Blog | Zappl

What’s the power of video perspective

prakash chavda
Mar 26, 2021
2 min read

One of the best ways I’ve found to engage an audience, is to help them see things differently; to offer a fresh perspective. But what is perspective?

I want to share with you 2 unique aspects of perspective that all great films share.

The first aspect of perspective is obvious, it’s:

The Way We See

This is a physical or spatial perspective. It’s something visible and it’s all about what we can see with our eyes. It can be as simple as seeing a familiar landscape from a high, dramatic point-of-view, or the way that lighting can change the tone and mood of a scene. This aspect of perspective helps your audience to physically see the world differently. This is that aspect of perspective that captures our imaginations.

There’s also another aspect of perspective that is equally important, if not more so and that’s:

The Way We Understand

A few weeks ago I watched a documentary film called, Pandora’s Promise. It’s a film about environmentalists and nuclear reactors. It’s about saving our environment for our children. But it offered me a fresh perspective on a subject I thought I knew. And in the end, I watched the respected environmentalists become pro-nuclear. I was blown away. This film completely turned my understanding of nuclear energy upside down. And if you watch the film, you’ll understand why!

Pandora’s Promise is a great example of the other aspect of perspective. It’s this perspective that helps us to think about or to better understand a problem or solution, differently. This is the perspective that leads your audience to those “Aha!” moments. Check out Pandora’s Promise here!

This is the perspective that offers new insights and provides a fresh way to connect the cognitive dots. It’s the kind of perspective that can enable a tectonic shift in our understanding, for example, from anti-nuclear to pro-nuclear.

That’s the great thing about harnessing the power of video perspective. It can help us see and understand our world from a completely different point of view.

How can I use video as a guide?

prakash chavda
Mar 24, 2021
2 min read

We can think of a guide as a noun, like a teacher or mentor but it can also be a verb – to direct to or to point out. I want to suggest that when video is used as a guide, it can be both a noun and a verb. Let me share a personal example.

When my kids were young and they needed understanding, my wife and I would show them, tell them, and then lead them. The same principle is true for your video and your audience. In this analogy, video is the parent and the audience is the child, in the sense that video shows them, tells them, and then leads them. When video is used as a guide it establishes a need and gives your viewer a clear call to action. Now a call to action is just a word or phrase that prompts your audience to do something.

A call to action has 2 basic purposes.

To tell your audience what to do
To show your audience how to do it

For example, later on in this video, I’ll say, “head over to zappl.in/blog to get our free guide…” and while I’m saying that, you’ll see our URL on the bottom of the video. So to get our offer, I’ve told you what to do and I’ve shown you how to do it. Not only that, but like all strong calls to action, I’ve helped you understand by being direct and informative and I’ve made it clear and easy to follow.

A strong call to action should be:

Direct and informative to understand
Clear and easy to follow

Remember, the purpose of video as a guide is to show and tell, while being direct and informative, clear and easy. Combine that with video as perspective and a tool and your video can bring about amazing results for your audience and your business.

Have questions about YOUR video? Let us know: Visit our website www.zappl.in/blog!

How do you spend your time on a shoot?

prakash chavda
Mar 18, 2021
1 min read

Imagine that we’re on-location, shooting interviews for your video. While we would love to spend the entire day filming, generally it’s not possible. Why? There’s a lot of other things that have to happen before you hear me shout, “Action”! Here’s an example from a recent out-of-town shoot for a healthcare client. This will give you an idea of how we spend our time on a typical video shoot.

A Typical Shoot Schedule

Load up – 20 minutes
Travel – 15 – 30 minutes
Unload – 20 minutes
Move – 15 – 30 minutes
Set up – 45 mins – 2 hours
Shoot – 30 minutes – 1 hour per person
Reset – 45 minutes
Shoot – 30 minutes – 1 hour per person
Pack up – the equipment – 30 mins
Move – 15 – 30 minutes
Load up – 20 minutes
Travel to lunch
Lunch – 45 – 60 minutes
Travel – 15 – 30 minutes
Repeat

While every project is different, this is a good idea of what it takes and a reminder that there’s a lot of physical preparation that has to happen before we can actually begin videotaping.