Win a 250K College Scholarship! | Breakthrough Junior Challenge 2023
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- Опубліковано 5 чер 2023
- Submit. DO IT.
If you have any questions, please put them down in the comments below!
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#breakthroughjuniorchallenge #scholarship - Комедії
Hey hey! I will be making one more advice video for this year's challenge (a last minute advice vid), so if you have any questions put them in the comments below and I'll do my best to answer them!
Also there are a couple advice videos that I've done already (and others have made their own too) so you can check those out :)
@@JefferyChen HI jeffrey! Amazing job! Do you think drugs effects on brain is an acceptable topic?
me frfr
Imma film the vid this weekend hopefully, then gotta clutch up the animations, wish me luck! Been doing science communication on TikTok over a year now so hopefully that experience helps 😅
Good luck mate, you got this :)
1. How do you decide what information you need to cut out to not overcomplicate things for the audience? (For me, I'm struggling with how much context I need to give for my audience to understand the topic.)
2. Is it necessary to discuss the applications of your topic into the real world? If so, how much detail should you go into this?
Hi Jeffery, I remember commenting on your old QnA video and watching the Covid Reports lol! Thank you for your help
Thank you so much! Those videos felt like forever-ago! I sorta answered this question from another commentor, so I'll post my answer here.
To me, choosing your topic is both incredibly important, and not that important. It sounds like a contradiction, but plenty of topics can be made interesting, depending on how far you dive in and your ability to explain. Here are a couple criteria I tried to follow:
You HAVE to like the topic or find it interesting yourself. Trust me, if you are genuinely invested in your topic, then it’ll come through in your video. It’ll affect both your mannerisms in your film (you won’t have to fake), and your creation of the video itself. I’ve always been fascinated by space, so I already had an idea of what I wanted the video to look like. It’ll also make the whole creating process a whole lot easier/bearable.
Like the past-winner Hillary Diane Andales said, look for an “ah-ha” moment. That is, a moment in your video that the audience can say “ah-ha”; where they reach an understanding of a topic they previously couldn’t. Your job is to guide them to that point naturally. Certain topics will be easier to create that moment, like unknown or new concepts. Imagine there’s a little kid constantly asking you “why” about your topic. Keep answering those “why”s, until you find a core understanding of the concept. Of course, you don’t have too much time, so answer the most important questions in your video. Almost any topic can be complicated/difficult if you dig deep enough.
Choose a topic that you can visualize visuals for. Humans are drawn to visual explanations (it’s easier to imagine something if you can see it or a stand-in for it). For instance, if you’re pondering doing a video on neutrinos (hypothetically, asking for a friend), can you visualize what that would look like? Obviously we cannot see neutrinos in day-to-day life, so how can the audience visualize them? Will you use “holograms” and glowing animation to show it? Or would you use drawings? Maybe stop motion? If you can find a topic that you can come up with visual explanations for, that’ll make your life easier.
Side note: I’ve found metaphors to be a great way to quickly explain a topic to the audience. Because you have such a short time to explain a topic, attaching that idea to an already understood object/concept will make your job easier. It also makes it creative!
I really hope this helps! Let me know if I can clarify anything! :)
@@JefferyChen omg yes your analogy with the train and turbulence was so good! Also, I liked how when you mentioned fog distorts light, you used an actual clip of yourself being surrounded by fog!
Watching your video, I noticed how you discussed how neutrinos can help discover the origins of the universe which highlights the significance of your topic. In general, the video is to explain how our topic works and also inspire others with its real life applications, so what should the balance of this be?
Did you use the audio you recorded outdoors or did you dub over the video in post? The audio quality in your submission is awesome even at a train station lol wondering how you avoid background noises like wind or birds. Thanks for all your advice!
Thank you!
Hi Jeffrey I just wanted to say thanks for all the tips you’ve given out in your q&a ‘s, they gave my video that professional look and helped me reach the finals! After effects 🔛🔝
HI jeffrey! Amazing job! Do you think drugs effects on brain is an acceptable topic?
Hey Jeffery! I was wondering if you had any tips on how to decide a topic? It’s been really hard for me to decide on a single one (I have shortlisted a few, but haven’t been able to decide on one), and find one that I know I’ll be able to explain in 2 minutes.
Also, how did you decide which aspects of the topic you wanted to cover in the video, and which not to, considering the 2 minute time limit?
