Hello! My name is Lindsay and I am the newest addition to join the ranks of the mighty Demo Duckers. I am now acting as Marketing Manager and proud to be part of such a wonderful group of people.
Since I’ve only been with the ducks for a couple of weeks now, I thought I’d take some time to look back at some of the things that I have learned since my start with the company, and here’s what I’ve come up with.
Before I came to Demo Duck, I watched online videos just as much as the next guy (girl), and knew about as much as the common consumer. I watched a video here and there- when I came across them on my Facebook homepage or the occasional BuzzFeed article.
After just a month or so on the job, I discovered how people in all levels of involvement with the videos (well, good videos) pour their hearts and souls, not to mention their time and money into the final productions. In this short time, I’ve moved beyond simply enjoying videos to really appreciating them. Now, when I click play there are a couple more things that I pay attention to.
Concept
One thing that I had always taken for granted was the concept of a video. Sure, I knew that people had to come up with the idea for what would happen in a video, but I had actually never thought about it before. It’s pretty unbelievable to realize that I never thought about one of the most integral (and fun) parts of the whole video-making process.
The concepting of the video not only determines the direction that the video will take, with its tone and style, it also has to account for how to get the message across in order to fulfill the video’s objective. The video has to match with the branding of the company as well. That’s a lot to think about.
All in all, coming up with a killer concept, and one that both the creatives and the client are excited about is quite the venture.
Visual Aesthetic
The designing of the visual aesthetic is also a process. You can’t just figure out the concept and go right into making a video. There’s quite a bit of time that’s spent on creating custom style frames and storyboards before we can even begin talking about animation.
I find it incredible to see how the characters or icons of each video slowly step into existence in a style frame, get a little more personality in the storyboards, and then ultimately are given life in the animation. The whole visual aesthetic process is not only the most time consuming, but in my opinion, the most magical as ideas and thoughts finally take form and become a part of our reality.
Voiceover
In addition to all of this, I now listen to the voiceover, I mean I really listen to it. The message is written in the script, but although the words are set in place on paper, the beauty of language is that the meaning changes depending on how they are spoken.
This means that a good amount of responsibility and control lies in the hands (or vocal chords?) of the voiceover artist. The same narrative can sound sad, exciting, encouraging or… you name it, all depending on who says it and how it’s said. The VO definitely deserves more credit than I‘d given it in the past.
Sound Design
With videos, it’s the little things that really make a big difference. Especially when it comes to sound design. The little noises and effects that are added often go unnoticed, but really are what make the video come to life.
I mean, of course when the bad guy is punched in the jaw we’re supposed to hear that recognizable sound of fist meeting face, but I never considered the fact that all these noises are added afterwards and custom for each scene.
And the music. I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for music. My favorite parts of movies are often the scenes with the emotional musical montages of the protagonist’s life. Music has the ability to get you pumped up and ready to go, or it can make you feel somber and reflective. All that being said, the music choice and sound effects play a huge part in the creation of the desired mood.
In my previous life, back when I didn’t know the difference between stop motion and animation, and had never heard of a screencast (please don’t judge me), the concept, visual aesthetic, sound design, and VO quality meant very little to me.
Now, although I still only have a limited knowledge of the world of online video, I have learned a lot in my few weeks here at Demo Duck. I am having a blast working with some of the best people in the industry, and can’t wait to continue to learn more.