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KICKPICS Website - Professional Martial Arts Photography,(Video), found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjpI6u4Komo is an example of a photography website video. A photography website video needs two essential ingredients to work, both of which are well illustrated by this video. The video needs a set of quality photographs to show off in the video, and it needs to enhance the display by setting the video gallery to appealing music. A third important factor is the spacing between photograph to photograph. This video uses a gap of about 5 seconds. This is enough time to see each photograph, but not too much time so that the viewer will get bored.
While many of the photographs in this web video are of amateur kick boxing, the video as a whole is immensely popular on You Tube, having racked up over 100,000. The essential ingredient that makes this video so appealing, is the effect generated by the interaction of the background music with the photographs. The background music consists of a male and female rap song. And the repartee between the male and female rapper contrasts very effectively with the martial arts photographs. As we view a photograph of a man with his foot pressed against the face of his fellow combatant, we hear the male and female rapper engaged in an even more primal warfare, the combat between the sexes.
As we see photograph after photograph of martial combatants who are constantly seeking to find an opening in the guard of their opponent, we hear the male rapper trying to find an opening in the female rapper’s defense, as she puts up her guard. “I want you on my team,” he says, “So does everyone else,” she replies.
The photographic images enhance our appreciation of the rappers. As we examine a photo of a male boxer viciously kicking his opponent in the face, it reminds us of the vicious combat between the male rapper and the other men competing for the attention of the female rapper.
“Just let your guard down,” the male rapper says, “Don’t get mad, don’t be mean,” “Don’t get mad, don’t be mean,” she repeats. The musical combat reminds us that in this ultimate primal realm of combat there is a positive not a negative end. While kick boxing is me against you, the musical combat ultimately shifts from me against you to me with you. Once the male rapper can break through the female rapper’s defense, he can get to something soft and nice. And the female rapper who starts out as his combatant can become his friend.
Although the video is not meant as an advertisement for martial arts, it does awaken an interest in the field, as it shows us that the principles of martial arts apply to other struggles in life, including love. A viewer might decide he should take some martial arts training, as well, as that will sharpen up his ability to be successful with women. At the same time, the video is definitely liable to interest viewers in seeing the photography website. There is a link at the bottom of the video and the webmaster reports getting an overall 7,000 hits per month to his website.
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More and more businessman with company websites are realizing that a web video, which greets visitors to the web site, makes the web site more personal reaches out to visitors in a stronger way and increases the conversion rate. What are the essential elements of a web video that will turn clicks into customers. That is the central question.
Making a web video for a given profession will have unique requirements. However, many of the qualities which make a video work for one profession will also apply to website videos in other professions. In this article, I will be comparing three web videos that were made for the landscaping profession and are posted on You Tube.
The ATC website video posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYIpt0JebTc tells the story of a day in the life of the ATC company. The background music of this video is the song Takin’ Care of Business by Bachman-Turner Overdrive. The song describes the 9-5 daily schedule of workers who push the time clock. The video describes the story of a typical day of ATC landscape workers. In the morning, the workers conference, they stand around the foreman who gives then a pep talk. Then they clap hands and head to the trucks. Then one by one the trucks pull away. Next we see workers busy with various landscaping chores, mowing the lawn, trimming a bush, and setting up a wooden fence behind a garden. The scenes feature good quality landscaping work and attractive lawns and gardens. When the video is over, we have come to feel that the workers of ATC are decent hard working fun-loving guys. And we would trust them with our landscaping.
The second web video, is constructed of amateur video footage and still photos, arranged and set to music by a professional video production company. This video is compounded of stills and video segments of landscapes the company has made,along with some shots of company workers actively engaged in landscaping. The video features still and video shots of landscapes the company made, and some shots of company workers at work. The music is upbeat universal style background music. The video is not as personal as the first video. It seeks to build trust with the viewer by presenting the quality of the company’s landscape work.
The third web video is also professionally made. The video contains slightly oriental sounding background music. Presumably the music was selected becasue of the asociation between gardens and the orient. The introduction features an off screen narrator who talks about the qualities of the company, followed by a series of before and after photos of various landscaping jobs the company has done.
