But they all look sooo good!
No. I’m not talking about ice cream (a visual storytelling trick, ha ha!)
Video is captured at a frame rate of either 24 frames per second or 29.97 frames per second. I’m a video producer, not a math professor, so for the sake of this article let’s call it 30 frames per second. A frame is an individual still image, that when played back sequentially at a rate of 30 frames per second, appears to be in motion. One minute has, yes, of course you’re already ahead of me, 60 seconds, so a quick multiplication leads us to the correct conclusion that one minute of video contains 1800 individual frames. (And if a picture is worth a thousand words, than one minute of video is worth 1.8 million.)
A professional edit system, such as Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro, allows an editor to cut down to the frame level – yes, an editor could choose to splash up a given image for 1/30th of a second. Decisions, decisions, decisions.
So, effectively, each minute of video contains at least 1800 visual choices. What should I show here? What image, graphic, or animation works best here? And each one of those choices is worth 1,000 words. Make a great choice? Huge impact. Make a ehh choice? Well, make an ehh impact. Make a totally wrong choice, and, you follow me.
How do you know if the choice is a good one? Does it further the story, or is it repetitive? Is it specific, or generic? Is it honest?
Whether you are investing the dollars in working with a professional production company, or the hours that it takes to self-produce, understanding the import of each decision is crucial to creating a successful product. Want help? You know you can call me.
