Video is Pushing Aside Writing... and Sometimes That REALLY Annoys Me!
Maybe it's just me, and maybe I am just getting old, but it increasingly seems to me that the video format is taking over from "the written word" on the web.
I realize that some of my protestations are rooted in purely personal reasons-- I happen to be a writer, and I come across as pretty much a lump of aging clay, when in front of the camera.
As DTube becomes ever more popular around here... and I find myself faced with more and more video content... I just wanted to have a short rant about why this may not be all it's cracked up to be.
Because It's EASY!
Apple Blossoms
I get the argument that recording a video clip is easy, and it makes content "accessible" to those who don't like to write, or aren't very good at it, and to those who don't particularly want to read things. Pretty much every electronic device from your phone to your camera and everything in between has video capacity.
In a sense, this is just a perfect representation of how the world is getting an ever shorter span of attention.
And yet... IS it?
Personally, I find most video harder to process. You can only watch a video clip as fast as the person is narrating, and I come from a generation who learned to read a lot of lengthy content... and I can typically speed read my way through the written transcript of a video in about 1/5th the time it takes to watch.
The "Sloppiness Factor"
Now don't get me wrong! There are some very good and very professional video presenters out there, so this particular point is not about you!
Yellow lupine
That said, a lot of video content is just sloppy. And-- call me grumpy, if you must-- I don't have time to watch your sloppiness.
What do I mean?
Well, it's an 8-minute clip, and the first 30 seconds is you trying to get the right angle on your camera to where the light doesn't make it look like you're in a dungeon. And then you say "Oh shit, I forgot my coffee!" and head off-camera for 15 seconds. Then you come back and arbitrarily talk about your breakfast for 30 seconds, then do a sudden headache pan to show something cute your dog is doing... and then at about the 2:30 mark you finally say "Today I wanted to talk about..."
Which you then do, for about three minutes-- with a few interruptions for random reasons-- before then taking another 90 seconds to actually close out your clip.
I'm sorry, but that is just irritating. And I am not going to sit through your random meander through your thought process. And I especially don't have eight minutes to give you for what is essentially three minutes of content!
The Spontaneity Factor
Heart of a tulip
Now, I appreciate that video may seem appealing because you can spontaneously create something "on the spur of the moment," but PLEASE! Learn some editing skills!
One of the downsides of the video format is that you get a lot of "irrelevant stuff" that you generally just don't get in most written content. And publishers seem to cut themselves more slack with video, than with writing.
Not OK!
Hold yourself to the same standards of quality you'd hold yourself to with writing!
That said-- have fun with DTube! As @surfermarly posted recently, it may be the Steemit app with the greatest potential for growth.
What do YOU think? Do you do any video content? Would you like to try? Would you use video as a "flow-of-consciousness tool, or would you edit the content to stay "on point?" Do you see the video format as opening a door to more "sloppy" content? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!
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Created at 180119 10:20 PST
As a rule, I don't watch videos. For exactly the reasons you lay out. I don't want to wait 3 minutes for them to get to the point, typically the content in a 20 minute video could be outlined in a few paragraphs and read in a few minutes. It's gonna be a real important video for me to watch it.
It's especially irritating when there is little or no text to accompany the video to even go give me an idea if it's worth my time.
Steem on :)
Yeah, the lack of descriptive text definitely bugs me, too. If there were at least a required summary, I could make a slightly more informed decision.
Sometimes the fact that typing something out is "a hassle" works in its favor, in the sense that people force themselves to get to the point.
Such. Good. Points! I'm a writer, but I also have a background in film. I prefer to read written posts, for the most part, for many of the reasons you've stated. I also prefer to WRITE posts for the same reasons. I find it easier to edit my words than to edit my video, or get it right the first time.
If someone's video doesn't capture me from the get-go and hold my attention the whole time, I'm not going to make it to the end. Yet I can skim a post quickly, pick out the info that is relevant to me, and get more out of it than many video posts.
I'm not saying I don't like video. A powerful, professionally produced video (even if on a smartphone) can be way better than rambling writing. It's a balance of choosing the right media for the message, and delivering it as clearly as possible. Great post!
Well, you have a background in film so I would also expect you to understand the value of editing... and the fact that you need to make your point in about 2-3 minutes, OR have a supremely intriguing intro that really captures people.
And then, of course, there's the length thing. As writers we know the dreaded TL;DR... but video seriously needs a TL;DW for long rambly assemblages of "personal-thoughts-while-stoned." For the most part, stoners make really poor videographers. Just my opinion...
I'm a screenwriter. Love the written word! But it appears imaginations aren't what they used to be so film easily fills in the blanks as it numbs the mind!
