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What if there was one tiny little graphic thingy you could do in your
video that would make
everyone want to watch it
all the way through to the end, no artistic skill required?
That's our subject today.
Stay tuned.
I'm gonna make you a rock star video marketer, in ten, nine...
...two, one. Hi, I'm Steven Washer with BrainyVideo,com.
It's the little things that mean so much to your viewers.
If you can make them comfortable while they're watching your video
they'll be much more likely
to watch it all the way to the end.
On the other hand, if you make them all tense and fidgety,
they'll probably abandon the video very quickly, and your super duper call to
action
will never be seen.
The worst part is you won't know why you made your audience fidgety and so you
won't be able to fix the problem.
So, what I'm going to show you today is something that's
very easy to do and will make you look like a pro video marketer.
I think you'll really like what this does to your videos. Now, the thing to
understand is that when you do this
it makes the moment feel either comfortable
or tense.
There's not a lot of in between. It's like a ten or a zero. Fortunately, it's super easy
to get to comfortable
once you see it.
Now, in order to teach this
I need to introduce a new term.
You might be familiar with it, but maybe you've never quite thought
it all the way through. By the way, I've been using it all during the
introduction. The term is motion graphics. It means anything on the screen
other than the person or a prop that doesn't naturally exist in the
environment. So, it could be a piece of text
a photo
in animation
or a drawing.
Also, it comes in and goes out all by itself.
That's all there is to it.
Obviously we're not going to look at how to deal with all these different types.
I'm gonna show you how to solve
the biggest problem in this hidden
corner of video marketing that everyone takes for granted
and that practically
no one gets all the way to comfortable with
except the pros.
So are you ready?
We're going to look at text, since text is the
most often used element of
what? "Oh, I know! I know!
Motion Graphics." Well, yes,
that's right, Stevie.
Motion Graphics. You're so smart. Here,
have a candy.
You know,
Stevie's been stuck here behind the screen
ever since I did that video on introverts, and
he doesn't seem to want to come out quite frankly,
and I'm getting a little worried.
"I'm worried about you."
Where was I?
Oh, right.
Motion Graphics.
The basic problem is that people forget the two simple rules
that guide the placement
of text on the screen. The first and most important is
the Rule of Separation.
You must separate your text from your subject, unless the text describes the
subject. By subject I mean, you know, just what you're seeing on the screen.
So,
let's take a look at this graphic right now.
How about this graphic? Is it describing me, since I'm the subject right now, or is
it describing something else?
Exactly, it's something else:
the design concept.
So, since it's not part of me, part of the subject, is it separated enough for you
to feel comfortable, or does it make you feel fidgety?
If you said fidgety,
you get a point.
The feeling is fidgety because it makes you feel cramped or
claustrophobic.
But there are other ways to make your viewer feel fidgety.
The text could be
too far away.
It could be
too small for the shot.
Or it could extend off the screen.
But if it's separated just enough so that it doesn't look like it's part of you,
and it's a balanced enough,
so that it doesn't put too much weight on one side of the screen, or
on the top
or on the bottom,
and if it leaves gradually
instead of, you know, clicking out of a website, then
it will be comfortable, and your viewers will likely watch it all the way through.
So, just remember:
not too close, and not too far, with an entrance and an exit
like a movie star.
Not too fat, and not too thin, or you'll make me want to check into a loony bin.
A loony bin. "I'm trying to watch Downton Abbey, would you please just keep it down
a little bit?"
Ok, sorry.
Well, another time, I mean, if you want, we can talk about
the second major rule of motion graphics:
visibility.
I mean, nothing is worse than text that you can't
quite see.
And there are lots of things that you can do to fix this.
I'll even give you the fonts that produce the best response.
So, for better rhyme and reason in your messages,
I'm Steve Washer
with BrainyVideo.com