Using the App
If you’ve spent any time on the app, you have most likely noticed that content on this app tends to have a distinctive style filled with hundreds of trends. The trends may seem to be confined to the app itself, however, they will undoubtedly make their way into the production world long-term. Ultimately this would not be the first time a social app, specifically consisting of videos, has made a lasting impression on the video production community. For example, ‘Vine’ which many of our video marketing agency members remember fondly.
Power Of Vine
Vine, you may remember, was a short-form video app, similar in many ways to TikTok, that was in the social spotlight from 2012-2016. On this app, videos were six seconds long consequently making them hyper-short, wherein that timeframe it managed to offer what seemed like limitless opportunities for content creators. Vine was discontinued years ago, nonetheless, its impacts can still be felt today. Sometime around the rise of Vine, hyper-short videos began popping up on a range of social media apps.
Six Second Options
Therefore today, many ad platforms offer six-second options, and marketers have had to learn to keep up with their competitors by tightening up their storytelling to fit within the very short time limit provided. So while TikTok is still very much enjoying its time in the spotlight, it’s likely that the platform is already beginning to leave its legacy on the video space, as many social media apps do overtime. However, there are some TikTok inspired trends that we think have the power to notably change the future of video and production.
Social Media Trends
While TikTok videos are not confined to six seconds like the fellow video app, Vine, TikTok is still built for short-form content but they differ in the sense that Individual videos on TikTok can be up to fifteen seconds long and they can even have a total of up to sixty seconds of content in one individual post. Short-form content is already popular in the production world for multiple reasons, including consumers’ decreasing attention spans and increasingly lower tolerance for ad-heavy content. TikTok will likely perpetuate this shift, like Vine did, by proving the value in short-form content. TikTok makes it clear that this short-form content is powerful and when used correctly, has the ability to entertain, to evoke emotion, to tell a story, to advertise and to convey complex information even within a confined timeframe. Showing what is possible in a span of 60 seconds or less, raises the bar for branded video content.
What Content Works Best?
Fast-paced and attention-grabbing content should be favoured: If you have never watched a TikTok video, you might be surprised at how fast-paced the content feels. This has to do with more than just the short timeframe; TikTok content creators often quickly jump from one clip to the next by smartly using transitions or text that is on-screen to help string the clips together cohesively. In videos that use this approach, viewers see clips strung together in real-time, while the person filming went through a more strenuous process behind the scenes, setting up the clips to look like they flowed naturally. The result for the future is the production of Growing demand for fast-paced and attention-grabbing content.
Ensuring that on-screen text is more than an afterthought
On Tiktok, on-screen text is crucial. In many videos, there is no dialogue at all. The sound will instead be added during editing in the form of a popular audio clip or a snippet of a song. The replacement for dialogue takes on the job of carrying the story which is often on-screen text. All Social Media Video Production companies would also suggest this as a useful tool. Many TikTok creators/users will stand in the centre of their screens while filming and occasionally pointing to different spots around them where they’ll add on-screen text later while they edit.
The final product, after all, editing, shows the person pointing to different text boxes as they pop onto the screen, eliminating the need for any voiceover explanation. Usually, these videos tell a story or give information to the viewers. In the production world today, on-screen text is sometimes seen as more of an afterthought. It’s often either the direct caption below the video or is on screen and used to call out important points made in the voiceover.
Videos Without Audio?
While the last several years of digital consumption have emphasized the need for videos to make sense without audio due to many platforms using auto-mute content, many videos still feature a voiceover for those who do choose to play content with sound enabled. Although on TikTok this concept is the complete opposite, the on-screen text is where the storytelling happens, and enabling audio simply adds background music to enhance the overall experience. You should expect to see more of this concept and its impact surrounding on-screen text carrying a significant narrative in the coming months and years.
So What Does the Future Hold?
Many TikTok users are learning the basics of what makes a great video just by engaging with the app. People who spend significant amounts of time creating TikTok videos are learning how to enhance the quality of their clips, how to think creatively about the production process, how to come up with interesting and innovative ideas, and how to create something engaging during the production process. These are skills that will come in handy in the coming years as video production skills become more essential for a variety of career paths and even just for everyday life. Well, at least that’s what our video marketing agency and other video company owners suggest.
Gatekeeping
What might have previously been seen as an industry plagued by gatekeeping is now being embraced by everyone with all different ages, skill levels, and perspectives. For consumers, it means we will likely see a much greater diversity of content, plus more people will see themselves represented by the clips they come across online and on these social media platforms. As more people get involved in the creation process, more of the viewing population will feel like they can relate to what they see online.
As video marketing experts we are specialists in all forms of video marketing. Here at Modus Film, we have completed many projects for our clients that have required us defining a digital strategy with really great results. If you want to speak to a specialist email [email protected] or call us on 01233 273 273.
Why not check out our other interesting reads such as How Video Engagement Affects Your ROI
