The electoral college process is complicated. When we decided to make the video in 2008 it took research to see the big picture and that was part of the fun. We set out to be non-partisan and give the video a long shelf life. This meant, in part, symbolizing the parties as shapes: circle, square, rectangle.
As always, the goal is not describing the process, but explaining it. This meant addressing common misconceptions and focusing on why the system works as it does. For example: how does the system account for the difference in population across states like California and Kansas?
This video has over 2 million views, 10k likes, and 2,500 comments. Here are a few:
"Man, I've been watching videos on this matter all day long, and this is BY FAR the most explicative one. Thank you so much."
"Thank you! This is the only explanation that I’ve understood so far"
"Oh my gosh thank you! I finally, finally, finally get how this works!!!"
"I'm doing a report on this topic and this summed up 4 weeks of searching in a little less than 4 minutes thank you so much!"
Using an example of a song written three generations ago, this video shows why it makes sense that the public domain exists and what it means when a song, photo, artwork, document or other creative work is in the public domain. This video teaches:
The basics of copyright law and how it gives creators control
Why copyrights expire over time
How public domain works are available for use without payment or permission
Why creators and organizations contribute to the public domain
A while back I was a part of a panel with Dan Roam, author of The Back of the Napkin and one of his big points during the session was the use of visuals in politics. This was in the middle of the healthcare debate and he wondered why no one, Obama, Republicans, members of congress, etc. were using visuals to make their cases. I agreed whole-heartedly. Glenn Beck seems to make it work, why not put visuals and whiteboards to work for serious policy discussions?
Today I saw that the White House has started what it calls the White House Whiteboard, which looks to be a forthcoming of series of videos using a whiteboard to explain policy. In the first video, Austin Goolsby, the new Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, uses the whiteboard to explain the difference between the competing tax plans. He doesn't actually draw on the whiteboard, but the the drawings are hand-made and it has the desired effect. I think Dan would agree that this is a step in the right direction.
Please note that my intention with this post is not political. I'm simply pointing to a use of visual thinking in government.
We orginally published this video on July 30th, but it all comes together in real life tomororw on Election Day. If you have any questions on exactly how Americans elect a new president, this video will help.
As an interesting side note, Election Day will be the day that this video surpasses "RSS in Plain English" as The Common Craft Show's most viewed video on You Tube. The Google Docs video doesn't count as it's owned by Google and not a part of the Show.
People often ask for a look at how we make the videos. When we were putting together the the "Electing a US President" video, I made a special point to take photos of the process. Here's how it works:
Every video starts with a script. If there is "secret sauce" it happens in writing the script because the script drives the video. We use Google Docs to collaborate until we feel like the script is close to finished. Then, we start looking at a thumbnail storyboard.
I draw the scenes for the thumbnail storyboard. It's our first attempt to represent the visuals.
After a couple of rounds of thumbnails and lots of talking between us, we make a list of all the elements that need to be drawn for the video. At this point, I start drawing and digitizing the images. Of course, with the maps in this video, I resorted to tracing.
Once the images are drawn and digitized, we set up a new storyboard using purely digital images. This way, we can manipulate sizes easily and see how everything fits together. Once we feel confident, we print out the materials and start cutting and coloring.
Sometimes, we leave things laying around and our dog decides to put them in his mouth.
Before shooting the video, we assemble all the materials and take them to the studio. We iterate at every point in the process. The script and visuals change every day.
Once production begins, we follow the storyboard and slowly lay out each scene. Often, scenes are revised on the fly. You can never really see how it will work until you see it on the screen.
Each video is different. Sometimes we go down a road, only to find a dead end. We are both prepared to throw away our work and start over if it doesn't feel right. It's painful, but necessary.
Sachi takes over control once we get to the studio. She runs each scene, the camera, lights, etc. She manages the voice-over and all the post production work. Editing is a huge part of what makes the videos work and those decisions are Sachi's. While she's doing that, I start this process over for the next video.
All these elements come together to create this video (on Vimeo, YouTube and dotSUB):
I'm not sure how this happened, but there is an error in the original version of the "Electing a US President" video. The original version says that there are 3 congressional districts in Kansas. As we discovered today, via a nice email from Gerry Deman of Kansas, there are actually 4 districts.
Here's what we're doing about it:
We have created a new, corrected version of the video. It's embedded below and we have replaced the video on the original blog entry (and embed code) with this new version. We've also replaced the downloadable versions in the Store and other places where it is shared.
Unfortunately, this means that two versions will exist on YouTube, because it's impossible to replace a video. By deleting the original version, we break the connections to the You Tube players on blogs that embedded it. If you embedded the original version, please do replace the video with this new version.
It's a good thing that folks like you keep us in check so we can limit the potential confusion. We'll count better next time, I promise.
