Digital video & film making: Revisiting skills to explore additional avenues

Sahil Chauhan dwells on the importance of digital film making, listing ways how enthusiasts and professionals can make the most of it.

Video content was confined to just a TV screen in our homes until a few years back smartphones revolutionised the way we consume video content. Video as a means of storytelling and advertising is no longer just an option – it has become a necessity. So has understanding digital film making.

Speaking for figures, the video will account for 82% of all internet traffic by 2022. Over 50% of shoppers admit videos influence their buying decisions. Not only this, 4 in 5 learn new skills using online videos. It is also a fact that people on average spend 16 hours per week on consuming digital video.

As the world is grappling with a pandemic, there are newer challenges that creative video editors, creators and makers come across. Hence it’s never a bad idea to explore a wider range of categories in video content that could show newer possibilities and arenas.

The intention and purpose of the video can also be a major factor to decide the type of category you might choose to learn and explore, for instance, if you are working with an upcoming brand their primary intention would be to make people aware of their brand and hence there is a high chance they might go for categories like ‘Brand Films’ to tell the people about their brand, ‘Explainer videos’ which may further make people understand their product or technology.

With time, people have changed the way they look at brands. It isn’t just a label to the product anymore, it’s turning into loyalty. Hence if you are an editor or video maker working for a project whose primary goal is to win customers, involve them in their stories, build better relationships then you would want to explore categories like ‘Product Videos’ to showcase the product, ‘Demo Video’ to explain how it actually works, ‘Testimonials’ for real positive reviews etc.

Also Read: How to repurpose content for social media posts effectively

While the above categories were brand-centric, the others I feel are free to be adapted as per your needs. Especially in times like now when we are all turning our physical presence for work into virtual ventures ‘Live Streams’ and ‘Webinars’ are getting attention.

For many, working from home has become the new normal and hence they have also been using the time wisely to learn new skills online. Hence categories like ‘How-to’ and ‘Tutorial’ videos are now changing the way people are being educated. These videos can go from basic learning to troubleshoot a problem on your computer to getting tuitions for an examination for a degree.

‘Documentaries’ is a category which I personally feel is evergreen. It’s simply because it’s based on one particular subject or storyline and is filled in with facts, information, timelines, happenings, findings etc and you as an editor get to decide how the subject shall be explained visually.

To conclude, a video is a very powerful weapon on social media today and with the different types of formats or categories, it also opens a whole new world of opportunity for video editors and makers. While I try to always share the most, I am open to suggestions and points that I may have missed.

This article has been authored by Sahil Chauhan, a digital production head at a leading agency.