Sharing Science - Make the most out of multimedi

Mehra Rohan

English

UTokyo Repository

08
In this science communication 
(scicom) series, members of the 
Division for Strategic Public Relations 
suggest ways UTokyo researchers can 
share their expertise beyond their 
professional circle. Today we’re going 
to explore how audio and visual (AV) 
content helps bring your research to 
new audiences in fun and exciting ways.
After a long hard day of lectures 
and seminars, I bet you love to settle 
down with your device and watch 
or listen to something interesting. 
Maybe online videos, perhaps a 
documentary or podcast on some topic 
that fascinates you? AV platforms are 
powerful tools for communication as 
they allow content creators to interact 
directly with your primary senses. 
They are especially useful for research 
communication as AV provides a 
window into a world otherwise unseen 
by most people and, with the inclusion 
of interviews, can create a more 
personal connection than an academic 
paper ever could. Not only that but AV 
lends itself to shareable, bite-size pieces 
of educational entertainment, and I 
think you can make use of this too. 
Here are some things to think about if 
you want to make a podcast or video.
The intended audience will affect 
what you create and how you create it. 
It’s a lot like writing, public speaking, 
or even general conversation. The 
less formal the audience, the looser it 
should feel. The interviews should be 
presented with enthusiasm and the 
information can be quite general. The 
editing will be snappier and all aesthetic 
aspects of the production more playful. 
A more formal audience and you’ll 
want the look, feel, and content to 
reflect that. Such an audience would 
also want more detailed information. 
Inform - To raise awareness of a subject, 
field, institution, or person
Educate  - To explain a subject or 
present a point of view
Entertain  - To amuse viewers to prompt 
them to share something
Confide  - To familiarize viewers with 
people and places to instill trust in 
them
Entice  - Encourage action from the 
viewer, for example, participation or 
recruitment
Boost SEO - Google loves video and 
bumps up search scores for sites with 
video content
With a purpose in mind you can 
then decide what kind of content you 
need to focus on.
PEOPLE  - Who are the storytellers, 
who are the characters, and what are 
they telling us?
Places - Where are these people? How 
is the place important, relevant, or 
interesting?
Particulars - What things can we see or 
hear to explain or expand on the story?
“Flavor”  - Music, sound effects, text, 
graphics, maps, and animation can add 
appeal
I wrote PEOPLE in capital letters 
because PEOPLE, sorry, people, are the 
most important thing when it comes to 
AV content. By including informative 
and engaging interviews, you will leave 
a positive mark on your audience, 
whoever they may be. In many cases, 
Purpose - what is it meant 
to do? (It can have more than 
one)
Sharing Science -
Make the most out of 
multimedia
Rohan Mehra is a journalist and broadcaster 
from London. He has created content for the 
BBC, National Geographic, London Science 
Museum, New Scientist and more. His aim in 
communicating science is to make it exciting 
so that everyone will want to learn more.
英語で伝える科学
Rohan Mehra
Project Senior Specialist
Division for Strategic Public 
Relations, The University of Tokyo
第4回How to Share Your Science
Audience - who is this media 
creation for?
What to include
Interviews - let the 
people speak
sutipornth/Shutterstock.com
09
especially in your early projects, the 
primary voice may well be yourself. 
But if your piece is focused on a broad 
topic, then it’s a good idea to feature 
multiple voices for different angles 
on that topic. And a diverse range of 
participants will appeal to a broad, 
diverse audience.
There are different ways to present 
an interview, but I like to encourage 
budding journalists to treat interviews 
like real conversations, and not the 
artificial games of question and answer 
you see in the news and variety shows. 
This way the audience should feel more 
like someone is talking to them and 
less like they are listening into someone 
else's conversation. 
The trick to doing this is to edit 
your piece so the viewer can easily 
understand the content with the 
answers from the interviewee only, 
without the questions from the 
interviewer. As such, you will need to 
make sure their responses are full and 
complete sentences by asking open 
questions. “What is your favorite 
color?” might just result in the answer 
“Purple,” which isn’t too useful. But 
“Tell me about your favorite color, and 
why it is that” might get you a response 
like, “My favorite color is purple 
because it reminds me of satsumaimo , 
which is my favorite snack food.” See 
what a difference that can make?
The technical side of content creation 
is a far grander subject than we could 
possibly hope to cover in this article. But 
here’s an overview with some ideas to 
get you started. After all, you’re all bright, 
enthusiastic problem solvers. The internet 
will help you find the right tool for your 
purpose and hardware.
If you want to make something that 
looks and sounds professional, then do 
your homework and watch some content 
you find interesting and would like to 
replicate. Pay attention to the use of 
audio and visual elements, the way the 
camera is held, the sizes and positions of 
things on screen, and the use of sound 
effects and music.
Then do what all great artists do: 
Borrow their ideas! (You know Star Wars 
is essentially a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s 
The Hidden Fortress , but set in space, 
right?). No, really. AV content creation is 
a lot like a language, you learn it through 
mimicry, before understanding. Try and 
use ideas you find appealing to tell your 
story, and with time you will find your 
own style.
How to Share Your Science
Audacity  - Open source audio and 
podcast creator for Mac OS and 
Windows PCs
iMovie - Entry level video editor for 
iOS devices
PowerDirector  - Entry level video 
editor for Android devices
DaVinci Resolve  - High-end video 
editor for Mac OS and Windows PCs
Did you know that Rohan offers free 
training courses on video production 
and editing? Contact the Division for 
Strategic Public Relations (we’re more 
exciting than our name suggests) to 
find out more! Rohan.mehra@mail.
u-tokyo.ac.jp
Putting it all together
Useful FREE apps
Training courses


How to Share Your Science No.4

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How to Share Your Science No.4

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