The article below is from the Video Ideas email list.
In this month’s Video Ideas we’re putting the camera up high.
The Time You Have (In Jellybeans) | Ze Frank — How an average person spends their days visualised with jellybeans
The World Needs Designers | Brendan Miller — Book trailer
One straightforward way to add visuals to an explainer is to just film objects from above on a table. I made the example above (sorry for the promo) but if you’re looking for other videos, try this from Vox: The state of gun violence in the US, explained in 18 charts
You could also use this approach as a part of a video slideshow or combine with stop motion. Lots of possibilities!
I Won’t Let You Down | OK Go — Drone shot mind-blowing choreography – music video
OK Go are famous for their music videos, but I think this one is pretty special. It escalates slowly, but even when I rewatched it when writing this, my jaw hit the floor around 3:50.
The video was apparently inspired by the elaborate choreography of Bubsby Berkeley (little YouTube film here if interested), and like many of his sequences it’s been filmed at a slower pace and then sped up. According to press reports, Honda paid for the film in exchange for using their odd wheelie things (“UNI-CUBs”) which considering it’s had 44m views was a good deal for them.
Another reason I love this video is it reminds me of the times I spent preparing for sports days as a primary school teacher in Japan. There was little preparation for racing events, but hours spent rehearsing choreographed group dances like this (though slightly less ambitious).
A beautiful final 40 seconds at the end of this film.
Her Morning Elegance | Oren Lavie — A stop motion animation of a dream – music video
Human Arabeqsue | TED — Dance filmed through a giant suspended prism
(Also, check out the making-of video.)