Chapter 6: Deciding on a Look and Feel
6. Remember to save your project after you import the clip (Ô+S)
Keeping it short and sweet
The key to remember is that the shorter your reusable credits or ID clip is, the better. The longer your make that clip, the more likely people are to stop watching your vlog just because they think the intro is too long.
Here’s an example: I listen to podcasts, of course, and I recently timed one of my favorite podcast’s introductory sound clips. It was 30 seconds long — the time of an average commercial on television. In 30 seconds, I can get a drink of water. I can brush or floss my teeth (not very well).But more to the point, in 30 seconds, I can change the channel! Now, this particular podcast is usu- ally just as long as my commute, so I’ll listen to the 30 seconds of noise just so I can hear the rest of the show. But if my hands weren’t on the wheel, I’d fast-forward right through it!
Any time your vlog isn’t providing something immediate that your viewers value a lot, it’s wasted time for them. Your videoblog’s look and feel, though important to you and to your online identity, is not very valuable to your viewers after the first time they see it.
Of course, there is one sure-fire way around that — vary the clip every time you use it. The Simpsonsdoes this with the couch sequence in the opening Figure 6-8:
Drag the closing clip into place in the timeline.
145
Chapter 6: Deciding on a Look and Feel
credits — there isn’t a Simpsonsfan alive who hasn’t said “Rewind — I didn’t see the couch!” at some point. Running gags and creativity go a long way towards adding value to your vlog!
Now, there are some viewers who would love to have longer vlogs to watch, up to 10 minutes or more. But those folks aren’t talking about putting in a 30-second opening title sequence — they want 10 minutes of real, honest-to- goodness vlog content, and that’s a lot of time to fill.
How long will your audience watch your video clip? About as long as it takes them to reach for the mouse button and click the fast-forward button, or use their mobile device’s interface to skip ahead (and for the computer or device to respond). In other words, about one to four seconds.
Yep — you read that right. You have less than four seconds to push your video logo image at the viewer. If it takes just about as long to let your titles run as it does to fast-forward, then your audience will leave the button alone and receive your brand impression.
If you want an ideal workaround to beat the fast-forward button, get your video logo to be short enough so you can fit the credits into the samefour seconds. That way, by the time your audience has realized the opening cred- its are over, the video logo really will beover, and the content will be rolling!
Always preview your vlog entry before posting it to make sure it flows well.
This is especially true when you’ve recently added an identifying clip to your vlog, so you can test out how long the video logo seems to be and whether it seems to drag.
So, to keep your video logo short and sweet, keep the following in mind:
⻬Trim it down to one idea or image or animation plus your URL.
⻬Consider varying your video logo slightly each time so viewers will want to watch.
⻬Keep your video logo to under four seconds long.
⻬Use animation to keep viewer interest engaged.
⻬Insert a sound bite or music to reinforce the brand impression, even if the user looks away for a moment.
Chapter 7
Putting Yourself in the Limelight
In This Chapter
䊳Understanding and overcoming stage fright — and vid fright 䊳Getting comfortable vlogging with yourself on screen 䊳Turning the camera away from yourself
䊳Working with actors and interview subjects
Not everyone is a natural in front of the camera, including many
videobloggers. This chapter talks about becoming comfortable in front of the camera, and how to get other people comfortable as well.
Understanding Vid Fright
Vid frightis another word for stage fright in front of a camera. It’s a little dif- ferent from traditional stage fright — after all, you can’t actually see your audience — but it’s a very similar response.
Where vid fright comes from
Vid fright — and stage fright — comes from fear, which is a very primitive emotional response to certain types of stress. For instance, a lot of people get stage fright because they are afraid of looking stupid in front of a lot of people, or they’re scared of what they see as exposure to confrontation (“If I open my mouth, everyone will realize what a fraud I am!”). There are very few naturally comfortable public speakers in the world; even the most comfort- able speakers have an emotional response to speaking, though they become more energized, rather than frozen when it happens.
