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