Creating video for the web

Reverie, by Vincent Laforet

HDDSL (High Definition Digital Single Lens Reflex)

More than 2 milion visits in one week

Earthquake Aftermath Montage

Haiti

Battle for heads and minds

Afganistan

  • Full HD videos
  • New emergent talent online
  • New producers
  • Freelance creators
  • Movie-like short stories
  • Emotion is information
  • Drama is not

Internet 'tempo'

Attention scarcity Impatience Condensed stories

  • Place your best images at the beginning
  • Don't start with written text, if you can avoid it
  • 10 first seconds are crucial

The interview

  • It's a working method
  • It's not the visual story

When to show the interview shot

  • When presenting him/her to the audience
  • When expressing an emotion you want to show
  • When you are lacking other images

Avoid the latest

Before the interview

  • Find a location related to the character
  • Work on an idea of the shooting (archive stuff, things you make the person do, sound)

During the interview

  • How to make questions
  • Should she introduce herself?
  • Don't pose the most important questions at the beginning
  • Look at the inteviewee, not the camera

Remember...

  • Better showing than telling
  • A bad audio makes a bad story
  • Match the audio story and the visual story 

Sound

  • Use external micro 
  • If you can, use an external sound recorder
  • Record ambience sound

Music

  • Sets the mood
  • Don't use very well-known songs
  • Instrumental and minimalistic work better

Context info

  • Text on screen for context information
  • Short sentences
  • Leave enough time to read them

Transitions

Keep it simple:

  • Fade-in, fade-out
  • Cut

Formats

Export in:

  • H264 (video)
  • AAC, Mp3 (audio)
  • Don't tell if you can show
  • Show in an original way
  • Old standards don't always apply
  • Life is fascinating. Show it
  • Experiment. You never know until you try
  • Test it with people

Creating video for the web

By Eva Dominguez