5 Popular Video Trends in 2010

This guest blog is by Erin Hayes. Erin is a writer and television producer. She is currently the New Media Director of MediaBoss Television, a broadcast production studio in Boston. 

Here are 5 trends in marketing video we saw emerge in 2010 and that we should pay attention to in the coming year.

Interactive Video

A new style of social video emerged and gained traction in 2010, facilitated by YouTube’s annotation feature: The Interactive Video.

Think of it as giving your audience a Choose Your Own Advertisement Adventure, but in video format.

Blendtec called it Blend Your Own Adventure. Rather than give their viewers the same old infomercial, walking them through the blending of a series of items, Blendtec interacted with their viewers by inviting them to choose the items the host should blend together and drink. The result was a successful, fun and engaging way to show their potential customers how their product handled in a variety of situations.

Interactive video lets your viewer click to participate with your video. The click could result in a fun new direction for your video (like Blendtec) or it could take them somewhere for more information, a related video or website.

Branded YouTube Campaigns

Brands have started partnering with YouTube to develop unique branded pages allowing companies the chance to break out from their corporate identity and get creative with their audience.

Large companies like IBM to movies like The Expendables are using branded YouTube pages to interact with customers. But my personal favorite is the Tipp-Ex whiteout campaign that allows viewers to decide what the hunter should do rather than shoot a bear.

As the idea of being social with potential customers grows so do the possibilities to make your brand stand out from the rest. While it does take some cash to partner with YouTube, it doesn’t take any to create a campaign-specific page and use the Advanced Theme and Colors option to dress it up a bit.

Looking for inspiration? Check out Ipswitch, Inc. WhatsUp Gold division’s Customer Testimonial LUV2WUG contest page.

Homegrown Personal Feel: HTML5

Speaking of personalization and creativity, HTML5 made its video debut this year. It may still be the new kid on the block, but the break out success of indie band Arcade Fire music video “The Wilderness Downtown” and the popularity of Apple’s iPad are both proof HTML5 has staying power.

The Wilderness Downtown featured Arcade Fire’s song “We Used to Wait” and showcased HTML5’s versatility. In a series of pop up windows the video mixes shots of a running teen with Google Map images of the bands’ hometown streets.

The added bonus to HTML5 is the compatibility with Apple products. You can be sure your iPhone and iPad audience will be able to view your video without any problems.

Stop Motion | Staggered Motion | Forced Motion

In this age of smooth HD visuals we’ve seen an emerging video trend meant to emulate old-fashioned animation.

The traditional frame rate for video is 30 frames per second (fps) and the frame rate for film is 24 fps. In the past, film and video producers have altered these frame rates to enhance the look of their videos, by shooting on film at 24fps, and then transferring to video to give the “film look” or flicker to video. Recently, however, we’ve seen the adoption of Forced Motion.

Forced Motion is a frame rate manipulation used with the intent to visually stimulate the viewer by using a frame rate lower than 30 fps. There are several methods to achieving this effect.

Kindle achieved this effect through the use of with Stop Motion Animation in their successful “Fly Me Away” campaign. The choppy movement of the images caught people’s eye – and attention. Stop motion animation is traditionally mastered to film at 24 fps with each small motion being exposed for 2 frames each.  This means the frame rate for the video is effectively 12 fps.

The end result is like a digital flip book. It catches the eye and gives a sense of animation, which audiences find disarming and relaxing, like a cartoon.

Another method with a similar result is Cutout Animation. This is done by taking clips into Photoshop, separating the layers on an alpha channel and animating these layers separately in post production. A great example of this method is new New England Subaru Love campaign, where cutout photos move in a simulated Stop Motion fashion across the screen.  The added benefit is that the images are layered giving a sense of “depth” to a 2D product.

Another forced motion technique called Jump Cutting is featured in the new Hyundai campaign, which features a “Carpenters-style” holiday song with a real world indie band performing in front of and inside a Hyundai.  The scenes were shot several times with slightly different arrangements.  These scenes were then pieced together in post production in a different order than they were shot to create variations that catch your eye. 

A different approach with a similar eye-catching effect is produced directly by advances in Digital SLR technology.  These new cameras shoot HD video at various frame rates but also feature Continuous Frame Rates of up to 10 fps in bursts of 5 seconds or more with the Photo function of the camera.  This technique has been around for years, but you will see more of this as the technology improves and the cameras become more affordable.  Check out this Brine Lacrosse commercial from 2008. 

The beauty of this technique is that it is literally point -and-shoot; all you need to do is import the beautiful full frames of video into your system and put them in order.

Live Video

There’s no denying traditional television is in the midst of a transition. According to a recent poll by Forbes, more than half (52%) of individuals between the ages of 18-34 watch their television programs online. This has opened up an enormous opportunity for people – and small businesses - looking for an affordable way to distribute their content.

Companies, radio stations and bloggers alike have started to migrate to sites like Justin TVand Ustream to record and upload their longer format videos. These sites allow users to record and stream a live studio view of a webinar, seminar, trade show, customer interview etc and offer interactive add-ons like live chat.

A fantastic example of where this trend may be heading is The Pulse Network. Chris Brogan’s New Marketing Labs created a partnership that resulted in the launch of this live programming site earlier this year. The Pulse Network offers live programming during daytime hours and has an on-demand structure available to viewers after hours. Many bloggers and small businesses have already seen the advantage of putting their content up on The Pulse Network, and I only expect more of these models to pop up in 2011. 

Posted by Yelena Kadeykina
Tuesday, 30 November 2010