Your favorite style of video: educational, vacation video, or music video ?

[ronrosa]

Some of the recent posts prompted me to post this thread.

What is your favorite style of video to watch ? Educational, vacation video or music video ?

Educational seems to win most of the competitions out there and are what you see on Discovery/Nature Channel.

However, for pure entertainment and enjoyment, I like to watch my vacation videos and scuba music videos.

Even if it's not my vacation or my video. I prefer to watch good footage combined with some good music over an educational video any day.

To me, it's analogous to watching music videos on MTV or a Warren Miller ski video compared to a PBS educational documentary.

What's your preference ?

 

[drbill]

Well done educational videos with a sense of humor and good videography... or a tasteful R-rated foreign film!

Dr. Bill

 

[MCL]

This may be a cop out, but for me it depends on my mood. I am always interested in watching good videos, especially when done by someone I know, or if I'm in them, but there is always room to learn about what you are seeing.

And a sense of humor just makes it a little mroe fun. Right, Dr. Bill? I'm looking forward to being able to check out some of your stuff!

 

[drbill]

It's coming together, BigMike. My fish narrator returns from Laughlin Monday and will record his part, and the Belize DVD series is making good progress.

Of course when I want to relax, I watch something that is entertaining and not necessarily educational since I see so much video daily in my work.

Dr. Bill

 

[meekal]

Well done educational videos with a sense of humor and good videography... or a tasteful R-rated foreign film!

Dr. Bill

sense of humor? - i guess i don't get that channel. the only humor i've seen in educational films are blooper reels of david attenborough bumping his head on a salt cave. what ma i missing?

 

[drbill]

I think the reference was to my educational underwater videos which try to maintain a sense of humor while conveying factual information. At least that's the goal, your mileage may vary. My son's former high school friends viewed a few of them and said they would have paid attention if that kind of video had been shown in school classes.

Shameless self-promotional plug by...

Dr. Bill

 

[Moogyboy]

I'll have to agree with the good Doctor here...well-done educational vid with a good sense of humor, and a good soundtrack.

I don't mind vacation videos as such, it's just that so many that I've seen have been so...I dunno, haphazardly put together. One thing that drives me up the wall is plastering everything with canned music that has no relationship with the footage, and vice versa. Another is careless editing. I suppose the thing I like about ed films is that they're (often) well organized, and go on as long as they need to.

An' that's my two bits, folks.

(One of these days we'll see if I can put my own snobbish preferences into practice... )

cheers

Billy S.

 

[drbill]

My "little" (40-something) sister called me last night to tell me she was showing one of my videos to her new beau as part of their Valentine's Day extended weekend together without her kids. She enjoyed the sense of humor in it. I was rather surprised by that since even I wouldn't subject my Valentine (if I had one) to that (but then, she would have seen it through hundreds of iterations by now).

Too many scientists/educators take things a bit too seriously. Marine biologists tend to be an exception... and I wouldn't want to break the mold. In order to educate using media like video, you have to get people to watch and pay attention. If a little humor will do that, great.

Dr. Bill

 

[Moogyboy]

Too many scientists/educators take things a bit too seriously. Marine biologists tend to be an exception... and I wouldn't want to break the mold.

To wit (pun intended): Jacques Cousteau could be quite funny in his public appearances; Sylvia Earle apparently also has a decent sense of humor as well as a whimsical side--I believe she wrote at least one children's book.

cheers

Billy S.

 

[ronrosa]

Well done educational videos with a sense of humor and good videography... or a tasteful R-rated foreign film!

Dr. Bill

I do love my Blue Planet DVD set.