“All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up” (Lessons Learned from a First Time Video Blog)
After doing my first video blog (vlog), I need to be self-critiquing and say that I wasn’t ready. In fact, I wish I could do it over…in a BIG way. Here’s what I got wrong what could have been done better:
The Opening
Introduce yourself, your blog name and address. If your video gets and separated from your blog you run the risk of people not knowing who you are or where you came from. More importantly, because it’s out of context from your blog, they won’t understand why you are talking about that particular subject.
Content
Talk about something that’s interesting to a lot of people or useful. Talking about something that most people might not understand or be interested in isn’t of value…nor will it lead to a viral life for your video.
Time
No one wants to hear anyone ramble on for 4 minutes unless it’s something totally fascinating (thank you all for being so nice in not pointing this out!).
Facial Expressions
It’s hard to put yourself out there in video let alone worry about facial expressions. But, let’s face it, controlling facial expressions and body language is important to appearing professional and appealing. And yet, you don’t want to look like a robot either. What can I say here but practice, practice, practice.
Branding
Select a video host like Viddler that allows you to put your logo on your video. Again, if it gets separated, people will know who you are. This is really only important if you don’t have a way to edit videos to add your logo, music, effects, etc.
Atmosphere
A home office isn’t really of visual interest, is it? Consider a set of some sort to provide an appealing locale. As well, props and background visuals add another layer of visual interest. You know what they say; an image is worth a thousand words.
More Tips
Li Evans at Search Marketing Gurus has a great post on how to add video into your on-line marketing strategy with some really valuable tips. Check it out…she’s a pro when it comes to utilizing video.
That’s my list of what to do better. What would you add?
[Photo: iStock]
Tags: online marketing, social media, video blog, vlog
9 Responses to ““All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up” (Lessons Learned from a First Time Video Blog)”
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don’t underestimate broadcast production techniques like lighting, chroma key, music beds, voice overs, into and outro moton graphics, and lower thirds. Content is most important of course, but dressed up content just looks better.
Finally, if you have to scrimp, scrimp on the video quality and spend $ on sound. People will watch poor quality video if the sound’s good.
I met Li at Pubcon last week. She had one of the better presentations on Social Media, with lots of supporting research.
Oh–and be careful when doing the “roving reporter” bit for a vlog; what may seem like light background noise to your ears may make the final video audio unintelligible.
Good tips, Beth. I’m going to start using lots of video on my blog in a second phase, probably in the new year now and I was wondering what I need to start thinking about. I too want to make it an interesting experience for readers but I think I’ll need to learn some new skills first.
I’m working on starting a video cast..
I think the way I’m conceptualizing it is a whole other planet from where you’re at.. So, maybe this would be helpful?
I think of film making as an art form.. So the first thing I want to do is get good at the art form. This means trying to get some kind of a grasp of film grammar, lighting, editing, sound recording for film, etc. Perhaps even “cinematic conception.” Somewhere in there.. how to perform in front of a camera is something again..
I tend to have that kind of attitude about things.. that a mistake is really.. well you will something and its a mistake to the degree that it deviates from you will, right? But I think a part of it is being open to what happens.. That what you’re making should have a life of its own.. so let it dictate what it wants to be..
I’m not sure if I’m expressing myself right, but you probably get the idea.
For me.. well.. you know.. I’m crazy.. so I figure “yeah, my home office could be interesting.” My home office looks like nuclear bomb blew up in the middle of it… It probably tells you a lot about me.. I mean.. I got these two big monitors here connected to a Mac Pro, behind me is a bass guitar and regular guitar.. keyboard to the side.. book shelf filled with stuff on web design, politics, culture.. and boxes of the software I use.. there’s a couple of canvases of not quite finished paintings.. magazines littered all over the place.. old candy bar wrappers.. clothing that really needs to make it’s way to the laundry room.. There’s even an Ozzy Osbourne banner on the wall from when I was in high school!
There’s clearly no “pretense of professionalism” in this madness… But it makes me think of something David Lynch said in some of the Blue Velvet extras.. about how you could never design a set too look like this..
It all makes sense for the story I want to tell.. And I think anyone shooting in there home.. that can say a lot about you, and who you are… and it certainly relates to a lot of our ideas about authenticity in social media..
