Video can Tell a Musical Story Powerfully
Jan 26th
If it were not for this video, few people outside of Michigan would have the opportunity to learn about the unique techniques developed by music educator Florence Paterni during a 30-year career in the Detroit Public Schools. This mini-documentary (a little over 8 minutes) features interviews with students, parents, grandparents, music educators, administrators and friends. Together, they tell the story of how they were introduced to music and how it has changed their lives. Call this an educational video, a video documentary or a video biography: either way, it is a touching story of competence, love and dedication.
A Simple, Effective Homepage Video can do Wonders
Jan 25th
When visiting a website for the first time, it’s nice to have the option to view a short intro video or welcome video. Even if you don’t click on it during your first visit, chances are you will eventually get curious and give it a look. If the homepage video is simple, informative and to the point, you might even watch the whole thing. Here is a great example of a personal welcome video that adds a lot to the site. A short from-the-heart statement like this one will reach more viewers than pictures and text ever could, especially for a non-profit website with a clear purpose. And you don’t have to be Miss America to pull it off! Notice that Kirsten Haglund (Miss America 2008) speaks without a script because it is her own website and foundation and she knows exactly what she wants to say. And even though she is an amazing public speaker and a delight to watch, the slides and photos on the left side of the screen add a lot to the experience. A homepage video like this one is relatively inexpensive to produce and can make just about any homepage more interesting and professional.
Best Short Tour through a Junkyard You’ll Ever Take
Jan 25th
Ryan’s Auto Parts is Detroit’s premiere junkyard, yet many people outside of the neighborhood still haven’t heard of it. Enter a little social media outreach powered by web video advertising. Quick editing combined with informative narration and a little background beat make for a perky, one-minute web promo. Without the pressure of stuffing everything into a 30-second TV spot format, Ross, the narrator, was able to mention all the special features he wanted to highlight. Since this commercial web video consists of three basic ingredients: location footage, narration and music, it is inexpensive to produce and delivers a lot of bang for the buck. It’s also full of information, so that even people who have heard of Ryan’s Auto Parts or Ryan’s Pick-a-Part will probably learn something new.
Funny Cooking Videos can Drive Traffic
Jan 25th
Even if you’re not into cooking shows, chances are you’ve seen one or two. The ones on TV are usually personality driven and web cooking shows just tend not to be very good. Here is an example of an internet cooking show with a twist: the laughs are more important than the food. Videoburst hired actors who made an actual recipe from scratch, but we don’t actually expect people to run out and make it. While Jeff and Joyce successfully make a delicious and healthy Apple Tree Salad, they actually spend more time arguing with each other, sometimes forgetting the viewer is even there. The idea is that a restaurant chain, grocery store chain or popular food website can use an amusing cooking show like this one to reach out to a larger audience. This particular cooking show webisode is a pilot created to show potential sponsors how a series of short, entertaining videos could drive a branding or social media campaign. If it’s professionally produced, quirky and a little bit different like this one, it just might develop a following and go viral. In that case, a modest investment reaps huge rewards for the sponsor.
Netflix streaming comes to home TVs
Jan 21st
I recently heard a radio ad for Netflix that cleverly mentioned that subscribers can instantly watch Netflix movies using game consoles like XBox. So I got my kid to hook it up and found that it was extremely easy, not to mention cheap, to watch Netflix movies on my TV instead of waiting for the DVD to arrive in my mailbox. The revolution is here. This sort of thing will get more and more users ready for the next step, which is watching web movies on their TV – and that’s when things will get really interesting.
They Get Me in Front of the Camera for a Testimonial Video
Mar 10th
My buddies at Affordable Website Specialists twisted my arm, set up my blog, updated my website and finally got me to get on the other side of the camera for this website testimonial by yours truly. It was my way of putting my money where my mouth is when I tell my clients how easy it is to make a video testimonial. The basic ingredients are a green screen headshot and lots of time lapse footage from my personal collection. It was fun to do a favor for my friends, play around with seemingly unrelated video clips and come up with some pretty corny double meanings in the narration. Hopefully the point of this web testimonial was not lost in the special effects: these guys know what they’re doing and I recommend them.
Taking Chances with your Promo Video
Feb 14th
I told Kevin and Rob of Affordable Website Specialists that I would produce a new homepage video for them, featuring their unique father-son web design partnership, if they would take a chance and really let me have some fun with it. Turns out they’re the ones who had the fun. If you watch this video and see how much material they cover, you’ll probably be shocked when you see the total duration is only one minute and thirteen seconds. (Warning: do not try this at home.) Syncing the on-camera narration, voice-over, music, stills, videos, screen shots, etc. into a coherent and very short story is no easy trick. But then, these guys are no ordinary web designers. For instance, can you see the spinning logos on their shirts in the final shot? Check it out.