An Inexpensive Photography Website Video

Posted by FTS

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An Inexpensive Photography Website Video

eLocal, an Internet local search marketing company has developed a series of short 15-20 second website videos for a wide range of occupations. The videos are general enough in scope that they can potentially be used by anyone in the profession for which they are made. In this way, the videos can be sold at a wholesale cost, and thus are available in a price range affordable for many small businesses.

Among eLocal’s many website videos, two are specifically made for photography websites. It is worthwhile examining them to see what works and what is effective in a short video for this profession. The two videos can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/elocalvideoexamples#p/u/8/SYkuCFjdHpY (73350000_03 Photography) http://www.youtube.com/elocalvideoexamples#p/u/9/K9aTpKehtLg (73350000_01 Photography)

Both videos use a format which is standard for photography website videos they present a series of photographs of the artist set to background music. Logically, the quality of a photography website video will depend upon several factors, the quality of the photographs, the way in which the photos area presented, the quality of the background music, and the effect created by the interplay between the photos and the music. The appeal of photography website videos is liable to be personal with some people liking a video that others hate, and visa versa. Therefore, I can only present my own opinion.

The two videos have contrasting approaches in their presentation. Video 03 presents well spaced photos. Each photo is displayed by itself and remains on the screen for several seconds. There is variation in the way the photographs appear, with each of the photos using different special effects, i.e. one comes in via a spiraling motion, one comes in with a fold in fold out motion, one comes in from the side, leaving a comet trail of duplicates behind, etc. The photos follow one after the other, and while captions appear on the screen, the captions appear at the bottom and do not break up the presentation of the photos.

In contrast to the first video, the second mini video (01) is more chaotic in its presentation. At times more than one photo appears together. The interval between photograph appearances is random, with some photos merely flashing on the screen and others staying on a bit longer. At times when more than one photo is showing, they appear and disappear at separate rates. On multiple occasions, there is only a dark screen with a white caption.

The captions and music also vary between the two videos. In the first video, the captions are family oriented, and heartwarming. “Capture your style, your family, your moment.” The caption in the second video is more imagistic “See yourself through our eyes.”

The musical background in the first video is a guitar vocal. The vocalist says “the spirit of music got you out of control,” “something’s got you and your losing control, wooh! wooh!” Whereas, the vocal in the second video is not made of words but rather vocalizations, “eooh, eooh…etc.”
The first vocal is broken up so that it presents two verses of the song plus a chorus, Just as the photographs are presented in discrete units, so the music is presented in discrete verses, and we hear enough to get the gist of the whole song. In the second video, we have the impression that we are listening to a segment of the song with the beginning and end cut off.

I can only speak for myself, as some people might have the exact opposite reaction to the videos that I did, but I much prefer the first video. The photographs are mostly photos of families. The first photo is of a man, but he appears to be a family man or at least a man solidly engaged in a business or profession. We can identify with these photos, and with the lifestyles. Just for starters, these are the kinds of people that like to document their lives in photographs.

In the second video, I feel like I am seeing life that most resembles an expressionist painting. While the presentation may be contemporary, and admittedly appealing to many people, this doesn’t represent the kind of life I would like to immortalize in photographs. I also, don’t feel I have enough time to connect to whatever is being presented on screen, and therefore would be unlikely to contact a photographer with images like that on his website. The music is chaotic. Whereas the first video the song about losing control reminds us of the happy times when family like takes off in moments of joy and we totally lose ourselves in the moment. These are the very times, family members are likely to want to immortalize in photographs.

My take home message from reviewing these two mini photography website videos , is that the goal of a website video is not so much to stun the viewer as to attract him with a well created display that allows him to appreciate what is being offered in the context of appealing music that enhances the mood engendered by the photos.