Imperfect

adaptive short-form video

Speaking of adaptive blogging, how does it look like when applied to a different medium like video?

Specific video channels, like my recent discovery of Bubble Brian on YouTube, illustrate the value of masterful short-form content.

My introduction to him was his Stop Killing Games - Short Version video. It condensed recent long-form videos from YouTube commentators covering a game preservation initiative from Ross of Accursed Farms. In short:

While this style isn't new and similar videos cover the same topic, Brian's video stood out to me.

Generally, keeping almost every video under a minute long means that many more viewers can watch it, understand it, and take action on it. It's also a smart production and discovery pattern, answering questions like:

I think the above questions mimic the gradual unfurling pattern I outline in divergent pseudonymity for establishing an Internet presence without broadcasting your full name and details.

Speaking of privacy, his About page says that "video voiceovers are my own with an AI voice changer on top for privacy." I wonder how acceptable people typically against AI find this use case. To my knowledge, it's his voice and the AI only modulates it instead of generating something that somehow has no "soul" attached, despite innate human interaction. Typically coveted artistic practices imbued with struggle don't seem to be expedited here either.

Framing the video as a text exchange between friends is great. That ought to be carried across many more mediums honestly, including emails, meeting notes, etc. Give small asks. Talk to people like they are your friends. You may surprise yourself with the results.

On that note, Brian's video executes on spatial recognition and motion design much better than similar videos. Designing videos a la landscape phone screens makes the exchange feel that much more personal. It beats clicking forward through text messages as if they were Powerpoint slides. Sizing messages such that videos and messages fit within the viewport is another nice touch. I don't need messages centered in the midst of other distracting visual element.

I applaud his showing and telling with zero sense of ownership nor self-promotion. Even other creators using the same format include something like their name or such in the thumbnail or elsewhere. Execute on artistic choices well and often enough to implicitly imprint your involvement. If a source is truly needed, someone will ask for it.

His thumbnails seem like winners to me. Showcasing source creators attracts viewers primed to click videos involving favorite creators. Concisely explaining the saved time synergizes well with the video length indicator showing a super short amount of time. Consistency with formatting throughout the video makes for no surprises.

Before a minute is up, you know exactly what to do via short messages in the video or links in the description.

Writing the above out brought Nige's post title, 'The higher processes of art are all processes of simplification', to mind. Like how AI or its application here simplifies to great effect, so does the overall simplification of art. Whether within personal or imposed constraints of time, attention, or otherwise, people of even more ages and backgrounds can start creating and learning. Even if lessons are a brief refresh or a way to pass the time, either seem like benefits I think Brian would be happy to offer.

Finally, allow me to share some wise words with regard to how copycats bless us:

Maybe credit is beside the point. Is my end goal getting credit, or rather maximizing opportunities for people to benefit from works deriving from my production or consumption?

Students reciting in their own words what their teachers have taught them can be valuable. Conveying intended meanings to their audience is a good start. Injecting curiosity and deviance in ways that teach additional or even more nuanced lessons can be even better.

Understanding who owns the ideas, execution, and products can be important in the here and now. Although, as much as we appreciate our mentors, they're as mortal as we are, if not already passed. The longer games get stretched out, the more important the impact and proliferation of those things become.

The best sayings I have ever heard were iterated through many others' interdependent and independent minds. Chances are that the sayings you hold close derive from the same process.

With that in mind, why aren't you shortening and sweetening my posts and others' to help even more people? Why am I not doing the same for others' for that matter?

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