More ideas for bad videos

["Peter Neilson" <neilson -at- windstream -dot- net>]

On occasion a "corporate image" designer gets his hands on video or  
website production. In my limited experience that means the first thing  
the viewer sees is meaningless swirly artwork, or maybe pictures of the  
headquarters building. And that's not on just ONE video, landing page or  
book cover, but on every single one of them. They all look the same!

My reaction to that kind of video? "How can I skip over this stuff?" Or,  
"Time to get a snack while this junk rolls through." Fortunately there is  
usually music or a mellow voice, the ending of which signals the beginning  
of the actual material I wanted to see. (Not true, though, for HR-mandated  
"training" videos. Nobody wants to see them. Or even to keep the  
certificate you get for viewing them.)

Other items to annoy the viewer include those brief, flashing shots of  
not-quite-sure-what. "Wait a minute. I think I missed something. Let's go  
back." STOP. SLIDE BACK. VIEW AGAIN. "No, I didn't. They were just showing  
their skills at video editing. Sheesh."

Every video should pass the "sheesh" test. No viewer, from inside or  
outside the company, should say or even think, "Sheesh!" at any point in  
the video.

Occasionally a video will contain images that are difficult to comprehend.  
The accompanying voice-over says, "As you can see here, or as you would  
see if we had better video quality..." On the other hand, here is a video  
in which the auto-stabilizer in the camera messed up the view, making the  
production even more exciting. Watch the piano jumping around at 1:34.  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3hbPLN7nh8

--Peter Neilson, who does not have a TV and who is not a fan of most video  
except for Youtubes of Groucho or of Tom Brier.
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