This week, I'm focusing on Dr. Howard's chapter on significance. I want to first talk about exclusivity in Facebook (because I know Reed loves Facebook soooo much). Back when I first got on Facebook, there was that exclusivity - not even my old college was allowed on Facebook at that point in time. And that bothered me. Yeah, I was in the "in-crowd," but what good was it going to do me if my friends weren't in the "in-crowd" as well? Then that school was allowed to get on Facebook. Awesome! Except now my friends down in P&A can't get on Facebook. Well crap. Again, I'm in the "in-crowd" and my friends aren't. Oh look! They've opened up Facebook so EVERYONE can be part of the "in-crowd!" Score! Oh wait, that means there is no more "in-crowd" -- there's no more exclusivity. So now I'm back to wishing some people couldn't get on Facebook so there would that exclusivity again. Now, sure the entirety of Facebook is open to anyone and it doesn't have that all-encompassing exclusivity it used to have, but that's ok. Facebook still has that exclusivity within "groups" and "fan pages" on Facebook. There you are the first to know. You have that insider look. Maybe that's why I keep Facebook even though I don't feel its exclusivity anymore. Or maybe I'm just too lazy to keep up with my friends in the normal way of letters, emails, or phone calls...
The next part of Facebook I'd like to talk about is Howard's section on "quality vs. quantity." I don't know how many of you remembered advertisements in the early days of Facebook when they were just starting to use them. They were always the same regardless of who you were. It was the quantity they were trying to push. Nowadays, the advertisements on either side of your screen are aimed at you, more or less, and they change whenever you change something about your profile. For instance, when I actually had time to go do swing dancing and those kinds of updates were typical for me, I would see advertisements for swing dance shoes, lessons, outfits, you name it! If it was related to swing, it was in my advertisements. Now, however, I see lots of wedding related advertisements and that happened LITERALLY the day I changed my status to engaged. These advertisements are somewhat tailored to me as someone planning a wedding and they seem to be on rotation so I see the same 5 or 10 advertisements instead of a variety of advertisements that are not related in the least.
That's about all I can think of saying about significance in Facebook without going on a full-blown exposition that could take days to read, so I think here is a good place to stop.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Web Design for Video Newbies
I titled this week's post "Web Design for Video Newbies" because, even though we read about web design, I think we can use these tactics (or at least these ideas) in our videos. I use the term "newbies" because in a world where digital technology (including video editing and the like) is constantly changing, we're all newbies all the time (whether we want to admit it to ourselves or not). Now, on to the actual content of this post. Like I said, I really think we can use the ideas from the reading this week in our upcoming movie project. To keep things consistent (and my A.D.D. at bay) I'm going to be focusing on Weinshenk's Neuro Web Design. This book is such a quick and easy read with lots of really great examples (and pictures to help us visual types).
The thing that got me really excited about taking this information and using it for our video project was the section on p. 81, From a Bucket of Water to a Cash Donation. If we could come up with something similar to this for our video, we could really make a difference in helping Stephanie to reach her goal and garner more assistance. The only problem now is how do we incorporate this idea? In the book, Weinshenk talks about an online trivia game that was used made so that each correct answer by the user garnered a bucket of water for a community in need. Obviously we can't do something of this nature. A) we aren't programmers and couldn't possibly fathom creating something of this magnitude. B) Stephanie needs more than just buckets of water. And C) to do this, we'd need to already have supporters lined up to give whatever we promise a user will be given (i.e. - the clean water game had to have already set up donors to give the water that the game's players were racking up to send).
So, how do we set up something like this? How do we make it resonate with the viewers in video form? We have to go back to the section on p. 75, Want to Cover your Lawn with a Big Ugly Sign? where Weinshenk talks about changing a small part of a person persona so it is easier to change an larger part of a persona. So maybe our first steps when planning the main video we're creating is to A) show a need and B) show how the viewer can do something small to get them to alter their persona. Easier said than done, right? Hopefully not. Hopefully this is a good jumping off point for ideas to circulate in class on Thursday.
The thing that got me really excited about taking this information and using it for our video project was the section on p. 81, From a Bucket of Water to a Cash Donation. If we could come up with something similar to this for our video, we could really make a difference in helping Stephanie to reach her goal and garner more assistance. The only problem now is how do we incorporate this idea? In the book, Weinshenk talks about an online trivia game that was used made so that each correct answer by the user garnered a bucket of water for a community in need. Obviously we can't do something of this nature. A) we aren't programmers and couldn't possibly fathom creating something of this magnitude. B) Stephanie needs more than just buckets of water. And C) to do this, we'd need to already have supporters lined up to give whatever we promise a user will be given (i.e. - the clean water game had to have already set up donors to give the water that the game's players were racking up to send).
