Video clip

This article is about the visual medium. For what the Greek recognize with this name, see music video. For the 2007 Thai film, see Video Clip (2007 film). For Olivia Lufkin album, see Video Clips (album).

Video clips are short clips of video, usually part of a longer recording. The term is also more loosely used to mean any short video less than the length of a traditional television program.

On the Internet

Main article: Video hosting service

With the spread of Internet global accessing (fastest Internet broadband connection of TCP with accumulator cables and semi fast connection), video clips have become very popular online. By mid-2006 there were tens of millions of video clips available online, with new websites springing up focusing entirely on offering free video clips to users and many established and corporate sites adding video clip content to their websites. With the spread of broadband Internet access, video clips have become very popular online. Whereas most of this content is non-exclusive and available on competing sites, some companies produce all their own videos and do not rely on the work of outside companies or amateurs.

A detailed icon for video e.g. to link to video content on a website

While some video clips are taken from established media sources, community or individual-produced clips are becoming more common. Some individuals host their created works on vlogs, which are video blogs. The use of Internet video is growing very fast. Between March and July 2006, YouTube grew from 30 to 100 million views of videos per day. More recent developments includes the BBC's iPlayer, which was released for open beta testing in July 2007.

Clip culture

The widespread popularity of video clips, with the aid of new distribution channels, has evolved into 'clip culture'. It is compared to 'lean-back' experience of seeing traditional movies, refers to the Internet activity of sharing and viewing a short video, mostly less than 15 minutes. The culture began with the development of broadband Internet service, and has seen a boom since 2005 when websites for uploading clips first started, including Shockinghumor, YouTube, Google Video, MSN Video and Yahoo! Video.

Such video clips often show moments of significance, humour, oddity, or prodigy performance. Sources for video clips include news, movies, music video and amateur video shot. In addition to clips recorded by high-quality camcorders, it has become more common to produce clips with digital cameras, webcams, and mobile phones.

Advertising

Online video advertising is used by advertisers. With online entertainment such as Hulu, YouTube and major U.S. television network sites (ABC, NBC, CBS) delivering high-quality television programming content free of charge, online video entertainment is rising in popularity.

With consumer attention came advertisers. MAGNA estimated that online video advertisement spending will approach nearly US$700 million in 2008, a 32% increase from 2008. As businesses seek to tighten budgetary allocations, online video is a highly measurable and results-driven delivery platform. Additionally, Pro-Ams are raising the bar on digital video content—enticing advertisers to align their brands with quality content at a reduce rate (as compared with major networks).

Rise of amateurs

Unlike traditional movies largely dominated by studios, clip movies are overwhelmingly supplied by amateurs. In May 2006, The Economist reported that 90% of clips on YouTube came from amateurs, a few of whom are young comedians. It, in effect, also brought amateur talents. In 2005, two Chinese students Huang Yixin and Wei Wei, now dubbed as "Back Dorm Boys" showed their talent in lip-synching in a song of the Backstreet Boys, with their self-conscious grimaces in a video uploaded to some clip websites, became quickly renowned. Not only did they appear on television shows, concerts, but were also granted a contract by a media company in Beijing for lip-syncing for cash.

An earlier celebrity was David Elsewhere, a talent at popping and liquiding. His performance to Kraftwerk's song Expo 2000 at the Kollaboration talent show in 2001 was widely viewed on the Internet, leading later to his being hired for TV commercials and music videos. Not only have video clips submerged into the world of TV commercials and music videos but it is now also a popular form of entertainment and a hobby for people called "Vloggers" (video blog creators). Many professional video bloggers such as Communitychannel,BeezmanTv and iJustine can be found on YouTube; additionally many notable amateur video bloggers have also emerged.

Citizen journalism

Citizen journalism video reporting dates back as early as the development of camcorders, but all videos were screened by the local media outlets of the time, until its spread has been aided by free upload websites in which censorship is limited to make a vast amount of videos available to anyone who wants it. Scenes rarely broadcast on television, and many first-witnessed scenes have since become publicly available.

Notably, in December 2004, tourist videos of the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami offered worldwide audiences the first scenes of the disaster. In December 2003, videos in Hong Kong showing the bully in De La Salle School outraged the public and raised a wide concern on school violence that led to the arrest of 11 students.

Vlog

From late 2005 to early 2006, a new form of blogging emerged called a vlog. It is a blog that takes video as the primary content, often accompanied by supporting text, image, and additional metadata to provide context. Su Li Walker, an analyst with the Yankee Group, said that like blogs, which have become an extension of traditional media, video blogs will be a supplement to traditional broadcasting.

Convergence with traditional media

The potential markets of video clips has caught the attention of traditional movie studios. In 2006, the producers of Lucky Number Slevin, a film with Morgan Freeman, Lucy Liu and Bruce Willis, made an 8-minute clip for YouTube. Celebrity in traditional media has proven to confer bigger popularity in clip culture.

The emerging potential for success in web video has caught the eye of some of the top entertainment executives in America, including former Disney executive and current head of the Tornante Company, Michael Eisner. Eisner's Vuguru subdivision of Tornante partnered with Canadian media conglomerate Rogers Media on October 26, 2009, securing plans to produce upwards of 30 new web shows a year. Rogers Media will help fund and distribute Vuguru's upcoming productions, thereby solidifying a direct connection between old and new media.

Video blog

A video blog, sometimes shortened to mark is a blog that comprises video. Regular entries are typically presented in reverse chronological order and often combine embedded video or a video link with supporting text, images, and metadata.

Web video presenters

2009 saw an increase in the number of corporate e-presenters using green screen technology in an attempt to direct user traffic to profitable areas of web sites, e.g.; a user logs on to a web site and an e-presenter appears, giving fast, concise information and directing users to visit customer testimonials pages, special offers or incentives to either buy or enquire online. Adding such human touches gives users confidence in the web site and company, increasing their trust in their brand and turns visits into inquiries.

Use of corporate web videos

Corporations have used Web video in communicating with people and in driving traffic to their sites. According to one article, the most common types of corporate Web video are:

• Customer testimonials
• Video success stories
• Video Case Studies
• Man-On-the-Street interviews and market research
• Product presentations and video brochures
• Product demonstrations
• Product Reviews
• Corporate Overviews
• Presentations, Trade Shows and Events
• Facilities Tours
• Training and support videos
• Commercials and Infomercials

See also

• List of Internet phenomena
• Media clip
• Screencast
• Video sharing

Further reading

• Jay Dedman, Joshua Paul. Videoblogging, John Wiley & Sons, June 26, 2006. ISBN 0-470-03788-1.
• Michael Verdi, Ryanne Hodson, Diana Weynand, Shirley Craig. Secrets of Videoblogging, Peachpit Press, April 25, 2006. ISBN 0-321-42917-6.
• Stephanie Cottrell Bryant. Videoblogging For Dummies, For Dummies, July 12, 2006. ISBN 0-471-97177-4.
• Lionel Felix, Damien Stolarz. Hands-On Guide to Video Blogging and Podcasting: Emerging Media Tools for Business Communication, Focal Press, April 24, 2006. ISBN 0-240-80831-2.
• Andreassen, T. B. & Berry, D M. (2006). Conservatives 2.0. Minerva. Norway. Nr 08 2006. pp 92–95
• Jennie Boure, "Web Video: Making It Great, Getting Noticed", Peachpit Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0-321-55296-9

External links

• Video directories at DMOZ