Hi,
An artist friend approached me to produce a video (DVD). I declined (not what I'm interested in doing) but offered to prepare a list of issues that should be considered when doing same. (mic'ing, background noise, camera angles, etc.).
I was given a bunch of "professional" (e.g., $100/ea) videos of similar content to review. The comments that accompanied them (from my friend and other "artists") were invariably: "Oh, there's lots of great information in (most of) these! But, THEY PUT YOU TO SLEEP!" (literally).
OK, so I watched a couple. Boring but probably because I am not interested in the material and can't really "relate" to it or how I could benefit from it.
They are typically 90 minutes, or so. Sometimes broken into shorter segments. But, I see nothing that *suggests* you "walk away and take a break, here". So, it's like watching someone talk for 90 minutes about *his/her* work while you "watch from a distance".
I suspect the length is one big issue. I can't remember having to sit through a 90 minute "lecture" in my professional career. Staff meeting, etc.
And, the fact that it is *one* voice/presenter (note the evening news tends to ping-pong between *two* presenters -- so there is some variation in the speech characteristics, etc.) probably contributes.
There are usually just one or two FIXED camera angles -- you're always looking at the same backdrop, no real eye candy to revive your interest, etc.
Given that much of the material probably *needs* the lengthy presentation (you can't really do the Professor trick of hand-waving and pulling the finished result out of a secret compartment -- "The details are left as an exercise for the student"), it seems like something else has to be tweaked to make it more "engaging" or "riveting".
[I suspect folks would also balk at $100 for a *30* minute video! So, there is some value to length]I'm thinking back on the presentations that I enjoyed most and note that humor played a role in many -- some "joke" injected at a particular point (Not "A priest, a rabbi and a minister..." but, rather, a slide inserted upside down, or a slide of the presenter's kids at a birthday party mixed in with the lot, etc.)
But, that would get old, too, if it was mechanically applied to all of these.
So, what keeps *your* interest in a lengthy (non-interactive!) presentation?