Tips on video opens

Strong visuals, great nat sound, a fast-paced sequence: they’re all good ways to open a story. Talking heads? Not. As online videographer Colin Mulvaney points out, it’s important to let the viewer know right away that your video is worth watching:

Online viewers are a fickle bunch, where the click of a mouse button will lead them to some other cooler destination. The key is to smack ‘em upside the head and wake them up. Your first 15 seconds better be good or they won’t stick around long.

That holds true for TV viewers, too, of course. For years now, they’ve watched the news with remote control in hand. So capturing attention is a key goal for any video story, whatever the medium. Mulvaney’s post offers half a dozen excellent examples of how to do it well. (Thanks to Angela Grant for pointing it out.)

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