Promotional Video

Teams have already had one draft and revision for the concept document, so everyone is close to being done with that document. This assignment will let the team return to the concept document for inspiration. As with the Concept Doc, we want teams to think about promoting your game to receive funding or interest, but this time in a slightly different way: video.

The video that teams produce should be roughtly 2-3 minutes in length, aimed at an outside audience. Historically, this video would be great for applying to Boston FIG, which would have applications due very soon. However, COVID has really hurt the Indie festival circuit in recent years. So based on our guest lecture this year, we are going to instead work on Funding Pitch/Promotional video.

In creating the video, start thinking about it in terms of the Concept Doc, which had teams pitching ideas to an outside investor, very early in the development cycle. Now close(r) to being done, the video can promote the team’s work in other ways more sophisticated than the Concept Document alone could. For this assignment, all of the concepts that we have been trying to convey come to bear: audience assessment, message constraints, branding, tone, consistency, game development story, professionalism, and so on. Your game is going LIVE, and it is time to get the word out.

Artifacts that the teams have been capturing during term – such as photos, early sketches, drafts, and so on – can and likely should have presence in the video’s content. Tell the story of the game, the team, and how it all came about and needs outside support.

Table of Contents

Video Format

Because we no longer have BostonFIG to apply to this year, all teams will work on promotional video for obtaining funding, like Kickstarter or Indiegogo. We don’t actually want you to create a Kickstarter. We just want you to pretend that you are.

We expect teams to create a 2-3 minute promotional video that promotes the game while simultaneously inspires micro-investors to support the game’s production.
The video needs to meet the criteria for this class (described below). But it also should follow basic Kickstarter guidelines:

– Presenting Your Story – Making an Awesome Video

There are few existing class examples of this kind of project, as most students have targeted Boston FIG in the past. However, there are plenty of professional examples that can influence thinking about this option.

Family Style

Wait, Family Style? Yes, after finishing the semester the team had a real Kickstarter. And they made their (modest) goal! A lot of the strong points of the Boston Fig video are here. But look at how they changed it to turn it into a funding pitch instead.

Savior

With a strong opening full of branding, this video appeal is a great collection of gameplay explanation, a strong connection to place, a nod to funding/connectivity constraints associated with Cuba, obstacles overcome, and overall inspiration.

Sweetspace

The 2020 game Sweetspace has a very unique design, and its networking code is now the foundation for basic CUGL networking. This video was an exceptional effort by the onewordstudio team. All members spoke equally, the game and its development cycle were explained clearly, and any viewer of this video immediately is swept up in the suspense and drive of this networked game created to be played cooperatively with family and friends. Note, however, that this video is a Boston FIG submission. Remember that we want your team to shift to more of a Kickstarter audience. What do you need to ask of your supporters? What will get them engaged?

Spectacle

Another Bostong FIG submission from 2020, Spectacle was a modern take on a pinball game. This compelling video showcased the game beautifully. Engaging visuals, clear descriptions of gameplay, intriguing points about game development, and a history of how the game came to fruition keep viewers engaged and excited to try the game.

Project Eternity

The tone and atmosphere of this video is a bit grand for 4152 purposes, but keep in mind that this is a professionally made game. The strengths that we want teams to pull from this video are the discussion of the team (their talents and skill set), the compelling parts of the game, the early art artifacts, and how investors become part of the project. Weaknesses include a bit too much of the personal desires of the game makers versus what is likely compelling to investors and/or players.

Dungeon Defenders Awakened

Once again, keep in mind that this is a professional game company, and so some of the video is more grand than we would expect (like the opening moments). But we have the same strengths are here as with Project Eternity. There is a nice discussion of the game’s visual environment. There is also a great explanation at the end of how investors are needed and where the funding money will be spent.

Queen’s Wish: The Conquerer

Jeff Vogel is a living legend, and the instructor has played his games from the very beginning. The nice thing about this video is how simple it is. It is far less professional that the other examples below. The strengths of this video are his strong branding, clarity about what makes the game unique, and he is straight forward about what he is asking to be funded. However, we caution teams against having to much of a talking head approach at the start.

Video Requirements

All videos will be graded by a uniform set of criteria. We will be grading it by looking for the following features.

Opening Sequence

The video should begin with venue identifier (BFIG or Kickstarter), the team name, game name, copyright symbol, and year. It should also have some sort of logo (such as what you might use later in the game’s store icon). Any additional branding is optional. The difference between the team name and the game name should be very clear.

Video Content

The arc of the video’s story should organized in a way that makes sense for promoting the game for BFIG or Kickstarter. The content should include early shots of the design, levels or other visual assets as part of the game’s development story arc. It should also reveal how far along the team is in development (See Discarded at minute marker 1:11 for an example).

The video should mean the criteria of the target venue. Even though we are doing a funding video, and not a Boston FIG entry, we still recommend that teams follow the Boston FIG directions. We will look at all of the requested criteria for grading except the last one in the “Video Entry” section on page 4.

Overall, the video should leave the audience understanding the “why” elements of the game:

  • Why is this game unique?
  • Why is this game compelling?
  • Why should people vote for/fund this game?

When you reach the conclusion, you should remind us of the game name (since we may have last seen it in the introduction).

Professionalism

The video should be edited well for visual flow, continuity, and liveliness. It should not be shaky or jumpy. It should be easy to see (not too dark or too bright). Any on-screen wording (captions, keywords, menus, other) should be proofread and edited.

The sound editing is just as important and should provide a clean, clear listening experience. Any narration given shouldc clearly compliment the on-screen content. This narration should loud enough and clearly articulated, and background noise should be at a minimum. The narration should also be energetic, and not monotone or overly scripted.

We ask that all members of the team are shown, if they are comfortable doing so.
For safety reasons, we will not make this a requirement, but it is great to show the whole team, not just the leads.

Finally, the team should avoid any copyright issues in regards to other-game screenshots, images, music, or sound effects.

Development and Submission

Due: Sat, Apr 16 at 11:59 PM

We actually want to see the process that you used to create the video, in addition to the video itself. Therefore, the submission is a multistep process.

For April 16, submit Part A and B as a bare minimum. The rest of the assignment will come in next Saturday.

Part A: Scheduling the Video

In Google Drive/Docs, we want you to start a document titled “video schedule” and draft a schedule for drafting, scripting, video shooting, and video editing. The names of team members should align with responsibilities. Once this schedule has been set, it should also be visible inside Workflow, Milestones, or other scheduling “homebase” that the team has established for itself.

Part B: Storyboarding the Video

In Google Drive, you should start a slide deck called “Script” which will serve as the evolving narrative/voiceover document. It will be a set of visual cells that will serve as the team’s video storyboard. Each slide should have the following information:

  • A visual (a drawing, a screen capture, or a set of words explaining what will be there soon) in the main area of the slide.
  • The script for the narration/voiceover (if any) present in the Notes pane.
  • Indication of who will be doing the narration/voiceover (if any) for this part of the video.

In essence, each team is making a PowerPoint/Slide Deck for a presentation, except that this time it will be seen as part of a video. Teams can choose to storyboard by drawing the cells with handwritten description for the notes, but the handwriting must be absolutely legible.

As with the visual design specification, organize the slides with the idea of “chapters.” In the end, each team will likely edit out the chapter dividers from the video, but it is a good early way to organize the flow of the video for this draft.

Part C: Submitting the Video

Upload the video either to YouTube or Vimeo. Submit the final storyboard script as a PDF to CMS. As the last slide of the storyboard, a hotlink to the video is required.

Revisions

Teams will get to revise the video for class. Teams will revise this video with the app store proposal in two weeks, and then again at at Showcase.