social video

The past two years have seen a dramatic rise in the importance of social video for news organisations - and in jobs for journalists skilled in producing it. Social video drives huge engagement on social channels - and is a vital method of reaching the mobile phone native, whose news flows to them through feeds. No wonder many publishers are making it a major priority in the coming months.

However, it’s a very different format to the video we’ve seen (and produced) in the past. It’s less an abbreviated form of TV video and more an evolution upwards of Gifs and other short internet visuals, and that means a whole new set of skills and approaches are needed to make compelling social videos that readers want to watch - and to share.

This intensive course in social video is led by Adam Tinworth, a visiting lecturer at City, University of London, whose students have gone on to lead social video from Mail Online, The LAD Bible and the World Economic Forum.

The course does NOT presume previous video editing experience - it will walk you through the basic skills needed using freely available tools. At the end of the day you’ll have the confidence - and practical experience - to start producing your own social video quickly and efficiently.

The course will:

  • Provide practical guidance on what sorts of stories work for social video - and which don’t

  • Grabbing viewer’s attention in the all-important first 3 seconds

  • Explore when to use horizontal, square and vertical video formats

  • How to tell stories effectively through storytelling

  • How to make narrative captions that “pop”

  • How to edit user generated content for social

  • How to plan and shoot video specifically for social

  • How to create social videos from static elements, like photos and charts

  • Measuring the impact of your social videos

Please bring:

A laptop or tablet


Getting there

This course will be held at The Bridge, 81 Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 0NQ





About Adam Tinworth

A journalist for 20 years, Adam now works as a consultant and trainer in digital journalism, social media and content strategy.

His clients have ranged from large outlets such as The Financial Times and The Telegraph to smaller publishers and businesses.

Adam is a visiting lecturer on City University's journalism MA course and has blogged for more than a decade at One Man & His Blog.

Find him on Twitter @adders.