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Insight Videos
23 May 2011, 5:26 am
What is an insight video? Information overload! It seems that everyday I surf the net I discover a new word or concept. Most of these I will forget in the time it takes to walk my dog around the block; however, some have more stay-power. Recently I was YouTubeing (a hobby that my wife claims is challenging our marriage), and came across a video that caught my attention. It wasn’t that this video was flooded with mind-blowing graphics or nudity; the reason that it drew me in was its directness and sincerity. My interest piqued, I looked to see who created this video, and decided I would get in touch with them. I was deeply interested in learning more about this simple, yet very compelling style of web video. It turns out that this type of video came with its own name; it was called an “insight video”. The company behind these was more than happy to share their story. When I arrived in their studio, just outside of Chicago, via Skype; John Scaletta, owner and marketing director of Digital Studio, shared with me the birth of the “insight video”. “Insight videos are a fusion of what we have always been doing, namely traditional marketing videos, and documentary film style techniques. When we brought Craig [Bass] on board to join our video team he cringed at our style (laughs). It wasn’t that the videos we had been doing sucked, it was the simple fact that he said we had to “get real.” ” And reality seems to be the wave of the surf these days, what with the popularity of unintentional viral and self-proclaimed media. “Craig introduced us to “interview-style”; it was a way to rip up the scripts and get away from the predictable, stale, uninteresting videos that we are so used to viewing.” Craig commented that, “I wanted to bring some of the techniques I had refined through working on indepedant documentaries and the like, and use them to give people a reason to actually watch videos aimed at marketing and outreach. I won John over after shooting a test video in the style that we have come to coin “insight videos”. An insight video, very simply, is a short, in-your-own-words video that really gets to the meat of who you are or what you are offering: in other words, the “real you”. Many times these videos are shot on a solid white backdrop, what’s known as an infinity-screen, so that the focus is directed entirely on the subject. Sometimes we will include mild graphics, music and b-roll, and these can definitely enhance the video, but the whole point is keeping it simple, keeping it real.” John, who has been nodding his head in agreement, jumped in “We actually started a new division of the company called insight videos.net. these videos have been so well received that we didn’t want to just include them in on our video services page. “Insight videos” deserve their own shelf, their own stage.” When I asked John why he thought these videos had been so well received, and why them seemed to resonate so compellingly with viewers (including myself), he confided “Quite frankly, they are not predictable; they are hard to stop watching. What you see is what you get, who you see is who you get. It’s the closest thing to meeting the person without actually metting them. people like to dop business with people that they know, like, and trust; and these videos bridge the gap. less can be more.” With the increasing popularity of their product, I knew John and Craig had little time to spare; so I asked them for any closing thoughts. More than anything, they stressed that the videos speak for themselves, and to keep visiting our website as they update their collection of insight videos constantly. Another thing that I noticed, and thought was quite cool, was that the site also contains a huge variety of ways that their clients are using these videos; giving potential clients “insight” into how these can benefit them. As for me, I need to get off this machine, so that I can work on my stay-power in terms of my marriage. |
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