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Copyright 2007 Glen Ellyn Media	What's New: Characteristics of a Good Video What makes a corporate or organizational video “good”? Simply put: a video has quality if it works – that is, if it succeeds in communicating the message it was intended to convey. The video will accomplish its purpose from the client’s point of view, and that it will meet its objectives from the audience’s point of view. In other words, good writing gets good results. What contributes to good results? A Good Video is Well-Specified and Well-Designed. The writer must know the characteristics and preferences of the audience, and must analyze the topic to be conveyed. With regard to the message, the writer will know the purpose of the communication (to inform? Motivate? Both?), know how the message will be used (self-study? Group delivery?), and know the objectives (behavioral if possible). The writer must ascertain that the message and the medium are appropriate for the audience, and then must come up with a treatment that helps plan an effective combination of media elements and content flow. A Good Video Conveys a Message Appropriate for Video. Will the audience need the media piece for reference? It shouldn’t be video. Lots of detail? Put it somewhere else, because a video ideally conveys just a few major points. A Good Video Has the Right Format for the Budget, Audience, Topic, Use. The interview format is good for some messages, animation for some, music video for others. The wrong format means poor results. A Good Video Has a Metaphor or Some Other Structure. Communication can usually be made more effective with a metaphor. Is there an analogy? A process flow? A portrayed event on which to hang information? A story? The fall-back is to follow a logical organization of content. A Good Video Is Written for the Ear. A consistent, appropriate, engaging style helps make communication effective. This includes a uniform voice and a natural (usually not stilted or formal) tone. It means active, not passive construction. Writing for the ear involves contractions and even colloquialisms if appropriate. And it means using aural equivalents of print punctuation to mark paragraphs, chapters, etc. A Good Video Is Written for the Eye. The visual portion of an effective video – like the aural – has a consistent, appropriate, engaging style. It’s visual variety and pacing are appropriate, and restraint is usually preferable to overload. MTV is nice only in small amounts. A Good Video Is Written for the Brain. For the message to sink in, the writer must logically organize the presentation of information. This includes using intros, tracking, transitions, and conclusions. Visual conventions will help reinforce the logical sequence and apportionment. The brain prefers shorter sentences to longer, and hates to store a lot of information in a sentence before coming to the main point. A Good Video Is Often Written for the Gut. Everything the audience sees and hears contributes to an emotional impression. Sometimes the emotional component is the most important part of a video communication. Conveying emotion requires special attention to imagery, pacing, music, word choice, and metaphor. A Good Video Is Written for All of Its Different Audiences. Talent, client, reviewers, producer, director, viewer – all are considered “audience” for the writer’s output. All have information they need to get from the script, information that must be there to make the program work. (See xx) A Good Video Is Written as a Result of an Agreeable Development Process. Experience says that disharmony in the development process compromises the effectiveness of the program. Process participants must buy into the concept and execution. The writer must fit into the process and talk the talk of client and audience. Feedback must be accepted and dealt with smoothly. A successful project provides a payoff for all. Lyndon Johnson used to say, “Don’t spit in the soup, we’ve all got to eat.” A Good Video “Talks” to the Audience. By the end of the development process, the program will speak to the audience at the right level and in the right language. Viewers will watch and listen, either because the writer had made an ordinary message compelling or because the content itself is so compelling it only needs to be presented in a clear, understandable manner. (An effective message also respects the audience’s attention span.) A Good Video Achieves Its Communications Purpose. Fancy concept, great metaphor, talented talent, good directing/lighting/sound/editing? No matter, not if the message isn’t communicated. If at the end of the piece the audience members know what you wanted them to know or feel what you wanted them to feel – then it was a “good” video. .Back

What's New: Characteristics of a Good Video

            What makes a corporate or organizational video “good”? Simply put: a video has quality if it works – that is, if it succeeds in communicating the message it was intended to convey. The video will accomplish its purpose from the client’s point of view, and that it will meet its objectives from the audience’s point of view. In other words, good writing gets good results.
            What contributes to good results?

            A Good Video is Well-Specified and Well-Designed. The writer must know the characteristics and preferences of the audience, and must analyze the topic to be conveyed. With regard to the message, the writer will know the purpose of the communication (to inform? Motivate? Both?), know how the message will be used (self-study? Group delivery?), and know the objectives (behavioral if possible).
            The writer must ascertain that the message and the medium are appropriate for the audience, and then must come up with a treatment that helps plan an effective combination of media elements and content flow.

            A Good Video Conveys a Message Appropriate for Video. Will the audience need the media piece for reference? It shouldn’t be video. Lots of detail? Put it somewhere else, because a video ideally conveys just a few major points.
            A Good Video Has the Right Format for the Budget, Audience, Topic, Use. The interview format is good for some messages, animation for some, music video for others. The wrong format means poor results.

            A Good Video Has a Metaphor or Some Other Structure. Communication can usually be made more effective with a metaphor. Is there an analogy? A process flow? A portrayed event on which to hang information? A story? The fall-back is to follow a logical organization of content.

            A Good Video Is Written for the Ear. A consistent, appropriate, engaging style helps make communication effective. This includes a uniform voice and a natural (usually not stilted or formal) tone. It means active, not passive construction. Writing for the ear involves contractions and even colloquialisms if appropriate. And it means using aural equivalents of print punctuation to mark paragraphs, chapters, etc.

            A Good Video Is Written for the Eye. The visual portion of an effective video – like the aural – has a consistent, appropriate, engaging style. It’s visual variety and pacing are appropriate, and restraint is usually preferable to overload. MTV is nice only in small amounts.

            A Good Video Is Written for the Brain. For the message to sink in, the writer must logically organize the presentation of information. This includes using intros, tracking, transitions, and conclusions. Visual conventions will help reinforce the logical sequence and apportionment. The brain prefers shorter sentences to longer, and hates to store a lot of information in a sentence before coming to the main point.

            A Good Video Is Often Written for the Gut. Everything the audience sees and hears contributes to an emotional impression. Sometimes the emotional component is the most important part of a video communication. Conveying emotion requires special attention to imagery, pacing, music, word choice, and metaphor.

            A Good Video Is Written for All of Its Different Audiences. Talent, client, reviewers, producer, director, viewer – all are considered “audience” for the writer’s output. All have information they need to get from the script, information that must be there to make the program work. (See xx)

            A Good Video Is Written as a Result of an Agreeable Development Process. Experience says that disharmony in the development process compromises the effectiveness of the program. Process participants must buy into the concept and execution. The writer must fit into the process and talk the talk of client and audience. Feedback must be accepted and dealt with smoothly. A successful project provides a payoff for all. Lyndon Johnson used to say, “Don’t spit in the soup, we’ve all got to eat.”

            A Good Video “Talks” to the Audience. By the end of the development process, the program will speak to the audience at the right level and in the right language. Viewers will watch and listen, either because the writer had made an ordinary message compelling or because the content itself is so compelling it only needs to be presented in a clear, understandable manner. (An effective message also respects the audience’s attention span.)

            A Good Video Achieves Its Communications Purpose. Fancy concept, great metaphor, talented talent, good directing/lighting/sound/editing? No matter, not if the message isn’t communicated. If at the end of the piece the audience members know what you wanted them to know or feel what you wanted them to feel – then it was a “good” video.


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