College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences

Videography Standards and Guidelines

Agricultural Communications Videographer Dustin Chandler is the preferred resource to use for capturing CAES video content and can be contacted via the Ag Communications Project Planner. If Ag Communications services are not used to film, standards-compliant footage submissions of unedited footage, called  “video packages” may be submitted and edited by our video team. Videos on CAES web pages and social media sites add value. However, professionalism and presentation are important when filming and capturing footage because they are a reflection of the CAES, its programs and departments.

Videography Standards

  • Video content should be consistent with the university brand. When presented with proper context, the best footage encourages an action or communicate a message consistent with the college’s mission and vision.
  • Videos must display the department and the work of its students, faculty and staff in an engaged, professional and relevant manner.
  • Video is encouraged to be captured in a natural, documentary style as well as posed staging (i.e. presentations or interviews) to offer a diversity of content.

Video Quality Guidelines

  • Video content aimed at both social media and web distribution (websites) are the most desirable use of CAES resources. High quality videos are preferred to allow for editing and color correction for maximum visual impact. Cell phone footage can be shared on our social media websites, but unless requested or designated for use are not appropriate for CAES web pages.
  • Footage should be in focus, well-lighted for the subject matter and properly processed for color correction.
  • Footage that contains excessive amounts of  saturation, exposure, brightness, shadow, or backlighting, or has been post-processed incorrectly, will not be used.

Audio Quality Guidelines

  • Audio quality is critical to video content for clarity and communication. If possible, record audio with a microphone separate from the recording camera’s internal system. This can include:
  • A lavalier or “lapel” mic that can attach to the subject’s lapel or article of clothing, perfect for on-camera interviews in crowded or outside areas.
  • A shotgun mic, which can attach directly to the camera, perfect for on-site recording for ambient sound, long-distance audio and interviews filmed in isolated, indoor locations.
  • Audio recorded from the camera’s internal microphone can be accepted but must be recorded clearly without loud, distracting elements such as music and ambient noise. This will allow for post-processing audio mixing.
  • For interviews and footage recorded with speech, audio must be recorded clearly to understand the subject. Footage with improperly recorded audio or improperly post-processed audio will not be used.

Format, Resolution, Frame Rate

  • If possible, shoot and save the video in an mp4 or mov format.
  • Videos are recommended to have a minimum capture size of 1920 x 1080 (1080p resolution, filmed 16:9 aspect ratio) at a minimum frame rate of 29.97 fps (frames per second).

A-Roll and B-Roll

  • When filming, footage of interviews, presentations or other speakers that make up the most of your video is called “A-roll”. This footage is intended to offer the clearest information and the cleanest audio. Additional footage, such as close-ups of related material or shots of related subjects in action, is known as “B-roll” and may assist the editing process. Unlike A-roll, B-roll can be recorded with or without sound and added during editing to provide visual context of your video as well as transition or cut between footage of speakers talking. Submissions are encouraged to include B-roll as part of their video package. For examples, view the video below on how to apply A-roll and B-roll to your video package.
A man seated at a desk in a brightly lit room with green and yellow walls, speaking while gesturing with his hands. A laptop displaying a website is open on the desk, and a camera is visible on a shelf behind him. Natural light streams in from a window on the right.

More Than One Take

  • For speaker presentations planned for video, filming may require more than one take in order to efficiently communicate your point without verbal mistakes. To allow for sufficient editing, video packages that contain on-camera speakers are encouraged to include at a maximum of two takes in their video submission.

Delivery of Footage

  • Videos or video packages can be delivered two ways:
  • The first, preferrable method, is to upload videos (interviews, presentations, multiple takes and B-roll footage) as private links to our CAES Deliverable Footage channel on YouTube. Footage can be uploaded as separate links (multiple takes, B-roll, etc) or as one complete video link. To receive username and password login credentials and upload instructions, contact videographer Dustin Chandler at dlchandler@ncat.edu.
  • The second, alternate method is to email footage to videographer Dustin Chandler (dlchandler@ncat.edu)  from a regular email account; If using an Outlook email account, attachments will be added via OneDrive. If using a Google or Gmail account, attachments over 25MB will be added as a Google Drive link.
  • Be sure contact information for each video is included in the email, in case there are upload questions.

Contextual Material

  • In most cases, a video without context (location, activity, participants, purpose) doesn’t convey enough information to be useful to your audience. In transferring the footage via email or online portal, please describe as much information about the video as possible, including when and where it was taken, along with a description of what is happening and the year and date.
  • In most cases, especially photos of awards, students, faculty and staff singled out as a featured subject (interview or B-roll) should be identified. Include all relevant information for lower-third (name and title) captioning, such as first and last name, job or academic title (classification for student such as freshman, junior, sophomore, senior, or graduate student) and which department they belong to.
  • Please ensure that all names in contextual material are spelled correctly.
  • Include contact information, particularly if the video depicts a recurring event that you want to encourage others to participate in or has yet to occur. For example: “Students in the N.C. A&T chapter of Minorities in Agriculture Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) will observe Earth Day by participating in a stream cleanup on Lindsay Street, adjacent to the main campus. MANRRS will meet 7 p.m. the second Thursday of every month in the Carver Hall auditorium. For more information, contact (name) at (email).”
  • The name of the videographer must be included. If the videographer is a professional, a letter of permission to publish at no charge must accompany the submission. By your submission, you acknowledge that you are the author and copyright holder of the photo.