I haven't had a chance to post about the video production process much, but here is basically how it went down:
- A friend nominated me on the TED-Ed website. You can nominate your friends, too (or yourself!) by clicking the "Get Involved" link.
- Jordan Reeves, head of TED Ed, sent me an email to set up a time to talk on the phone about possibilities. At this point, they make it pretty clear that the whole thing is completely exploratory--no guarantees.
- I agreed to try to write a script for a three minute video.
- Discovered that writing a script for a good three minute video is really, really challenging.
- Sent the script to the editorial team. Bit my nails for several weeks.
- The editorial team decided that they liked the script! Hooray! I made it to round three. This one's easy--all I have to do is take a look at their suggested edits and check for scientific accuracy.
- I have decided that all writers should have professional editors: I am not a writer, but their editing added a certain je ne sais quoi to the wording in my script. Definitely better than it was when I sent it.
- Round Four: record the voiceover. Since I live close to New York City, and I was on vacation at the time, I made the trip down to the TED Ed offices in Chelsea to use their cute little recording booth. Rose, the science journalist and voiceover editor, directed me through the recording. I did not have to go down to the office--if you live far away, they send you a 'portable recording studio'.
- Then, I have to wait. And bite nails more. They send the voiceover and script out to a group of selected professional animators and wait until an animator chooses a voiceover. If you don't get chosen, that's the end of that. The reason the animators have the choice is because they often put in many MANY hours to put the videos together--and these are real professional who are volunteering their work hours (kind of like the teachers that put the lessons together). Some of these guys/gals work for places like Pixar and Dreamworks. Others just rock on their own.
- Marc Christoforidis picks my script! WOW! I am so excited. Here is his professional reel on Vimeo.
- Then, we work together...emailing back and forth for weeks. He sends me animated sketches (animatics) and stills to get my feedback and so I can check for accuracy. He did an amazing job of interpreting some difficult places in the script. I never even saw what he looked like until his picture was posted on the TED site! He's got cool hair.
