Recently, I happened across a video which struck me for a few reasons. It’s not just that the final product is well put together (which it is)…not just that it’s a great example of leveraging very simple visual elements and motion to accomplish a high production-value, high impact presentation…not just the compelling messaging…

As I watched it a second time, I guessed that what made it so cogent, lied below the surface of the production, and that there were some serious gears turning behind the scenes. The effectiveness of it lied in it’s purpose…despite the fact it ends without conclusion.

I decided to spend a few minutes and explore the story behind the video, and found that, in fact, the question was the purpose…but not in a transcendental, ethereal way, but rather in a very practical way.

By taking some time to consider not only the audience, but their state of mind, their atmosphere, and the general context surrounding their presence, Karl Fisch (a high school teacher, and the creator), avoided one of the most common mistakes in media: building a presentation solely around what you want to say, without considering what the audience will listen to and act upon.

In the blog post he states that, because of the specific context of the presentation, he “felt it would be a waste of time - and possibly counterproductive - to try to discuss anything of substance in the faculty meeting.”

I don’t claim to know the context surrounding the staff or environment of Mr. Fisch’s situation…but I do know that the consideration he made about the framework of the audience/environment is something that is easily missed by clients, and even worse, the media/design/web development firms they hire.

I was interested to find that XPLANE, the consultancy behind the visuals for this video, seems to make good use of methodologies and techniques designed specifically for creating effective communication and positive outcomes…what a coincidence…so do we!

Did you know that behind every video production that grabs you, there’s a story behind it that indicates that it’s not an accident or a coincidence?…It is, in fact, by design.

Sometimes the most important job for us as video editors, animators, and web developers is not to find the best way to communicate the client’s message, but to help them discover the message itself.