So, how do we set up something like this? How do we make it resonate with the viewers in video form? We have to go back to the section on p. 75, Want to Cover your Lawn with a Big Ugly Sign? where Weinshenk talks about changing a small part of a person persona so it is easier to change an larger part of a persona. So maybe our first steps when planning the main video we're creating is to A) show a need and B) show how the viewer can do something small to get them to alter their persona. Easier said than done, right? Hopefully not. Hopefully this is a good jumping off point for ideas to circulate in class on Thursday.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Web Videos that are Made to Stick
This week was, again, very technical in nature. Possibly my favorite part of Bourne's Web Video was the section on continuity. In fact, I spent way too much time looking up continuity errors in my favorite movies stumbling upon blogs and short articles all over the internet about continuity errors (this is a good top 12 list ). It just goes to show how closely people are paying attention sometimes. And let me tell you, being a continuity director is not easy work. I was continuity director on a weekend shoot in Charleston where it was really cold in the morning and blazing hot in the afternoon. I had my little clipboard to write things down to ensure the continuity was correct, but I had a problem not with making sure the talent (and I use that term somewhat loosely) entered from the right direction and each item was discussed in each appropriate scene. Instead, I had a problem convincing the talent to endure wearing a light jacket for each scene because, as is usual when shooting any type of video, the shots were out of chronological order and all needed to look uniform (i.e. all with or all without the jacket). After much debate I realized it was a lost cause, so I checked my list and pinpointed exactly which scene we needed to see the talent take of the jacket and which scene the jacket needed to be put back on in order for the scenes to make sense without a jacket magically disappearing and reappearing.
The other section I found in this chapter of Web Video was the section on green screens. One of the hardest lessons to learn by trial and error is the green screen lesson...or in my case the blue screen lesson. I was told to make sure the subject didn't wear blue. So I told her that she wasn't allowed to wear blue. And she didn't. What I didn't account for was her eye color. You guessed it: blue. When I took the blue background out, I didn't notice any difference in her eye color (mostly because I wasn't looking for any difference in her eye color). However, when I went to put it a different background (in this case a black background with small silver bits "shimmering") I started watching and noticed something was happening with her eyes. If only I had had this section to tell me to check the subject's eye color...
On to Heath and Heath's Made to Stick; I really enjoyed the chapter on credibility...especially the "Where's the beef?" section. I don't know about anyone else, but I remember that commercial despite the fact that that particular campaign was launched the year before I was born...but I digress. I never really thought about that campaign using credibility to sell the product. I always assumed it was the cute, cantankerous old lady asking about the location of the beef. Looking back I can see that they were indeed putting the credibility of the commercial in the hands of the consumer. We can see that this is done a lot of times today. For example, a lot of companies tell their consumers to "come on in and see for yourself" that x, y, z is true about the company, product, service, whatever.
The chapter on emotional resonated with me from the very start with Mother Theresa's quote about helping one, not a much larger group. I find that this is true for just about everyone (especially beauty queens). What I mean by this is that a majority of people from politicians to beauty queens to singer/songwriters are always talking about helping others and world peace, etc. But it really does only start with one. For example, I don't know how many of you have pets or go to Petsmart regularly, but I do. I also see those commercials with Sarah McLachlan asking for donations to help all stray animals and animals and shelters. That's a lot of animals. But at Petsmart, you can help that one animal right there. You can see the animal and touch the animal and you can help it. I don't know about y'all, but I am more prone to give money every time I walk into Petsmart when they ask you at checkout because I know which animal my money is going to (or at least I like to think my money is going to help that animal right there...not some hypothetical animal an untold number of miles away).
This week there was a lot of reading and a lot of information to glean from all of this reading. I know this is a somewhat superficial post about the reading, but I'm afraid if I go on much longer I'm going to go on forever. Not to mention I'm sure someone else has already covered everything else I wanted to say and I'm sure no one wants to read duplicated posts if at all possible. So I think I will end it there and try to post other ideas as comments should the need arise.
The other section I found in this chapter of Web Video was the section on green screens. One of the hardest lessons to learn by trial and error is the green screen lesson...or in my case the blue screen lesson. I was told to make sure the subject didn't wear blue. So I told her that she wasn't allowed to wear blue. And she didn't. What I didn't account for was her eye color. You guessed it: blue. When I took the blue background out, I didn't notice any difference in her eye color (mostly because I wasn't looking for any difference in her eye color). However, when I went to put it a different background (in this case a black background with small silver bits "shimmering") I started watching and noticed something was happening with her eyes. If only I had had this section to tell me to check the subject's eye color...
On to Heath and Heath's Made to Stick; I really enjoyed the chapter on credibility...especially the "Where's the beef?" section. I don't know about anyone else, but I remember that commercial despite the fact that that particular campaign was launched the year before I was born...but I digress. I never really thought about that campaign using credibility to sell the product. I always assumed it was the cute, cantankerous old lady asking about the location of the beef. Looking back I can see that they were indeed putting the credibility of the commercial in the hands of the consumer. We can see that this is done a lot of times today. For example, a lot of companies tell their consumers to "come on in and see for yourself" that x, y, z is true about the company, product, service, whatever.
