The Way We Watch

Oh My! Amazing iPhone 4s Video Quality

Found this video today on my facebook wall posted by Talmadge Boyd (@talmadge). It's a video shot by Benjamin Dowie on the new iPhone 4s.  And it makes phone calls.

 

▲

Making Great Video Stories Part 1 - The Process Video

 
The number one way to start telling a good story is to pick a good story to tell.  Sounds simple?  Not all stories lend themselves to video. The first test of whether a video is merited for any story is -- is this a visual story?

To tell the truth, I'm not a huge fan of much of the video I see on the web.  Just because you're talking into a camera and telling me what you think -- doesn't necessarily create compelling video story making. I mean if you are George Clooney or ScarJo, I'll watch anything.  But if you're not...

STICK WITH PROCESS

Show me a process.  Show me how things work.  Show me a cycle from begining to end.  Layer the details along side the process and your information is easily digested.

Recently, I with Wheelhouse pitched to The Daily (the iPad only newspaper) a story of a street artist in New York City who paints the most unbelievable Renaissance style chalk drawings on the sidewalk.  I've passed his drawings for years walking around town and always wondered who he was. 

VIDEO ENHANCES THE STORY WHEN YOU CAN SEE A PROGRESSION

I looked up Hani, the sidewalk artist, on the web and sure enough he had a website with clippings of articles done on him in the New Yorker, The New York Times, The Daily News and others.  Was it a bad idea to do a profile on him since others had already discovered him?  I don't think so.  To me, what was missing was a video that showed him working from beginning to end - how he creates these sidewalk masterpieces.

The editor at The Daily liked the idea and we set out to tell his story.

SHOW THE PROCESS WHILE TELLING THE STORY

I knew I wanted the visuals to drive the story so I made sure that I could capture Hani completing a portrait in 8 hours. 

We picked a subject (Madonna and Child) that he could finish in that time.

I taped him with an unmanned HDSLR camera shooting a frame every 30 seconds.  I also filmed him with a separate camera for about 6 hours doing various time-lapses on specific parts of the drawing so that we could see the drawing build over time.  We also captured B-roll of Hani interacting with pedestrians, setting up, and walking away.

The process of him making a portrait was the perfect B-roll to play over his interview.  In the interview, he told us where he was from, what motivates him, his dreams, and what his paintings mean.

A much easier production would have been to interview him and show his collection of stills of past works. Hani had a treasure trove of stills of his recent work. But that would have been BORING. Easier. But dull. Show the process.

Here's a link to the finished video:

(Can't see the video or want to see it in higher
resolution?) Try this http://bit.ly/mofwsD

If you liked this post, check out Part 2 of Making Great Video Stories - The Obsessionist VIdeo.

 

Cell Phone "Portrait" Aspect Coming To A Video Near You

Since we watch videos on computers and mobile devices and slates - the notion that a video must be presented in a landscape aspect is going away quicker than your cable TV bill. 

TVs are landscape.

But we are so close up to our computer devices that Portrait mode is coming down the pike as a new way to view moving images.

Have you been taking cell phone video on your iPhone?  It just feels natural to hold it in one hand in portrait mode.

Take adavantage of Portrait mode in your next video...

I found this little film by Rick Hamilton on vimeo that takes advantage of being vertical. It feels like 4x6 home photos come to life. 

If I Had To Make A Web Marketing Video Today

If I had to make a web marketing video today, I would think in terms of concrete images and language (see principle 3). 
 
I would think about sound as a hook to keep you attentive.

I would think a about a surprise that you'll want to wait for.

I would think about giving you choices.

I would leave you wanting more...


Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/onkel_wart/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Three Essential Tools For Conversation Video

   Web marketing video is moving away from viral video to conversation video.

It's a natural off shoot of what is happening on the social web right now. 

Tweets, twitpics, Facebook wall postings, blogs are all adding to the conversation and video is just another element in your marketing tool bag to continue that conversation.

There will always big and small companies shooting for that elusive viral video status.  And to keep watch on them here's a new link from YouTube that archives great viral ads: http://www.youtube.com/ytshowandtell

But, the long tail prize goes to marketers that are conversing, helping and inspiring their prospects and customers with content. 

I'll be writing and talking about this more but if you want to jump in to making conversational video here are some inexpensive tools:

1. Flip UltraHD Camcorder Still the easiest way to tape an interview for the non-professional.
2. Screenflow.  An economical and fairly easy editing program and screencast recording program.
3. Call Recorder  For less than $20.00  you can record your Skype calls into stand alone video clips (via Quicktime).

I also suggest you buy the most expensive mac your budget can afford. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/advocacy_project/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

34 People and Posts To Help Your Video

So much good information out there. So little time to read it.  I've tried to help by cataloging it.

As a follow up to my 37 Video Tips, Sites and Posts here are 34 more posts to help you and many of your video concerns.

What's A Philtrum and Why It Matters To Your Video

 

That thing between your nose and your mouth is called a philtrum.  If you know that you get extra whip cream on your dessert tonight. 

A friend asked what a philtrum was good for on Facebook and got 17 responses.  One response  quoted the wikidoc.org definition of a philtrum:

"The philtrum allows humans to express a much larger range of lip motions than would otherwise be possible, which enhances vocal and non-verbal communication."

So what does this have to do with your video? 

When you're taping someone, you're going to express more from your subjects if you shoot them in a close up.  Don't be afraid to show their philtrum! The philtrum rocks!

If you are doing an interview, 99% of the time a subject's face will be the most interesting thing in the shot.  Not the wall.  Not their shirt.  Not the view outside.

Take a look at these videos of Seth Godin.  If you had to pick one that is more intimate, more penetrating, and more interesting which one would it be? I'm not talking about the content here.

Sure, content plays a role, and yes the content that Nic Askew is trying to get from Seth requires more intimacy...  In general, though, the biggest mistake I see from non-professionals in their interview video is not going close enough.

Can't see the video? Click here and here.

'curiosity' from Nic Askew on Vimeo.

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaysk/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

The Key To Good Video: Mess With Expectations

 

Many times, but not all, the difference between what is interesting and what is boring in any media is that the good stuff plays with your expectations.

You think things will go one way and you're surprised when it goes down a different road that is so ingenious that you just have to sit up and take notice.

You can help your storytelling by creating an expectation with genre and then tweaking it or turning it on its head.

I've posted this video before that has a wonderful surprise in the middle but at the start it looks like a "This is another white text on black background" video.

Nearly ten million hits later it's easy to see why this alarmingly simple video has reached viral nirvana.

*   *   *

The hardest thing we do as video producers is to create video pieces that are original.  Everything has been done with budgets far larger then what you have.

But, there is usually a way to go that will make people hold their mouse in check and not click to something else.

Recently, Wheelhouse (I am a Principal) was hired to promote a new book.

I asked the client what kind of storytelling did she like.  Not just from her company but any company.  She showed me this.

Click here if you can't see the video.

I like it too.  Why?  The story telling is simple and there's a surprise.  You don't expect the nice shot of Bermuda (or where ever it is) to be a landing pad for dripping blood.  The video plays with your expectations of a television ad for something incredibly relaxing.

With that in mind, we pitched and produced this piece for a new murder mystery.

 

Click here if you can't see the video.

How do you set expectations and then turn them upside down?

image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/moirabot/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0