Capture Video – What Do You Mean By Graphics?

What Do You Mean By Graphics?

‘Graphics’ means a lot of things in video. Any time words or pictures are added over the video, or before or after the video, that’s graphics. Most professionally produced videos include them. It enhances the polished look of the final product.

The most common graphic in a business video is the opening title. Here is what you are about to watch, the name of the video, the relevant information and/or the logo and branding information relevant to the video. This is sometimes a stagnant image, like a slate, but is often animated, with music and/or voice over starting while the title animation draws the audience in. The closing title, or the last thing the audience will watch, is the next most common graphic, and is usually a great place to leave a last thought in the mind of your viewer.

With any video that has an on screen interview or on screen speaker – instead of a video that is all graphics, for example, or consists of scenes acted out as in a movie – we employ lower thirds. A lower third is a title bar that covers some or all of the lower third of the screen with information about the speaker – usually their name and professional affiliation. Think about the evening news or any TV interview shows you’ve seen. By showing the name and title of the speaker, you save time from the overall length of the video – since you do not need to introduce the speaker. It also breaks up the ‘talking head’ by giving more visual interest on the screen.

Other graphics include: bulleted title screens, where different speaking points are emphasized by bringing short phrases onto the screen; logo animation, where a logo or other computer generated graphic is brought to life, often mixed with animated text; moving pictures or images across the screen, as in zooming in close on a product shot, or panning across a map; charts and graphs; and 3D renderings.

As mentioned earlier, some videos consist entirely of graphics. An animated video, using text or images animated to music or voice over, can be a great way to visually convey your message, especially if your message is more informative than visual to begin with. Other videos utilize just a few essential graphics like lower thirds, and leave the rest of the work to the video itself.

When deciding on graphics for your video production, it isn’t really a question of if you want them, but what types will best enhance the story your video is telling.