Mediascend's Weblog – Musings, ramblings and observations regarding video on the web
Archive for the ‘Video Production’ Category
Would you watch a 3 minute commercial?
Thursday, August 26th, 2010
Of course not! Not on TV, and especially not on the web! Yesterday we spoke with some super nice folks who are looking to add video to their web site to convert visitors into clients – aka a commercial. They had just been through an hour-long webinar with another company that produces video. I admire their patience!
Anyway, the other production company told them they need a 3:30 video to achieve their goal of enticing people to sign up for their app. They call them “Movies” and “Interactive Presentations”. Get real…it’s just a commercial. And all of us who have watched TV know a commercial shouldn’t last nearly that long.
Powerpoints and long Flash presentations are not suitable for potential clients. Anymore, they aren’t appropriate anywhere – do you also groan when you see PowerPoint opened up?
A successful commercial delivers your message as quickly as possible. That’s why we encourage our customers to never go over 1 min. After 30 seconds people stop watching. Here’s some 3rd party proof.
Distill your message down to the essentials. Then present it in an engaging (entertaining) way. And do it quickly – people are getting hungry.
Future of Web Apps Miami 2010 Highlights
Friday, March 12th, 2010
We volunteered to shoot and produce footage for 2010 Future of Web Apps (FOWA) in Miami. Carsonified did a great job putting on the event. There were some serious heavy hitters – Alex Payne, Fred Wilson, Gary Vaynerchuk, John Resig, Molly Holzschlag, Steve Huffman, Tara Hunt, and plenty others. We put together this highlight piece that pretty much sums up the event. We had a blast and we’re looking forward to the next one.
DSLRs Winning Video Professional Trust
Friday, February 19th, 2010
Photographers and video pros are starting to get real friendly with each other these days. The same fundamental principles have always been shared in creating stunning eye candy. Lighting, subject, frame, color, and depth of field are ingrained in both creative brains. Of course the disciplines have a distinct line separating them beyond those themes, but with the introduction of HD video in photographic tools, a monkey wrench has been thrown into that mix. Photographers are starting to ask more about NLE programs and audio, as video pro’s are asking more about DSLR bodies and lenses.
As a video professional I have always been jealous of the professional still image and the tools used to generate it, particularly the lenses. To achieve that shallow depth of field look in pro video, we paid a lot of money and spent a lot of heart ache. You either had to have a very expensive camera body and even more expensive lens, or a bulky and cumbersome still lens adapter designed to fit on a fixed body. Either way you needed a deep pocket and a lot of patience to get that big budget look.
With the release of HD video DSLR cameras, everyday photographers are stepping on our turf. To make it worse they’re doing it with style, ease, and a low budget! Video pro’s can’t fight it anymore. That full 1080p, shallow depth of field image is too rich to and brilliant to ignore. Yes there are many things to give up such as pro audio, easy focus, shoulder mounts, and big viewfinders, but to be able capture with such good glass is a valuable trade off.
More and more video gurus are starting to add new weaponry to their arsenal. Goodbye expensive, bulky bodies and bayonette mounts. Hello DSLR’s and prime lenses!
Future of Web Apps – Miami 2010 (FOWA)
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
We’re super-excited to announce we’ll be covering the Future of Web Apps – Miami 2010 (FOWA) on the February 22nd-24th.
Like previous years, this year’s line up is incredible with speakers like Alex Payne, Fred Wilson, Gary Vaynerchuk, John Resig, Molly Holzschlag, Steve Huffman and Tara Hunt from companies including Twitter, Reddit, Mint.com, jQuery, Palm Pre, FreshBooks, Opera and PayPal.
If you’re in technology and have the means to make it down you owe it to yourself to attend.
And if you see 2 dorks with HD video cameras and boom mics, feel free to say hi.
More info here: (http://events.carsonified.com/fowa/2010/miami)
Timescapes Timelapse: Mountain Light
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
Amazing time lapse video from @timescapes.
Timescapes Timelapse: Mountain Light from Tom Lowe @ Timescapes on Vimeo.
Avatar’s Effect on Online Video
Thursday, February 4th, 2010
Like most, I recently saw Avatar. Like most, I was blown away. Movies like Terminator 2 and the Matrix will always be in my memory as bar raisers. Avatar just raised the bar like Jersey Shore raises the roof… at 3am on a Saturday night.
As the bar rises, so do our standards for motion pictures in general. This includes online videos that businesses use. Not long ago you could create a so-so video, slap it on your web site, and expect it to generate sales. Not anymore.
We mostly produce short marketing videos, aka commercials. Most of these videos end up on our customer’s web sites. Video has more potential to convert leads than text, images, Flash presentations (we’ll discuss why later). Conversely, video has high potential to turn someone off. So, if you want your video to pay off, know that it’s awesome effective. Otherwise cut it from the roster.
How do you make it effective? Hire Mediascend. Nah kidding, but that would be nice. Three helpful keys to making effective video as of 2/3/2010:
- Make it as short as possible. Most people’s attention span starts dipping at a minute and flatlines at two. Unless your viewers are personally invested in your product or company, keep your marketing videos short.
- Keep it lively. From TV and movies, people expect video to be flashy. It’s what they are used to. Every video we make, we try to leave nothing that could bore people. For exciting videos, you want cool effects, animations, etc. You know, Avatar on a budget.
- Keep it contemplative. You can design a video to get people thinking. Check out this example we made. This is typically not a good first video to present to people, but it makes for a great follow up to our initial site impression.
There are plenty of others but let’s start with those. These tips are based on our experiences over the recent years, along with plenty of literature we’ve read. The trend is toward shorter, more awesome videos. To continue living up to its potential, online video must evolve at least the same rate as the other cool new stuff in this lovely world: games, movies, gadgets, sex robots, and the like. Otherwise let’s just forget the whole thing.
In order to keep getting our money’s worth out of online video, we need to keep raising the bar. Avatar raised the bar. Was it worth it? Didn’t it just break sales records?
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