May 20, 2011

 

1.  Short is sweet
     Mobile videos should be kept to five minutes or less. This is due to:

          a)  Viewers’ limited attention span
                     i.   Because of the viewer’s “mobile” context (moving, interruptions,

                          other tasks, etc.)
                     ii.  Because of the extra concentration required in viewing materials

                          on a small video screen
          b)  The need to keep file sizes small for Bluetooth phone-to-phone transfer

               or expensive (in the emerging world) over the air download ( < 5MB

               recommended)

2.  Visually simple
     Nothing can kill a good show on the mobile screen like a cluttered frame. Keep

     your video visually simple. One recommendation is that an actor on the screen

     should not take up less than two-thirds of the screen and no more than two

     actors should be shown at one time.
 

3.  Keep camera movement to a minimum
     Use fewer and slower camera movement. This helps to avoid confusing the

     viewer and keeps the final, compressed and mobile formatted (3GP or MP4),

     product from being blurred and pixelated which typically occurs with rapid

     pans, etc.
 

4.  Keep it close
     Don’t get too far away- viewers can’t pick out detail on the mobile screen.

     Start close and base your shot progression around that starting point. Long

     shots only work with very high color contrast.
 

5.  If you're bright, you'll use lots of light
     Make sure your shots are well lit to avoid dark and grainy video on the already

     more difficult to view mobile screen!

6.  Audio is king    
     At the end of the day a viewer is more likely to stop watching a mobile video

     due to poor audio quality than poor video quality (they will put it up to their ear

     prioritizing hearing it over seeing it)!  Be sure that dialogue is ultra clear. 

     Excessive compression can add artifacts to the sound, so it is especially 

     important to make sure all dialogue is crystal clear. Soft (quiet) or deep bass
     sounds are not useful as they are not well reproduced with mobile phone

     speakers. Listen to the audio after final compression and perhaps with 

     background noises similar to what a mobile listener might be experiencing

     (traffic noise, crying babies, etc.) and modify as necessary.

7.  Use audio to help your audience see it
     Audio can add to the picture things that may be difficult to show visually. With

     limited screen space, audio can play a key role in making viewers notice

     actions that may be hard to see.

8.  When it comes to text and graphics, bigger is better
     Bold san-serif fonts work best for text and text/graphics that might fill a single

     shot in another medium may need to be broken down to three shots. Test

     readability on various size/resolution screens.

9.  Test and ensure it works well from low to high end devices
     The video is going to a bunch of devices of different capabilities. It has to work 

     on the lowest of low-tech that can handle it as well as the best of the best.

     Test your media on various devices early on in the production process to check

     for a) whether or not it plays and b) if the content and audio and video quality 

     are able to work together to draw the viewer in (if not, modify recording

     volume, video compression, actual recording, whatever it takes!).

10. The mobile medium is inherently interactive- play to that strength 
       Video content should propel viewers to further interaction with your ministry/

       the Church (perhaps via a website which has further video episodes and is

       presented at the end of the video, having SMS mediated registration

       advertized on the video which allows registered viewers help decide what will

       happen in a future episode or interact with characters in the video via texting,

       etc.).  At a minimum make sure a follow up contact detail (website, e-mail

       address, phone number to text, etc.) is included in the video

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites

| More...