One of the best tips for overcoming stage fright is to somehow humanize your audience, either by selecting two or three individuals to look at while you speak, or by visualizing them all looking or acting in ways that are even more embarrassing than the way you feel.
Vid fright has an additional dimension — you cannot see your audience, just the cold, staring lens of the camera. Okay, that might be comforting if you don’t like talking to people — but if your strategy for overcoming stage fright is to humanize your audience, that’s really hard when your audience is repre- sented by a machine. I’m a comfortable public speaker and enjoy talking to large groups of people, but the first time I stared into that glassy lens, I said,
“umm . . .” and froze up. It took three takes to get my 30-second introduction out. But take heart — here’s the good news:
⻬For lots of folks, talking into a camera lens gets easier with practice.
⻬Videoblogs aren’t live events. Even if you absolutely freeze up the first time, you can keep going, and edit the clip later.
After you’ve made a short introduction video (as described in Chapter 4), you never again have to put yourself on that side of the lens again if you really don’t want to. For that matter, a large number of photographers and cinematographers are in the business becausethey’re camera-shy. If you’re the one holding the camera, you don’t have to be on screen.
Determining your comfort level in front of the lens
When an actor auditions for a role in a TV show or movie, he or she goes through a screen test to see how comfortable he or she is on-camera. Even reality TV shows perform screen tests, because if you cannot get comfortable with the lens, you won’t be reliable enough to keep looking real (so to speak) during filming, and when filming a TV show or movie, every second costs money.
The best way to find out how comfortable you are is to just do it — so this section provides a series of screen tests to help you find out how comfort- able you are when you’re videoblogging. Unlike a screen test for a movie, however, the resulting video won’t be subjected to nitpicking scrutiny (though you can do that later if you want to). That’s because your audition isn’t to see how confident you look, but rather how confident you feel.
After you finish with the screen test, take a moment to check yourself and rate how the experience made you feel. Use a simple 1–5 scale like this one:
1. This screen test left me cool as a cucumber — I could do that all day!
2. I have a lot of nervous energy, but I’m good to go again.
3. I’m okay, but I’d rather not do that again soon.
4. I need to lie down — that was exhausting and terrifying.
5. Where’s the nearest hospital?
If the screen test you just performed made you feel uncomfortable, shaky, or worse, you know that’s an area you need to work on to become more com- fortable, or perhaps that’s an area you may want to avoid entirely in your videoblog.
For some people, stage fright is so debilitating, it can cause actual physical reactions like panic attacks — and can exacerbate existing health conditions.
If your reaction to the narration exercise in this chapter required you to lie down, you may want to consult a therapist for help in overcoming severe stage fright.
The following subsections describe the different types of screen tests you should try out to determine how you want to approach your videoblog.
Screen test: Narrating a videoblog
First, take your video camera and go find something to shoot — preferably not a human being. It could be your pet, or a nearby park, or something neat about your home. As you film it, narrate what you’re filming and provide commentary about what you’re showing the viewer.
When you turn the camera off, take a second and do a quick check of your- self. Is your heart racing? Did you sweat? Are you shaking? Do you want to just cry? Rate your reaction, using the 1–5 scale presented earlier (in the
“Determining your comfort level in front of the lens” section).
If your reaction was a 4 or a 5 (extremely nervous and uncomfortable), then you’ll want to stick to more introspective, artistic videoblog entries, or enlist a friend to serve as your videoblog’s on-air talent, the way Amanda Congden serves as the host of Rocketboom (you never see the camera crew for Rocketboom).
Screen test: Getting in front of the camera by yourself
The next task is similar to the introduction described in Chapter 4 — and you can use that experience if you remember it well in this exercise. If not, just set up the camera and stand in front of it by yourself. Talk about something you did today (other than reading this book), or give a short review of a movie you saw or a book you read recently.
When you’re done, turn off the camera, and rate how the experience made you feel, using the 1–5 scale presented in the “Determining your comfort level in front of the lens” section.
149