So is it visually boring? Well that probably depends on where you put the camera, and what you do with that camera.. or perhaps cameras.
But for me its like.. Not that I’d want to present myself as unprofessional.. but I don’t want to be boring.. I want to somehow stand out..
There are values I have.. just as a human being.. I have my personality idiosyncrasies.. bad attitudes about certain things.. and whatever.. And I think shining a light on that sorta thing can be powerful.
Another issue, I think, is what’s the attitude of what your doing? I mean you’re talking about facial expressions and body language.. I think being a raving maniac can work.. depending on what you’re going for.. and how you go about it.
I think the more you kind of explore and experiment.. the more you come to developing a unique voice.. So I guess my advice is not to so much say “I shouldn’t do this” but maybe.. “do what you shouldn’t do more.”
What I mean is.. well its sorta like the more you do something the better at it you get.. so a lot of times we say “well that does work” about something.. but its only because we never saw someone do that something who was really good at it. So.. when we are just learning.. and we try to do something. .and it doesn’t work.. it could be that it’s just because our muscles in that area are flabby.
So I don’t know if any of this is of any help or not.. hope it is..
In any event.. good luck with your future video blogging adventures.
matt
Yeah I must do something about my home office. I can always see it there in the background and makes me shudder. Of course, finding an alternative may be tricky. I will let you know how I go
@SteveLubetkin, chroma keys and outro moton graphics?!?! Danger, Will Robinson!! Kidding. Um, do I need to worry about these things when I am just using a Flip? Seriously hope not. The worst thing with sound is when your lips are moving and the sound comes 5 seconds later. Bad.
@KatFrench, Li is a great speaker and passionate about SEO and Social Media, we can all learn a great deal from her. Uh, oh. Just did the roving reporter deal…I’ll have to see how they videos turned out.
@MatthewBennett, Given what you blog about, you might want to really consider a translation of the video into text too (as well as English/Spanish, maybe??). It’s just a good practice and it’ll help with your SEO. I can’t wait to see what you come up with in 2009! Please be sure to let me know, okay?
@MattSearles, WOW! Okay. Can I just say that I loved your comment?? And thank you for putting so much time and effort into it. So, are you just saying to be myself? LOL!
I feel a lot better now…especially since my office is A LOT tidier than yours and no Ozzy posters. Here’s the thing about being ‘professional’ (and maybe that’s the wrong word), I noticed that I roll my eyes…a lot. And make faces. Now I am wondering if I make them all the time…and what people must think!
@GavinHeaton, well, if it’s any consolation, Matt’s office looks like a nuclear bomb went off in it. Good luck with the clean up!
I am thinking the kitchen might work better. Some pots, pans, a whisk…oh, no, wait, that’s Rachel Ray’s gig.
It could be that when you hit the record button it makes you self conscious / talking into a camera is a little different then talking to a human being. I think just kinda practicing / playing around can kinda help..
It’s best, probably, to treat all this kind of thing as a serious sort of playing.. Or that’s my feeling anyway..
When I’m in front of a camera, at best, I try and just be present.. if that quite makes sense. And I try not to make any judgements about it till latter… preferably when I’m not feeling too judge mental!
I can never tell in the moment, or even close to the moment, if its crap or not. Weird ticks.. and whatever, they’re telling a story.. kinda like biometrics in a lye detector test.. the question is if they are telling the right story..
I did this one recording where I talked about difficult things from my childhood, and in that context.. the ticks where expressive of the reality I thought I was failing to convey. In that context, even having trouble bringing up certain memories could be expressive.
But yeah, I think in the end being your self really is the thing.
matt
Congrats on the first video blog, Beth. That’s a big step!
I picked up a Flip Mino about a month ago, partly for home video, but partly with the intention of posting the occasional video blog post. Glad to see you’re making the move, too!
@MattSerles, thanks for adding more to the conversation…but, of course you are right. Being in front of the camera makes everyone self-conscience (I would think). I appreciate you sharing your additional insights and personal experiences too!
@ScottHepburn, thanks! Let me/us know when you do your first vlog, would love to check it out and see what you do.