Studies have shown that trust a shopper has for a company is a very important factor in determining whether or not he will do business with that company. Trust, it has been shown can override considerations of the quality of the work the company will produce. And for obvious reasons, a company may do quality work but if not trustworthy could cheat an individual customer. Whereas a trusty company will always be expected to do well for a customer. So which video wins more trust? Clearly number one. At the end of that video, we feel like we know the company and the workers. Whereas in video two the workers appear in a few still life shots, and in video three not at all.
What other factors are essential parts of these three videos, clearly the shots of quality landscaping. While the first video may inspire trust by introducing the crew as decent hard working and fun loving guys, the shots of quality landscaping, manicured, well cut lawns, well trimmed beds and a sturdy garden fence are also necessary, as they allow the viewer to connect his faith in the workers with the quality work they do. Both the second and third videos also present the quality landscaping work the companies do.
What general conclusions can we draw from these three videos? First, a video which inspires trust in the viewer, by showing the workers as well as the work, is more likely to be successful in winning customers. Secondly, website videos must also present examples of quality work in the profession, so that viewers can connect the faith they have in the company with the belief that the company will do quality work in their given profession.
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For the last three years, eLocal has been creating generic mini-website videos that can placed on the website of anyone in the profession for which the video was made. The videos are produced in quantity and are sold at whoelsale prices and have made website videos affordable for even the small businessman. This strategy has made the businessman feel good, but the question is whether these little mini website videos are drawing in the traffic.
If these videos are drawing traffic, which ones, or which type of content, in this new genre, are most effective at converting clicks to customers. In this article, I will be looking at the eLocal Garage door video # 2 found at: http://www.youtube.com/elocalvideoexamples#p/u/5/pd0xn7w5VD
This video might be aptly called the garage door dance video. In style, it is patterned after a number of videos, which use either repetitive sequences or motion graphics to display the product making a repetitive motion. If the motion is one that people enjoy doing or seeing, then they might become hypnotized by the video, as they gaze at the product dancing around the screen.
In this video, the repetitive motion is the electronically controlled garage door opening and closing. The direction of the moving door is controlled by a button being fingered by an off screen participant. The door moves up and down to the rhythm of a funky repetitive synthesizer tune which plays in the background. On close examination, it appears that the 20 second video was made by splicing 3 segments of the same segment together, with some added material. The video closes with a dark background on which the name and phone number of the company is displayed.
So is this video effective as a web video. It must be said in its favor, that pushing the button to control the movement of a garage door is a favorite motion for many people. People finger the button before leaving on a trip or vacation or a visit to a movie or restaurant. They finger it again to close the garage after returning satisfied from a dinner with friends or a movie. They finger it before going out to earn money. Admittedly, at times it can become a nuisance, and because of this we now have electronically controlled garage door buttons. But in general, the electric garage is one of the modern conveniences that people appreciate. And they part they like the most is when they hit the button and the door begins to move in the direction they want. This eLocal video decided to capitalize on the enjoyment of this motion, by presenting a video which only contains that motion.
One way this video might have increased its effectiveness is if they had presented a completed garage door move. People like the completion of the garage door close as well as the start. The part they hate is the long time it takes to get to the end. This video only shows a short segment of the move, albeit the exciting moment when the door curves around the guiding rails as its motion changes from horizontal to vertical or visa versa.
In addition to failure of the video to have presented a more complete move, the display on the screen is a little cramped. We see a finger pushing the button, we see a close up of the door rising up and down and its reverse and little else.
Assuming the cinematic effects were perfect, the central question is whether the idea of this video itself is a good one. Assuming the video was successful at displaying a fun aspect of operating a garage door, will it sell the garage door? Logically, it will. I conclude that the idea of this video has some merit, but the cinematic effects are incomplete and cramped.
What is the take home lesson from this video. Showing a fun aspect of owning or operating a product a company is trying to sell can be a good one. The display should be as more complete than this display both temporally and spatially.