So, which types of shootings might be used in MOOC? I'll tell you about them in order of increasing difficulty of the process organizing, it has nothing to do with their relevance. The first type is a event video, and I'll specify that in most cases it's not an option for MOOC. You may use it when creating additional materials. A event video records an educational event like a class (or outdoor, or museum) lecture or an excursion, Anyway, this type of shooting records an event that wasn't initially meant to be recorded. It's difficult to control the quality of such shooting. What's important in it? First of all, the sound: it must be clean, good, high-quality. We would definitely not recommend you to use a built-in microphone even in such a simple type of shooting as a event video. Use a clip-on or some other microphone to record a directional sound, not some students' chatter and so on. The second important issue is a shot type especially when it comes to the videos on which the lecturer uses additional materials like a presentation, a flipchart, or a blackboard, or a whiteboard that always reflects light. A videographer must make sure that nothing is missing from the shot and the soundtrack. Basically, that's all you should know about a event video. Advantages: it's easy to organize! Just come to the event, set your camera, hang the microphone and record it. The cutting is easy as well: exclude some breaks, and add the titles with the lecturer's and the author's names, etc. Disadvantages are obvious as well. Apart from what I've mentioned before � the fact that it's hard to control the quality � another problem is timekeeping. As events you record aren't meant to be included in MOOC with an unmotivated audience, it's another format and they usually last a few hours. You need to have a really strong motivation to watch such video of medium quality till the end. The most common challenge the event video videographer faces is what to focus on: lecturer or the presentation being shown via projector. If the focus is on the lecturer, the whole presentation look like a big white spot, if the focus is on the presentation, all the information is clearly visible, but the lecturer looks like a dark shadow. The quality of a studio shooting is much easier to control. You can choose a background and decrease the information overload level by choosing a one-color paper background. You can choose the lighting position and temperature, he shot type, you can reshoot failed moment as many time as you need (of course, it's limited to your patience). Anyway, all the advantages come from the fact that you can control the process and, for example, hire additional specialists to increase the quality. Disadvantages are also plain to see. They include organizational and financial resources needed for the studio rent and equipment (for quite a long time), and the second important moment � authors aren't used to studio shooting, it seems unnatural to them. While in the audience, they feel like a duck to water � I mean, performing in front of the students or some other people, in the studio (with all those lights are a black camera watching directly at him) the situation is really stressful, so making him/her look natural in the shot requires the producer's delicate work on the set. Despite all this, we strongly recommend studio shooting as a basic format for MOOC. Outdoor shootings look great. They contribute the visual imagery variety and sometimes even give some additional meaning. For example, if you create a course on Urban Geography, it would be a right decision to shoot some videos outdoors, in the streets or in interiors. Disadvantage of the outdoor shooting is that it's difficult to organize: arrange with the "fielding side", think through logistics so that all the equipment and participants would come to the right place at the right time... And still there will be moments out of your control like the weather, the brightness of sunlight during the day... In St. Petersburg the temperature of lighting might change every 15 minutes, so you can't make an even (in terms of lighting) video without post editing. It's difficult to control the sound quality as there might be complex acoustics or echo in the room, and street sounds or wind outdoors, etc. Considering all that, we advise you using outdoor shooting only when it's reasonable, as it requires lots of efforts. It's reasonable when corresponds with the course goals or the video subject. Here's an example from the course "Crossroads of St. Petersburg". It is about St. Petersburg reflection in Russian literature, and almost all the videos were shot outdoors. In this course, the city is not only a background for literary works, not only a lyric image but also a fully-fledged character of the course, along with the writers, poets, and the authors who are teaching the course, St. Petersburg creates a particular atmosphere and the rhythm of the story. The most difficult process in terms of organization is a clip shooting. It requires a complicated cutting, change of shots, dynamics, soundtrack, some sort of visual story in the video... It looks beautiful and spectacular but requires a team of professionals. Makeup artists, videographers, cutters, designer, director's work, of course... It takes many efforts primarily from the main characters � the course's authors. It might even be harder for them than a studio shooting. They aren't professional authors, so it's hard for them to look natural in the shot. This process is complex and it takes a lot of time and various equipment, logistics... So a 2-minute video's shooting might last for the whole day, sometimes even a few days. It depends on your ambitions. We advise using this type of shooting for promotional videos and course trailers which might be posted on a registration page to attract more students.
