Stap isi

10 October 2008

Fancy running a film unit?

Online video — that’s where it’s at.

We’re talking about a technology popular not just with trouble making youth but more than 50% of Victorian government website users in 2007 – only email and text messaging ranked higher!

We know people are no longer reading significant quantities of text¹… but moving pictures and sound? No worries.

Except… we’re not doing it.

The call to action

As Local Government web developers, we really need to promote this format. Obviously the first step is to create some awareness among managers that:

• video can be made inhouse;
• video is as valid as a press release or a 500 word consultation outline; and
• YouTube is just another delivery channel (not the brown acid).

The benefits are:

• richer, more engaging messages;
• visitors spending longer on our sites (more exposure to supplementary information or links); and
• an opportunity to talk often, directly, personally, with constituents.

Exemplar

I’ve had a look at a fair range of government-produced videos, and you might want to look at 10 Downing Street using humour (not very successful, not sure if government and humour can really be done), Barnet Council producing a range of vox pops and an interesting video that sets the context for their ‘future’ management plan, South Norfolk Council advertising for a new Chief Executive or even Stratford District Council showing a canal bridge being taken down (why not).

But this Sydney Ferries Campaign video from the Maritime Union of Australia is a great example of what we could do. Smartly produced, putting employees and customers (‘people like us’) up front to tell the story, plus evocative shots of the local area (the Harbour) to really ‘place the message’.

(I also think every web team should have a ‘film unit’. I know I want one.)

Practicalities

You’re going to need (at least):

• camera – Sanyo Xacti or Flip? – and tripod
• microphone and/or audio recorder – iAUDIO X5 has been recommended to me for its recording quality and long battery life
• editing software – I’ve been doing some basic editing and encoding with avidemux
• a standard design for your intro, credits, etc
• knowledge of legal and procedural implications (release forms, copyright-free audio)
• some hands-on expertise and experience to put it all together

There’s a mass of codecs and tools out there and I still haven’t found a good simple workflow. Maybe someone can point to proven resources.

Cameras like the Flip allow for no-nonsense recording and uploading, but I haven’t had the opportunity to use one. Here’s Guardian journalist Jemima Kiss reviewing the Sony Reader recorded on a Flip.

Although it may make sense to outsource occasionally, getting the tools and the expertise to knock out video regularly is crucial.

Footnote

¹ Unreadable – Joe Clark, Scroll magazine Nº 1 (full text online soonish)

— b3rn   video   Oct 10, 11:27 PM   #

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