Video Ideas: Comic-based

The group has agreed for quite some time that we would definitely want to include a video made by us on one of our feature pages. Jonno posted earlier about the possibility of creating a typography-based video, as it suits the topic very well and they're always a very engaging way of discussing a topic in the format of a video without the need to physically film anything.

But we've since realised that none of us really knows how to go about putting together a typography-based video. While they seem simple, they are actually incredibly technical pieces of art that requires a very specific form of animation and video editing using programs such as Adobe After Effects to achieve effectively.

The main draw for using a typography-based video was that due to our topic - memes, in particular image-based memes - there really isn't any reason to film any actual real-life footage. But on the same vein of videos that do not require camera footage, there is actually an alternative genre that is very appropriate considering the topic we will be discussing.

Zero Punctuation is a game review web series produced by The Escapist magazine that has really popularised the comic-based video genre. What's great about this form of video is that it is essentially just a slideshow of static images, in this case single frames of drawn comics. No fancy animation or video editing skills required - just place the images one after the other. It sounds tacky, but that's the allure of it.

Another reason why this genre is so perfect for our purposes is the fact that so many memes originated from or are expressed via comics. Take for example trollface and other rage comics or the more recent "Dolan" meme.

I think this will be a much easier format for us to produce, and it's an appropriate genre for our feature on memes!

Video Ideas: Typography

So we've been trying to think of ways for how we can "use the medium" to it's full potential.  A typography video would be a neat (yes neat...) way to explore some of our ideas, perhaps about the origins  of memes or even any of the issues we cover.

The video below is way more complicated than what we would probably be able to do, but still pretty inspiring and a good watch.  It was one of the first typography/animation style videos that I ever saw, back when I was in high school.  Ever since then I've really liked the style and I've seen tonnes of videos utilising the form as a really informative and entertaining way of getting information across. 

It's definitely way more complex than what I was thinking, but something more along the lines of the next one, purely word-based, could be a bit easier?  I don't have much experience with making these sort of videos, my use of Flash or Adobe After Effects is limited to a brief dabbling in high school classes but nothing ever so sophisticated.  Perhaps one of you have some experience?  Otherwise maybe we can discuss a way of doing it that would be easier...

Let me know what you guys think!