Video Critique Number 9

Video Critique Number 9
November 1, 2010 | Melanie Lerner

Title: Happenstance

1 Minute and 44 seconds

http://vimeo.com/11480780

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/11480780" width="400" height="300" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/11480780">Happenstance</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/cdes">Communication Design at UNT</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

This particular video shows a strong visual communication system through the use of symbols and typography. The main message is about how one seemingly small and insignificant decision can define our lives. The video goes on to demonstrate this point through a story about a boy and a girl who meet each other by chance all because one morning the girl accidentally woke up late. The story reinforces that if just one thing had been different the day that they met, they may not have ever gotten the opportunity to meet in the first place. The approach to executing the work is diagrammatic, which makes it easy for the viewer to understand and follow. Rules lead the eye around the screen and a hierarchical system (through color, type size, and weight) is there to help reinforce the order different elements are meant to be seen. By reducing the content to simple iconographic symbols, the message not only becomes clearer, but also more powerful.

The video has a strong concept and no instances of see and say. The cohesive over all feel and smooth transitions make it apparent that the artist paid great attention to detail. Moreover, the music helps add drama at the right moments and solidifies the piece, along with a consistent color palette. The pacing works as well and plenty of good animation comes from constructing and deconstructing the typography. In terms of critique, there is not much that needs changing, just minor tweaks.

At 0:17 the brackets around the numbers get cut off screen. They are not cut off enough to look intentional so the best way to fix this would be to shrink them down so they both fit on screen or cut them off more drastically.

At 0:24 the “To” drops down arbitrarily, which is strange. A better treatment would be for it to extend off the dotted line instead.

At 0:25 the diagonal line leading off of the “E” in “Change” doesn’t function very effectively because there are no other diagonals on screen and the type doesn’t follow the line to the next screen. Instead both line and type just randomly fade away. A better transition is necessary here to help unify the two scenes and add more dynamics.

At 0:27 the word “Everything” should not fade out leaving only a small red dot on the screen. Instead the type should remain and then disappear after the camera zooms in on the dot.

At 0:35 the way the boy and girl and their respective symbols appear on screen should match but they don’t. The boy shows up before the symbol that represents him while the girl shows up after the symbol that represents her.

At 0:40 the “411” is barely visible because of the white color it has been given. The artist needs to amp up the contrast just a little more. Also the bullets should wait to appear until the text does. It doesn’t make much sense for them to show up beforehand like they currently do.

At 1:12 the man’s symbol is a bit too close to the edge of the screen so that it doesn’t look asymmetrically balanced. It would be better to scoot the type over to the left.

At 1:26 the black and red colors would look better flipped with one another inside the bracket containing the words, “Might not have met” so that the brackets are black and the word “NOT” is in red.

At 1:34 the word “Define” seems too heavy in weight next to the other type. The word should be toned down in contrast. Also the alignment is funky because “Our lives” doesn’t line up with anything. In addition, the “L” juts up into the negative part/counter of the “N” creating awkwardness.