In video, big impact is in the small touches

Every day we’re given a wide variety of videos to create that should guide the message and the aims of the businesses that we are working with. 

It’s the little touches that can speak a thousand words in a video. They can communicate the message clearly, while being playful to the brand; it makes it accessible to a wider audience.

When given a task for a client, video can’t simply be watched and edited in one session; it needs to be watched over and over to understand the message and the context of what it’s trying to get across to the viewer. It needs to interest the audience while also educating them on what the business is trying to convey.

But it also needs to conform to the right platform on social media. A ten-second video on Facebook misses the point for what the platform could bring to a business.

For example, St Barnabas Hospice had a huge influx of donations last month, and we were given a video to edit down into a ten-second splice.  This was intended to inform supporters they were pausing donations to their charity shops. Sometimes when you watch similar videos, there could be an influx of text that explicitly says; ‘We are taking no more donations at this time’.

The messaging comes across as robotic to the viewer. Instead, with collaboration from the team, we came up with an idea to have the effect of a VHS tape pause while the viewer would watch staff sort the piles of donations in their warehouse. It would then end with a short graphic that the donations are on pause to enforce the message further.

It’s playful, it’s relevant, and it also harkens to an example of what the outdated items donated to charity shops can be, such as VHS tapes and music cassettes. The slight flash of nostalgia is playful, but still relevant to the messaging at hand.

However, there’s other videos which could be crucial in getting the message across in under ten seconds. Instagram Stories are short videos that play up to ten seconds, so with advertising, it needs to communicate a message but not in a way that feels rushed. These are the types that could take up to three hours, because the message is crucial and the pacing is really important. One shouldn’t plaster the text of a brand’s message, it should show the topic at hand, but make it in the style of their best attributes.

There’s been plenty of platforms that have tried to take the crown of being the primary destination for video, from Vine to Snapchat. TikTok looks to be another platform where video is key in sending across the message of a business. It’s only in the last few months that the platform has gained relevance in the commercial sector, but it’s exciting to see what myself and the team could do here for businesses.

The videos that we edit every day have to have relevance to the platform and the brand, but it also needs to draw on the best attributes of the business. When you combine these with some inspiration, it makes for a video that we hope brings in engagement, but that still sets us apart from the rest when contributing to a campaign.