You're also a professional, @brian-rhodes, with a long career and a body of work to lend credence to your words.
I would imagine the "easy of access" in film and video gives you cause to rather frequently shake your head in wonderment at what gets produced-- just like there probably are some extraordinary gold nuggets that occasionally show up out of nowhere.
It's definitely a two-way street, from where I am sitting.
I don't disagree. I'm often astonished at what gets produced for the screen but more particularly how producers undershoot the emotional and spiritual intelligence of the audience. So little moves the markers towards understanding the human condition.
Lol, people are getting lazy nowadays and reading is work. I'm a full time content producer, and even good photos aren't cutting it anymore. Everything has to be moving and catchy...which takes away from a lot of the spontaneity of stills and writing. And the editing...ugh.
To make a good 1 minute clip you need at least 15 minutes of footage to clip it together well. Then you need to think about sound. Is it the right music, does it build right, end right, does it hit the beats at the right time...
But, you gotta move with the times and appeal to people, even if that means switching your medium a bit. Maybe think about how to combine what you love to do and what people want?
Best of luck! :)
Maybe people are lazy, and maybe we just are suffering from information overload because there is just SO MUCH stuff coming across our screens every single day.
Good video takes time. I know this-- my wife created short clips for her non-profit organization with the help of our daughter who went to film school. And yes, we often have 30 minutes of footage to create a clip that should come in just under two minutes... which seems to be most people's general attention span.
Another guideline to follow is that it takes about an hour of filming to get an minute of finished video.
And I agree that people are suffering from overload. I mean just between social media and email, not even counting Youtube or something, people spend way too much time just looking at stuff. It definitely skews how we think about content.
LOL I have to agree with you on most of this...
Most times if it is just a video with no written text I don't bother watching.
Makes me wonder if perhaps there are just those of us more in tune with the academic side than the visual.
I guess it just bugs me because it feels like I am wasting a bunch of time just trying to figure out whether to give it my attention.
With a written piece, you can usually scan it, or scan sub headings... and then make an informed choice.
You need a lot more focus to read an article.
Something about video, pulls our focus, and we don't have to put in the effort.
But, I like to focus, and get deep into subjects. And for that, you need the written word. A book easily turns into a mini-series, and it still doesn't get across all the information.
The mediums that we have available to us today are great, and becoming greater. And each one has its pluses and minuses. Like with comics you can show the facial features, the expression. And, that is conveyed in one second, instead of using an entire paragraph to tell about the posture, and the frown, and the bunched eyebrows.
On the other hand, if you are trying to convey the similarities of two concepts... good luck trying to draw that.
In a sense, that's true. Although with video, I find myself struggling to absorb ANYthing unless Every. Single. Moment. Is. Interesting. I zone out and then have to go back and rewatch. With writing, I get it the first time... but that may also be my age and what I grew up being used to.
What you said...(and what I said...and what everyone else said) is why I generally don't bother with videos.
I've learned over the last few decades the mouth isn't connected to the brain that well. I've seen a lot of 'speak first, think later'(if ever)...writing requires a bit more thought...
so....no...
I'll continue to mostly skip the videos.
There's about ten people on Steemit who do decent video, which is not a lot compared to the thousands who talk at a camera on this platform. Mostly, I just want them to get OFF my screen.
I'm only aware of two.
and they are both homesteaders..
I have been as well, not worth my limited time on the internet.
I just wish anarchists wouldn't insist on recording their video logs from their dirty cars.
Yeah, there's that. Parked out in the middle of nowhere, talking about something... I keep waiting for them to put on their tinfoil hats! Of course, then there are the other ones who use 80% of their air time to point out that they are recording from their hot tub at some swank resort while being baked senseless...
I can't help but be distracted by the Wendy's wrappers and car seats.
I agree...just the fax ma'am...I don't give a damn why...all I'm interested in is what.
and hold the damn camera still...I'm getting vertigo.
LOL Or when they drop the camera and fumble to pick it up!
wind noise is one of my particular favorites.
ditto, just how expensive is a wind muffler....
Yeah, the whole "Cinema Verité" style has to go. Discussing your taco is no Hollyweird and it's not art...
Absolutely agree. But the same can be said of sloppy, freewriting that is not organised well, that doesn't get to the point, is not formatted right.
But, I'd still prefer sloppy written content over a video. I simply refuse watching video... I guess I'm not missing out on much :)
With video - if I can be arsed looking - I give them about30 seconds to see if I get engrossed - so if they do an intro, that's all over!
I can pretty much take or leave freewriting. I can appreciate it as a useful writing exercise, on the other hand I have my questions about publishing your practice pieces unless it's part of some group exercise.
Yes, absolutely agree. And the same goes for video.