In the following sketch, we tried doing a vlog review without using human subjects in the video. We found it to be very plain and flat, as we were not able to see any body language nor facial expressions. Apart from that, we also did the sketch without any cuts or much change in video angles. If an entire vlog review were to be done this way, audiences might visually lose interest, especially if there are no cuts to different scenes.
Also as a follow up from the previous sketch, although it is the same content, it is very different in terms of the way it is presented. Showing the object or product being talked about is important, but it would definitely be much better and more convincing if there was a visual balance between the reviewer and what is being reviewed.
After all, apart from reviews being educational and informative, it should also be appealing to watch, especially considering that there might be a lot of information packed into it.
In this sketch, we wanted to see how a vlog review would play out if we included an animated character to the video. As our knowledge on animation is limited, we decided to communicate our idea through pictures.
Taking the cartoon Dora the Explorer as an example, Dora is a girl that explores new places with Boots the monkey, who is also a secondary character and her friend in the cartoon. This makes discovering new places more fun and interactive, and pushes it into a narrative sort of structure. And that, is what we wanted to try out with this sketch.
For instance, what if a vlog review had only one reviewer? Perhaps it might seem a little dull. In cases such as that, would it be more exciting if an animated character was in the picture? What if a reviewer could ‘interact’ with this fictional character and later edit it in during post-production? We felt that it would be interesting to watch, especially if the vlog review was given a storyline of some sort, giving the animated character an opportunity to play a part in it.
After having prepared the sketch, however, we realised that it may not be as feasible of an idea for Project Four, not only due to the fact that we have little experience with animation, but also because a vlog review done this way might require scripts and planning beforehand, which may not make the review as genuine as desired.
In the next three sketches, we will be exploring and comparing the roles of reviewers in a vlog review, and how they contribute to the way it is made and the feelings it give.
For this particular sketch, we chose to put emphasis on the human subjects, with not as much focus on the place they are in. How would the vibes and feelings propagated through speech and facial expressions affect the feel that a vlog review gives?
We used an iPhone 6 to film the entire sketch, giving it a very personal, non-professional sort of impression, which is, essentially, the entire purpose of a vlog review. Vlogs are, after all, user-generated videos that feature personal thoughts and perspectives. Here, we took turns filming each other and even had one where we used the phone’s front camera to film ourselves.
By observing the way a reviewer looks or acts, viewers have a better clue as to what he/she feels about the place that is being reviewed. We are able to see the way a reviewer reacts to certain things. In this case, viewers are able to discern the subject’s expression upon trying a doughnut. It is certainly more effective as compared to a mere picture of a doughnut, followed by text or background audio. It is in the moment, and thus draws attention to a reviewer’s true character.
Drawing inspiration from OK Go’s music videos, we wanted to try out the one-shot filming technique. In the context of vlog reviews, one-shots would show the overview of a specific place, giving people a better idea of the place as a whole, especially since there are no cuts in between.
This idea required some planning beforehand, such as how we were to walk around the area or shoot it such that all the information needed gets in the video. We tried walking around but didn’t quite like it as it wasn’t very smooth; perhaps it would have been better if we had a monopod. We then resulted to staying at one position to take the entire shot of the area, which is also the second video in this blog post.
We did this sketch with the urge to experiment in mind, as this is a very different filming technique compared to regular video reviews. Making a good one-shot would require plenty of planning, and although it could be an interesting take, this might defeat the whole idea of spontaneity in vlog reviews.
As we were thinking about some ways in which a viewer would be able to properly visualise a certain place or feel a particular experience, we decided that using a GoPro as our filming equipment would make an interesting idea. With inspiration from other first-person perspective videos done by other filmmakers, we chose to adopt that idea for our sketch.
In this sketch, we do a vlog review on a home stay apartment. We borrowed a GoPro and head strap mount from one of our friends. After looking around the place and figuring out how we might shoot it, we then proceeded to filming the footage. We did it in a casual sort of way, reviewing the place and what it had to offer as we went along.
Looking back at our footage, we see various differences from shooting it ‘professionally’. Viewers are able to see every inch of the area, experiencing it from the perspective of the filmmaker. This helps viewers to have a better idea of what the place actually looks like, and seeing as how our vlog review revolves around the context of travel, it would be deemed important that they are able to properly envision a location before choosing to stay at or visit a certain place.
What if we were to make these vlog reviews into a series? We would then require something that validates it as a series, creating recognition and a name on online platforms. We would need something that indicates continuity and consistency, rather than it just being a one-off sort of thing.
One of the ways that we felt it could be done would be creating an opening transition before each vlog review commences. As you can see from the sketch that we made, we chose adventure-related pictures and came up with the title Melbourne Trippin’to indicate the element of travel. An action such as that would create an image for these travel vlog reviews, introducing it such that viewers would be able to have a brief idea of what the video will be about.
The pictures compiled in the sketch are all taken from places around Melbourne, and the background music is from YouTube’s royalty free music section.
To begin with, we wanted our first sketch to be something that comes back from the original structure of a video review. As it is slightly different from product reviews, we wanted to see how a regular vlog review – in our context – would be like.
For this vlog review, we used an iPhone 6 as recording equipment, as we found it much easier to capture footage and carry around. We began by talking about where the place is located and also touched on its physical appearance. We too included our personal opinions as we reviewed the drinks that we had ordered. To conclude, we summarised how we ultimately felt about the place before ending the video.
After editing the video, we felt that it would have been better if we included a little more about the drinks and pastries on offer and also compared it to a different cafe. This is much like written blog reviews, just that it is done in the form of a video. In accordance with our research, we were not able to find a vlog review quite like this one on YouTube.
We came upon this idea from our previous case study of Marques Brownlee’s tech review of the iPhone 6. Following up from our three things of interest, we eventually settled on the second option and the following is our probe for this project:
Working from a case study that examined an example of online video practice called ‘video reviews’, which features the reviewing of a product or service in the market. Our group plans to explore how the context of video reviews – in this case, travel video reviews – can be altered when it is put through different tools and services, or mixed with other genres, or played around with types of filming techniques. How does the exploration of these processes affect the narrative/non-narrative form of video reviews, or how the narrative/non-narrative form affect the way it is portrayed to an audience?
We would like to explore video reviews such that we put them in a different context – in this case, we have found interest in mixing both vlogs and reviews to create vlog reviews, potentially one that explores the subject of travel, and we hope to investigate the ways it can affect how it is communicated and how it can work via different tools/services.
Structure: Using short videos to explain the structure of a vlog review.
Technical aspects: How does using different gear (eg. GoPro/DSLR/smartphone) to film a vlog review change the feel it would give?
Narrative/non-narrative: Including human subjects (reviewers), versus..
… narrative-video-review (the reviewer & the character), versus…
… only background audio.
Hybrid: Incorporating interviews (with café owners), with inspiration from reality TV shows.
Consistency: Opening transition to indicate that it is a series.
Services/Tools: Using a different platform (interactive, perhaps) to review the café.
Services/Tools: Using a platform like Instagram to review a place.
Services/Tools: Try out Periscope, as it is instant and “in the moment”, as compared to uploading it as a video on YouTube.
Services/Tools: Using Snapchat as a way to promote or review the place we are in.
Techniques: Playing with different transitions when moving from one scene to the next. Filters or short cuts.
These are just a couple of ideas that we came up with. Not sure if we’ll be using all of them, but we will definitely have to brush them up.
