‘Can see the headlines now – G20 Security Couldn’t Stop Earthquake’

‘Was the CN Tower always at that angle?’

‘The earthquake in Toronto was just thousands of England fans jumping back on the bandwagon’

‘Widespread disappointment across Toronto at news that it was not, in fact, the epicenter of the quake’

‘The earthquake triggered a tsunami at the G20 fake lake’

‘…the garbage strike, G20, and now an earthquake?? Seriously Toronto grow up’

My marine biologist brother sent me a link yesterday to Jove – the Journal Of Visualized Experiments.   It’s a peer reviewed video journal for biological research.   It’s another sign the benefits of online video are being recognized outside the realm of waterskiing squirrels.   If the ‘profiling of extracellular polysaccharides’ can be explained with video, what can’t.

When I talk to people about leaving television to produce online video content (http://bit.ly/cJBfh4 or http://bit.ly/a3mWTo) some common myths arise.  Foremost, that online video is “entertainment.” Of course it is, but there is great value and influence beyond the amusing, and yes, even beyond YouTube.  Video can provide an incredible tool to leverage in business, healthcare, defence, non-profit work,  and education.

Benefits of Video:

INFLUENCE –  Video is the most powerful communication tool, because people react to visuals more than text.

TRUST – People trust what they see.  And who they see.

VALUE – Video proven to increase perceived value, interest and conversion.  The mystique, emotion, and potent storytelling ability of video influences behaviour like no other medium.

UNDERSTANDING – Picture says 1000 words x 30 frames per second.  Conveys vast amount of intangible information text can’t.

DEPLOYMENT – ‘Bottle’ the best people and assets, and deploy it to senior decision makers directly.   Allows stakeholders to simply ‘click this video link.’

COMPETITIVE EDGE – It is a progressive thing to do.

More importantly, it is quickly becoming a question of relevance.  Which I will elaborate on in my upcoming post ‘Generation V for Visual – the most visual, video-obsessed generation, ever’

Mike Edgell

www.mikeedgell.com

edgell(@)thornleyfallis.com

social media, online video production, Toronto, multimedia

This is Conan at his best – talking about life after the Tonight Show in the most candid tone we’ve seen.  And how social media tools like Twitter have changed the communications landscape.  Most of all, good for a few laughs!

It’s also another example of the kind of content we can enjoy now.  This wouldn’t have been broadcast on network tv, but over the weekend I used the Playon server to pipe it through my xbox 360 into my big screen tv.   Conan even questions whether network tv will be around in 5 years.

“The Future is Here:  Next is Now” (for Rogers Communications in Canada) was one of those video production concepts that sounded like it ‘should work.’  But nobody knew – for sure.   In hindsight, we’re thrilled with how it turned out, but it wouldn’t be new and innovative as a production style if it was guaranteed to work.   Nor as much fun.  Thanks to our colleagues and client for having faith.  

We knew there had been an appetite for online video content driven by technology and social media stats.  But there was little desire to replicate that.  And besides, the ‘Did You Know’ type videos were missing some humanity, that emotional visual narrative and story arc I’m soo huge on. 

So why not project factoids on real people and things.  Which several camera tests later turned out to be easier said than done.  We had originally considered using gobos (projecting light through a shape) but realized we needed alot more slides and alot more flexibility.  So we ended up with a digital projector – sorry to ruin the magic but it was the projector from our office at Thornley Fallis / 76design in Toronto. 

So off I went with my shooter to shoot onto the side of a moving subway car.  Lesson 1:  power inverter not enough – loud gas guzzling generator would be needed for our projections.   Lesson 2:  stay clear of sonic boom like backfire.

Our guys produced some test slides, but we realized what a challenge readability was becoming.   To read and digest complex data is one thing, but add the distractions of real life urban landscapes, and light and dark contrast all over the place, and it was hard for the viewer too absorb anything. 

More tests.

We eventually found the right tolerance of distraction and contrast, and we’re happy if most people can digest most of the data.  To enhance the readability in post-production, we played with the contrast and also key frames to slice and dice our framing.

So I think/hope we succeeded on the readability side, but even more important that people ‘feel’ the visual story that is unfolding.

Enjoy Next is Now and share it with anyone interested in this stuff.

Mike Edgell

edgell(at)thornleyfallis.com

Maybe its still too fresh.  The launch of the iPad is still giving some tech geeks hot flashes. Leaving others cold.

But competition is (news flash) a good thing.   Today (April 5th) HP was boasting on its Voodoo blog that their entry into the tablet market will fill holes the iPad will apparently, at least in the short term, leave vacant.

–HP’s Voodoo blog/April 5th:

“Think about the last time you chatted with friends over Skype on your notebook. Or uploaded a picture from your mobile phone to Facebook or Flickr. How about the last time you viewed images or video from an SD card or a USB device. We know that you expect to be able to capture and share digital content on your mobile devices. And the HP slate device excels there.”

For anyone with the need, or lust for a tablet, its all, as the kids say, good.

Several hardware makers are lining up in the gate.  And today, with the runaway success of devices such as the Blackberry, it might be harder, to get a head start.

The most important thing is that we are creating (or fulfilling, save debate for another time) a need for visuals.   Whether its the iPad or HP Slate or any of the others, text won’t be enough.   People will demand faster, easier access to their multimedia and online video.  And if that requires a  USB port, you better offer it.

Actors will always have a role to play.  But real people are the most influential in the world of online video content.

Everything you have heard about social media applies here.  More authentic.  Real.  About sharing real stuff.

