video for calculating a monthly car payment. For more on loans and financial literacy, see pages 300–305.

The opening identifies the setting and provides an interesting anecdote.

How to Calculate a Monthly Car Payment

INT: CLASSROOM: The narrator stands in front of a whiteboard.

NARRATOR: If you’re like me, you are curious to know how much it would cost to own your dream car, or you may just want to find a car and a payment plan that fits your monthly budget. Online calculators can help, but I’m going to show you how to calculate a monthly car payment on your own. After all, it’s important to check your math, especially when money is involved.

The middle leads the viewer step-by-step through the process.

CUT TO: WHITEBOARD: A definition of an amortized loan appears: A loan where the periodic payments include both principal and interest.

To do this, you’ll need a basic scientific calculator and a knowledge of fractions and order of operations. Because most of us can’t pay for a car up front, you’ll need to take out a car loan, with interest, and pay it off in monthly installments.

The script indicates both what the narrator says and what the viewer sees.

She writes two equations on the board and points to the variables:

M = P × [J ⁄(1 − (1 + J) −N)] and J = I/(12 x 100)

We’ll work with two equations and five variables: P, principal; I, annual interest rate; L, length of amortized loan; J, monthly interest rate in decimal form; and N, the length, in months, of the loan.

CUT TO: WHITEBOARD: The first equation now reads

M = 28,498 × [J ⁄(1 − (1 + J)−36] and the second equation is J = 7/1,200.

Say my dream car costs $28,498, which is variable P. To pay for it, I’ll use a 3-year, or 36-month, loan (N). In doing research, I learn my loan payment will come with a 7 percent monthly interest (J). I can solve my second equation to discover variable J.

CUT TO: CALCULATOR SCREEN: She shows how to enter and solve the second equation. The number 0.005833 appears.

Now that I discovered my J variable, I can solve my first equation.

CUT TO: WHITEBOARD: M = 28,498 × [0.005833/(1 −(1 + .005833)−36]

CUT TO: CALCULATOR SCREEN: She shows how to enter and solve the first equation. The number $879.94 appears.

The ending connects the process to everyday life.

So my monthly payment for the next 36 months is $879.94. Ouch, that’s pricey! In fact, if I multiply those numbers, I learn the car costs $31,677.68, meaning I’ll pay $3,179.68 above the sticker price due to interest. From now on, I’ll use these equations before financing a car. And so can you.

 
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