So I kinda answered that question below, so I'll just copy and paste it here :)
To me, choosing your topic is both incredibly important, and not that important. It sounds like a contradiction, but plenty of topics can be made interesting, depending on how far you dive in and your ability to explain. Here are a couple criteria I tried to follow:
You HAVE to like the topic or find it interesting yourself. Trust me, if you are genuinely invested in your topic, then it’ll come through in your video. It’ll affect both your mannerisms in your film (you won’t have to fake), and your creation of the video itself. I’ve always been fascinated by space, so I already had an idea of what I wanted the video to look like. It’ll also make the whole creating process a whole lot easier/bearable.
Like the past-winner Hillary Diane Andales said, look for an “ah-ha” moment. That is, a moment in your video that the audience can say “ah-ha”; where they reach an understanding of a topic they previously couldn’t. Your job is to guide them to that point naturally. Certain topics will be easier to create that moment, like unknown or new concepts. Imagine there’s a little kid constantly asking you “why” about your topic. Keep answering those “why”s, until you find a core understanding of the concept. Of course, you don’t have too much time, so answer the most important questions in your video. Almost any topic can be complicated/difficult if you dig deep enough.
Choose a topic that you can visualize visuals for. Humans are drawn to visual explanations (it’s easier to imagine something if you can see it or a stand-in for it). For instance, if you’re pondering doing a video on neutrinos (hypothetically, asking for a friend), can you visualize what that would look like? Obviously we cannot see neutrinos in day-to-day life, so how can the audience visualize them? Will you use “holograms” and glowing animation to show it? Or would you use drawings? Maybe stop motion? If you can find a topic that you can come up with visual explanations for, that’ll make your life easier.
Side note: I’ve found metaphors to be a great way to quickly explain a topic to the audience. Because you have such a short time to explain a topic, attaching that idea to an already understood object/concept will make your job easier. It also makes it creative!
I really hope this helps! Let me know if I can clarify anything! :)
Hi
I know you've spoke about editing software before, but I'm like fully a beginner here, and yet want it to look professional... I also realized After Effects isn't free software... Is there any free software you'd recommend that's anywhere as good?
Also, I noticed your video had music in the background; where did you find music without copyright that was suitable?
last thing - did you do any of the animations before filming? or were they all after?
Thanks!
So I'm not super familiar with filmmaking software outside of Adobe Premiere, but I have used free video editing software like iMovie in the past. I think for the purposes of science communication these free softwares are adequate. You may have to do non-computer animation visual explanations for certain explanations (i.e. stop motion, visual metaphors) but they don't require a lot of technical knowledge, just time (as all animation does unfortunately).
For music, look up royalty-free music online. You may have to cite the music (if the creator requests that), but that's allowed in the competition as far as I know. Personally, I paid around 15 dollars to use someone's music, but that itsn't necessary. I just really liked that background music and wanted it for my video.
As for my video animations, I did a lot of them alongside filmmaking, because I didn't really have enough time to do filmming, THEN animation. But I think either tactic works, it's just up to you! Good luck :)
@@JefferyChen Thank you sooo much
Also, do you think a topic like radar/stealth planes wouldn't be considered for any reason?
I started filming on it, and only then started thinking that, with its relation to war, it may not get considered
@@swasthimaharaj9354 That's a good point. I think as long as you focus on the science/physics (and perhaps non-military applications to this technology) that should be fine. You only have 2 minutes this year, so you might just have to dive right into explaining it. Historically, military technology and societal innovation are pretty linked, (i.e. GPS), so I don't see why that topic wouldn't work unless you focused exclusively on the war part.
@@JefferyChen Okay, great
Thanks so so much!! :)
Yo, I'm really having trouble with my script, I don't seem to find it engaging at all, I mean, what am I even suppose to say at the beginning, introduce the topic, just follow the flow, ask questions or what.
Please help I'm losing it and deadlines are approaching
Ooooh script-writing. The bane of existence for all creators, at least this one!
I'd come up with a couple of questions that you'd like to answer in your video. These questions don't have to be said out loud in your video, but should be answered. For instance in my neutrino video: why should the audience care? What does this mean for science? Why is neutrino astronomy better/needed as compared to traditional astronomy?
Having these questions will ground your video and keep the audience watching. I would order these questions from micro to macro. Build your video from relatively narrow questions ("what is a neutrino") to broad questions ("why should we care?" or "how does this affect society?"). This will give your video a flow, where the audience can follow along.
Hope this helps!