Well, the people we interviewed for this series about Alzheimer’s disease are the ultimate representatives of that philosophy.  Their experiences with a dreadful disease are rich and deep.   They were willing to share their stories to help others.  Fictional programs like Gray’s Anatomy will always make people feel something, but in my opinion, it is a superficial glow compared to a story from a real person.

Watch Jim talk about  being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at just 58 years old.   Sandra talks about conflict with her own mother before they had a proper diagnosis.  Jane talks about her father’s denial.  And Sybil about her close friend.

These are the stories that will mean something in the online video space.  Sure, they might not compete with the latest water skiing pet, or dorm room prank.  But what I’m most interested in as a producer is something that can affect someone.   Help someone rather than just making them laugh.  A gag is an easy way to get attention, and there’s an appetite for that, but let’s not get lazy about storytelling, and producing content that is meaningful.  We just have to work harder to flag that content for people who can benefit, especially for a demographic that is not as tech-obsessed.

So feel free to share the links to friends, parents or grandparents dealing with memory issues, or just questions.

In the coming weeks, I’ll add some more posts about our video production techniques on this project.  How did we get that low angle dolly shot on the “Coping with Denial’ piece?  Stay tuned.

Mike Edgell

www.mikeedgell.com

http://www.youtube.com/user/OnMemoryCanada

How many times have we seen the seatbelt safety crash simulation – slo mo crumpled steel and shattered glass.   The modern audience is a jaded bunch, we have -seen it all-.  So what does it take visually to shake people from their complacency.  The Sussex Safer Roads Partnership in the UK took a different approach.  Take a look.  I have to admit in the early going, I thought it was a tad high on the cheese meter, but this piece builds and overcomes melodrama with a single effective idea.   It tells a story and makes parents everywhere think about consequences.  Do you think it is effective or overly saturated with melodrama?

From Joseph Thornley about socialmediators.ca

“Each week, Terry Fallis, Dave Fleet and I will talk about social media, ubiquitous connectivity and their impact on communication, organizations and society. We’re always on, always connected. How are we taking advantage of the new capablities that gives us? And how is that affecting the way we relate to one another and how we organize around common interests? Finally, what does that mean for traditional organizations – companies, cause-based groups and government?

In this first episode, we talk about the concept of personal brand. Terry, David and I will be serving as mentors at the upcoming Personal Brand Camp 2 that Michael Cayley is organizing for the Humber College social media students. So, we talk about some of the issues relating to personal branding and our concern that young people not build an artificial brand online, but instead make sure that their personal brand reflects the same person they’d see when they look in the mirror – their real self.

We also talk about how Thornley Fallis’ new Online Communications Policy guides our employees to understand that what they do in their private online spaces reflects on the judgment they exercise in the workplace and, by extension, on the company.

You can watch the podcast here or subscribe to the RSS feed directly on the Social Mediators Website – socialmeditors.ca

After you’ve watched the episode, please leave a comment. Let me know what you think of it. What topics would you like us to cover in the future? What guests would you like us to interview?

You can leave a written comment below or a webcam comment on the Social Mediators video blog.

This is a fun video I put together in the office this morning, using an outtake of not so wild and crazy guy Terry Fallis with a bowl on his head.

I’m really poking a bit of fun at the number of nominees for Best Picture at the Oscars this year- 10!

Enjoy.

This amazing demo from Sports Illustrated illustrates something I believe in deeply.  The future of online communication is visual.   It is human nature.   We are visual beasts.

People have been hooked on television for 70 years for a reason.  Online video is the fastest growing medium in history for a reason.  YouTube became the second biggest search engine overnight for a reason.  Here’s a great quote that someone contributed to an online forum:

“Video works because it cuts to the absolute core of our biological being.  Movement, colour, animation and sound grabs us.  We seek truth and understanding through visual recognition.  Most of us think and dream in pictures, not text.  We possess complex visual faculties, which can instantly delineate near-infinite information.”

As a result there is great measurable value in the most visual of multimedia elements, video.

The Value of Video – Picture says 1000 Words x 30 FPS

An aggregation of research illustrating the power of video to increase value and conversion in a wide variety of sectors:

-comScore – “Video viewers are 20% more likely to make a purchase” (online services, home, living, apparel, accessories, books, music, electronics, computing)

-Video most effective multimedia tool: Survey (Video 64% vs. Photos 52%, Graphics 47%, Webinars/slides 45%, Audio MP3’s 28%) (1)

-Interchange Solutions – Since introducing video, sales force closing 25% more deals

-Real estate industry survey – $407,839 home valued at $432,329 when seen on video (2)

-In retail sector, after viewing online video:  55% checked out web site, 30% went to store; 24% made a purchase. (3)

-After seeing video, 52% of viewers “took action,” 28% looked for more information on product or service, 16% purchased. (4)

-Conversions from site visitor to sale improve 15% (5)

-Zappo’s retailer – 6-30% increase in conversions

-Conversion lift after using video (ShopNBC.com +200%, eBags +50-138%, Ice.com +40%, Wet Seal +200%)

MarketingSherpa Social Media Marketing PR Benchmark Survey

1. Survey methodology by Northwestern University/PropertyPreviews
2. The Kelsey Group, U.S. Local Video Forecast, June 2008
3. Online Publishers Assoc./Marketing Sherpa, Video Marketing Survey, Nov. 2008
4. Internet Retailer, June 2009

Email me for more info about this blogpost, or online video content production in general:

Mike Edgell |   Executive Producer & Senior Consultant

edgell@thornleyfallis.com

Thornley Fallis & 76design

http://www.thornleyfallis.com/people/mike-edgell

www.mikeedgell.com

SOCIAL MEDIA-VIDEO CONTENT-PRODUCTION-COMMUNICATIONS-WEB DEVELOPMENT