Creating a Video for the Evansville Museum Docent Association

This month’s Education Blog Post features guest writer Peg Ehlen. In this article, Peg describes the process to create a virtual tour. She has been a member of the Evansville Museum Docent Association since 2015 and served as Docent President from 2019 to 2020. 

Creating a Video for the Evansville Museum Docent Association 

Docent Peg Ehlen

Seven years ago, docents at the Evansville Museum of Art, History & Science were fortunate to receive funding from Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana to produce online videos highlighting resources of the Museum. With the pandemic of 2020, our Docent Association and Education Curator Karen Malone revisited this idea, agreeing that we would create in-house videos to benefit the community and enhance docent training. It would be simple, right? If we can give tours, we can easily produce videos!  

As our bravado faded, we began to wonder: What forms can a video take? How much expertise do I need? What if I forget my script? As virtual committees formed and brainstorming began, we answered these questions, discovering divergent pathways to video production.  

So … what were my first steps? After making an appointment to visit the officially closed Museum, I entered the empty Crescent Gallery. Here I was—a lone, masked photographer looking for art that would spark my interest. Focusing on artwork from the Celebration of Women Exhibit, I took numerous photos of paintings, drawings, and sculptures--including labels. Soon I had my inspiration: I would compare Janet Monafo’s Brass Piles (a pastel drawing) with Jeannette P. Sloan’s Balancing Act by (a high-quality digital print of her original painting).  

But what would I compare? What was the point of my video? I could focus on one or two elements of art, such as color, line, perspective, or shading. Or my video could focus on personal details about the artists, story elements within the artwork, or recurring themes. At the same time, the video needed to focus on a particular audience—perhaps a hypothetical fourth-grade student. It should be stimulating, not condescending. So many decisions! 

Still not sure of my focus, I gathered additional information about the artists and artwork from reputable online sources and an article stored in the Docents’ Google Drive. With all this data dancing in my head, I tried to visualize the video. As I scribbled some rough notes to begin my script, the title became clear: “Shiny Objects and Reflections in Artwork.” I would focus on the techniques these artists used to make their two-dimensional artwork seem realistic and three-dimensional. Afterall, who doesn’t like bright and shiny objects?  

Next, I needed to decide what form my video would take. Would Karen Malone film me directly in the Crescent Gallery, or would I create a slide show, as Art Committee Chair Cheryl Marshall had suggested? In my former life at Ivy Tech Community College, I was known as a PowerPoint “queen,” so I chose a slide presentation to assemble and rearrange images. After I had completed my version of the slide show, I submitted it to Karen, who used most of my images for the final product. With my input and approval, she added graphic design elements to engage the audience. For my second video, the Museum staff actually removed a painting from its frame to photograph a clearer image! It was reassuring to know that the Museum curators would review my information before the video went public. (For example, with my second video, I was embarrassed to learn that I had mistyped Georgia O’Keeffe’s last name on several slides. Oops!)  

For my PowerPoint script, I created comments for each slide. I could have handwritten these comments, but I chose to use the “notes” option in PowerPoint, available through View/Notes Page. Once my video was in its final stages, Karen planned to record the audio for each slide. As it turned out, I chose the convenience of recording my own audio at home using QuickVoice on my iPhone. Numbering each audio file to correspond with each slide (such as Audio 1 for Slide 1), I made sure that what I stated in my audio file matched my script exactly. As a result, Karen could download my transcript for exact closed captioning to YouTube.  

Of course, creating a video doesn’t need to be this technical, and direct videotaping is an appealing option. While direct videotaping requires the same preparation--focusing on a topic and an audience, researching the topic, visualizing the action, and writing a script-- it also presents new challenges. How do docents sound “natural” as they explain their subject matter, rather than tied to a script? Fortunately, Karen provides multiple retakes to make sure that we look and sound our best.  

Our videos cover a range of topics, not just art. Some are mini-tours that take viewers on a docent-led tour of a gallery or subject area of the Museum. Others are instructional videos providing close-ups of science demonstrations, artifacts, and artwork. These videos encourage viewers to explore new concepts at home and in the classroom. Docent Spotlights are a third type of video, introducing viewers to volunteers within the Docent Association and their stories. Mini movies are yet another video format, educating viewers with a story, characters, and plotline that center on the Evansville Museum. Whatever form the video takes, the Museum curators will review it before publication. After review, the video will be deemed fine “as is” or in need of some “tweaks.” The final product will require closed-captioning (with proofreading), a task for the video creator or a fellow docent.  

After each of these steps is complete, the video will be uploaded to YouTube where it will be ready for the community to enjoy.  

The Virtual Visit Project is sponsored by Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana as part of Accessing the Arts Anywhere. To view the virtual tour videos created by the Docent Association, please visit the Museum YouTube Channel.

Peg Ehlen