The chapter on emotional resonated with me from the very start with Mother Theresa's quote about helping one, not a much larger group. I find that this is true for just about everyone (especially beauty queens). What I mean by this is that a majority of people from politicians to beauty queens to singer/songwriters are always talking about helping others and world peace, etc. But it really does only start with one. For example, I don't know how many of you have pets or go to Petsmart regularly, but I do. I also see those commercials with Sarah McLachlan asking for donations to help all stray animals and animals and shelters. That's a lot of animals. But at Petsmart, you can help that one animal right there. You can see the animal and touch the animal and you can help it. I don't know about y'all, but I am more prone to give money every time I walk into Petsmart when they ask you at checkout because I know which animal my money is going to (or at least I like to think my money is going to help that animal right there...not some hypothetical animal an untold number of miles away).
This week there was a lot of reading and a lot of information to glean from all of this reading. I know this is a somewhat superficial post about the reading, but I'm afraid if I go on much longer I'm going to go on forever. Not to mention I'm sure someone else has already covered everything else I wanted to say and I'm sure no one wants to read duplicated posts if at all possible. So I think I will end it there and try to post other ideas as comments should the need arise.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Viral Infections of the Video Variety
The reading for this week, Bourne's Web Video, was quite technical, but useful as a reminder for me. I know I've mentioned that during undergrad here at Clemson I worked at Video Production Services (VPS) as a Video Editor/Digitizer (apparently that's the "official" job title). Reading this week, I see how useful this would have been to me when I first started out (although it is quite helpful now as a refresher course seeing as how I have since been moved to CCIT to work on websites). When I first started out, all of my training was "on the job" - thankfully I had great teachers! A lot of people have no idea that the department is down there or even what the department does. Let me explain what we do: everything; sports, documentaries, morning news-type shows, whatever you can imagine. We even work with big time Hollywood groups from time to time. One thing we didn't do while I was there, however, was create web videos.
Web videos were more of an afterthought for me. When I left VPS I didn't have a Mac (yet) or Final Cut Pro (yet) and had no idea how I was going to save some of the videos I did "for fun" on slow days at VPS. Then it hit me: post them on Youtube. So I did. I got responses on the videos I uploaded that I had done for previous projects, so I started to create videos explicitly for Youtube in my downtime. Some of these videos were created with B-roll that we happened to have around the office and royalty free music that we had in our rather large collection of royalty free music (once I realized Youtube would yank my videos down if I didn't use royalty free music and the artist objected to my video using their song...). My videos did fairly well, but had no clear audience. Then I did what Bourne says you should do: "[T]hink about how you plan to use the video and who will be watching it." (p. 19). It only took me a second to think, "Hey! We're in Clemson. Lots of people like Clemson. Lots of people like football. Lots of people LOVE Clemson football!" And my most successful (although still not viral) video was born. Maybe if I had marketed my video like Bourne says you should (p. 25), I would have enjoyed a larger viewership.
At any rate, I only have four videos on my Youtube channel, but my first video (which I did market to friends via email and on facebook) that was posted 3 years ago now has 35,508 views. Considering that video was made to put in a graduation video compilation my undergrad roommate and I had made to chronicle our years at Clemson and I had no intention of marketing it, it has done fairly well (not viral, of course, but well enough). I tell you this story to illustrate how easy it is to get a high number of viewership on a rather mundane video tidbit that wasn't intended for mass consumption -- now imagine how many more viewers I could have had, had I been able to read this book three years ago in time to properly make and market these videos that I put on Youtube. After reading this week, I feel the need to update my Youtube account and post more videos...except this time I'll market them better and maybe give myself a fighting chance for a viral video.
Web videos were more of an afterthought for me. When I left VPS I didn't have a Mac (yet) or Final Cut Pro (yet) and had no idea how I was going to save some of the videos I did "for fun" on slow days at VPS. Then it hit me: post them on Youtube. So I did. I got responses on the videos I uploaded that I had done for previous projects, so I started to create videos explicitly for Youtube in my downtime. Some of these videos were created with B-roll that we happened to have around the office and royalty free music that we had in our rather large collection of royalty free music (once I realized Youtube would yank my videos down if I didn't use royalty free music and the artist objected to my video using their song...). My videos did fairly well, but had no clear audience. Then I did what Bourne says you should do: "[T]hink about how you plan to use the video and who will be watching it." (p. 19). It only took me a second to think, "Hey! We're in Clemson. Lots of people like Clemson. Lots of people like football. Lots of people LOVE Clemson football!" And my most successful (although still not viral) video was born. Maybe if I had marketed my video like Bourne says you should (p. 25), I would have enjoyed a larger viewership.
At any rate, I only have four videos on my Youtube channel, but my first video (which I did market to friends via email and on facebook) that was posted 3 years ago now has 35,508 views. Considering that video was made to put in a graduation video compilation my undergrad roommate and I had made to chronicle our years at Clemson and I had no intention of marketing it, it has done fairly well (not viral, of course, but well enough). I tell you this story to illustrate how easy it is to get a high number of viewership on a rather mundane video tidbit that wasn't intended for mass consumption -- now imagine how many more viewers I could have had, had I been able to read this book three years ago in time to properly make and market these videos that I put on Youtube. After reading this week, I feel the need to update my Youtube account and post more videos...except this time I'll market them better and maybe give myself a fighting chance for a viral video.
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