Synopsis
InterDialogues are the flagship interview format of The InterPlex. They consist of recorded and edited conversations between InterPlex staff and contributors, generally focusing on the contributor’s background and professional experience in relation to science, science communication, the science-policy interface, and community engagements. InterDialogues can be both in-person and remote. This checklist, which can be adapted for use as a template in a task management program, provides an overview of the standard InterDialogue production process from ideation to publication and promotion.
1. Planning
- Confirm a date and location/medium to record an InterDialogue with the interviewee
- Make the recording following 3.1 Audiovisual recording best practices
- Store the video and audio files in Google Drive following 3.3 File naming best practices
- Set target draft deadline
2. Production
2.1 Audio processing
- Download the M4A audio file from the Google Drive
- Convert the M4A file to a WAV file
- Load the converted file into Audacity. Apply ENCN processing to improve the audio:
- Equalize
- Normalize
- Compress
- Normalize
- If needed, also apply noise reduction to reduce background hiss. Sometimes multiple applications are necessary depending on severity and nature of noise
- If needed, also amplify the audio; some recordings come through quiet
- Export the audio as a high-fidelity WAV file
- Load the WAV file into Davinci Resolve along with the MP4 video files in their proper order
- Select both the WAV file and the first MP4 file, right click, and sync by waveform
- Mute the video audio track so that only the improved WAV track is audible
- If necessary, to prevent desync and drift when aligning audio and video tracks, use an encoder to convert variable frame rate (VFR) files to constant frame rate (CFR)
2.2 Editing
- Play through the whole video. As you watch:
- Mark logical spots for timestamps with Ctrl+M. Be sure to select the video/audio tracks when you place markers, otherwise they will affix to the timeline and cause problems later
- Three or four markers, more or less evenly spaced, should have their color changed to indicate propitious places to insert interval graphics; each InterDialogue should have several at natural transition points in the conversation
- Edit/cut as needed, targeting primarily any interruptions to the flow of conversation, e.g., people coming and going, as well as coughs, lengthy pauses, etc., if these are distracting
- After playing through the video and making all necessary adjustments, add the standard intro and outro clips, applying crossfades to the video and audio tracks for smooth transitions
- Add interval graphics with video and audio crossfades wherever special markers were placed
- Final check: ensure that all transitions are smooth and that audio is balanced throughout
- If intro audio has not been recorded yet, either wait if time permits or export the video now for initial review before adding intro audio later
- Once intro audio has been recorded, process it the same way as the M4A file was processed before adding it along with the appropriate background visual template
3. Review
- Export the first cut and upload to YouTube as an unlisted video
- Write a description title within YouTube’s 100-word character limit
- Write a two-paragraph synopsis for the video description. This can consist of a reworded variant of the intro narration
- Based on the markers placed during editing, add timestamps with appropriate titles to the video description
- Add the standard links below the timestamps section
- Create and upload a thumbnail based on the template in Adobe Express, changing the name, title, photo, and InterSphere icon
- Fill out all applicable YouTube video metadata fields
- Share with editorial team and contributor
- Receive final contributor approval
- Receive final editorial approval
- Generate a transcript using WhisperAI and add to the Google Drive as well. Transcripts are best generated using standard-quality MP3 files
- In WhisperAI transcription settings, add speaker names and enable timestamps, then export as a Word document
- Mark as publication-ready
4. Publication and promotion
- Add all final deliverable files to the Google Drive, following 3.3 File naming best practices and 3.4 File organization best practices
- Schedule publication to website
- If contributor does not yet have a contributor profile, request bio information and create profile page
- Notify contributor when InterDialogue is live and suggest sharing with their network
- Schedule social media promotion
- The video is kept unlisted until it is launched by social media post; at that point, change it to public (or set it to premiere ahead of time) and add it to the InterDialogues playlist
- Any subsequent InterDialogue clips based on the final recording should be linked to the main video and added to the InterDialogue clips playlist
- Schedule newsletter inclusion
Related
2.2 InterPod production checklist
2.3 InterArticle production checklist
2.7 Social media post checklist