“Lensing In” to Find What Your Video is About

So, @SteveStockman I’m ready for a critique of one of my videos. I’m interested in ideas for improvement.

–Paul (Mr. Adventure) @bcoutdoor via twitter

Pretty video, Paul, and I can’t tell you how much I love being inside on a nice day writing about it instead of breathing fresh air and paddling across a lake.  Okay, not that much.

The entire basis for my critique of this video can be found in the description you posted on YouTube.  It’s very accurate, and as goes the description, so goes your video:

Two weeks ago we spent the weekend hiking and packrafting Read the rest

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Video vs. Real Life

Several readers forwarded this video.

It’s a great example of the principle of intrigue. Notice how the video sets up a game with the viewer– how will writer Charlene DeGuzman’s key point be revealed in each shot?  Once we know what her point is, we watch in horror, recognizing our own behavior over and over.

Instead of telling us answers, telling us what to think, this video invites us in and allows us to think.  Getting your audience to draw its own conclusions is so much more powerful than explaining.

And the point she makes about real life vs. … Read the rest

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Your new best friend, Specificity

SpecificityLet me introduce you to specificity, your new best friend. You guys want to be buddies because being more specific about what you’re shooting automatically improves almost any video.

Instead of  the random tourist shots of“Our Vacation,” shoot the video “Samantha’s first time out of the country”—which focuses specifically on what it’s like for 15 year-old Samantha to visit France for the first time—dealing with a new language, different money and jet lag.

Instead of “Our Company” how about a video about “How we deliver shoes to your door” or “Roz, the Customer Service Genius”?

If you’re shooting “a birthday … Read the rest

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