Deconstructing Trust Elements in a Video

We’ve been talking about trust elements in your videos this week, and today I wanted to take you behind the scenes so you can see this week’s video deconstructed according to those elements.

WHERE DO WE START?

These are the elements I have seen create not only engagement, but trust. It’s not all of them. Some of it is your script. Some is your on-camera energy. But today we’re just talking about what happens when you become the editor.

Here are the elements of this week’s video:

A client film would multiply the use of those elements and take a couple of hours per minute of finished video to finish.

This whole video took 5 minutes to shoot and 3 hours to edit. None of my videos take much longer than that except the big “tentpole” videos that are designed to act more like ads.

The point is, I could have done a lot more with this video, but that would defeat the whole purpose of the work I do here. This is all to show you how to make effective videos and still keep your sanity and not have to skip a beat in running your business.

I short, the art of the possible. 

And while it’s not rocket surgery, it can be a little slow-going at the start. You have to decide which of the above elements you want to use. 

FINE-TUNING YOUR TRANSITIONS

As you can see, the two I frequently use more than any other are the transitions, which are often simply hard cuts; and fairly frequent cutting from long shot to close up when I’m on-screen.

Study the transitions. They’re very carefully placed in each and every video. They aren’t inserted randomly to just reset your attention. They do that as well, but they do it with purpose. And the purpose is either to draw your attention to a new point, or a deeper point, or a broader point. So that’s the point.

When you’re using more complex transitions like lap dissolves or wipes, you’ve got to be super-careful you aren’t leaving footage hanging behind. I recommend starting with a 15 frame dissolve when you’re transitioning from yourself on-screen to another piece of footage. That way the pace doesn’t begin to drag.

Think about it for a moment. What if those 47 transitions were a second each? That would add three quarters of a minute to the video without adding value. It would also bring the energy down to the point where it might just become unwatchable!

So if transitions and rapid cutting were the only two elements you chose, and you did them well, your videos would have the potential to come across with authority.

MOTION GRAPHICS BRING THAT ZING

Then if you wanted to take it up a notch, maybe add motion graphic elements. Today you can find some really yummy ones for real cheap. These elements help you make things you have to use look cooler; things like the way text appears, adding little squiggly things like signs, explosions or ways of displaying large blocks of text. 

THE MUSIC SWELLS

The next element I would add would be music unless you’re in a highly technical market. Music is about gently entering the emotional realm and it needs to be handled sensitively. It’s pretty easy to overdo it or end up too “on the nose”. So just take your time with it, let others listen to your first efforts and see what comes up for everyone.

The most important thing I can tell you right now is to not let the music drown out the voice track. Try to never let your tracks come up above -24db for any sustained period of time and you’ll get a sense of what that balance should be.

Now all this is assuming your lighting, audio, background and composition are cleaned up. Without that, all bets are off. That’s why I have a free course right here on the site to help you understand how all that stuff works.

This is all well-worth your time if you’d like to use video in your business. This is the kind of thing you can make a system from. And if you can systemize the tech, you’re halfway home.

If this brings up any questions, feel free to ask them below or talk about your process!