The Tendo View

Video doesn’t have to be expensive to be effective. In fact, sometimes cheaper is better.

Take the video glossary I recently ran across on Lawrence Berkeley National Labs’ site. Scientists for this Department of Energy lab look straight into what is obviously an inexpensive video camera and explain everything from green computing to dark energy.

The sound can be buzzy. The colors sometimes muddy. And the settings, often cubicles, are uninspiring. Yet, despite, and maybe because of all these flaws, this collection of one-minute videos is delightful and utterly addicting.

A small camera, no crew or lights, no makeup and a few minutes of a scientist’s time and the results are genuine and affecting. Whether stiff and formal or relaxed and funny, each snippet reveals not just the meaning of a scientific term, but a bit of personality, too.

My favorite, Saul Perlmutter, explains dark energy with an easy avuncular manner that might have evaporated under bright lights and the steady gaze of a big camera. In background the teetering heaps of papers (too messy for a slick production) add a touch of the forgetful professor to his delivery.

While the ambiance of inexpensive video was right for this application, you also have to consider that the low cost probably made it possible. Had the glossary cost more than a cheap camera, a touch of post-production and a little programming, the whole thing might not have been created at all.

So, when you’re thinking of video as a promotional tool, you don’t always have to aim for the stratosphere in quality or cost. It’s a YouTube world. Take advantage of it.