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Talking Heads are Dead (or dying)
Web video. Something we are all familiar with. YouTube, Facebook video, Daily Motion, Vimeo - the list could go on and on. There’s plenty of video of cats and copyrighted material, but just occasionally there’s something new and different.
That’s what I’ve found on The Verge - they are looking at web video in a new way.
Let me explain further. Video is something plenty of websites do, but oh how poorly do they do it! Mashable and Android Central have just jumped head and shoulders into video. That’s what they have. Some person, not even a writer on the site (or not famous enough to be known). A random that reads the news in front of a green screen. Just the head and shoulders visible with an obvious green screen behind them, and some digital graphics flying around. They are just starting to do this now. I was experimenting with this over two years ago! They have plenty of investment and they are only trying this now? It’s old, it’s boring and people will turn off. It doesn’t make you stand out from the opposition. I shows a lack of understanding about web video and what works.
Video is now about high res, real surroundings, and simple graphics (often animated) that appear like they are part of those real surroundings. Most importantly though, there’s no longer a static talking head. It’s voice of God, not to be seen only heard narration, or a roaming camera following the interviewer whilst talking (rather than interviewing) a subject. The Verge’s video reviews are easily the best example of this. Watch the Xoom 2 review above. The animations are my favourite. It’s clever, yet simple. It’s the future of web video.
Oh and just as an aside, I’ve started video editing again in my spare time. With a more powerful editing system I’m going to put some of what I preach into practice and release some videos of my own. But that’s an aside, take in the above message, no talking head, no green screen! Think outside the box.
