6 Cinematic Gimmicks for Branded Vines
The advice we give to any brand looking to make headway on social media is simple:
Be more human.
And, right now, the best platform to show off those human bonafides is called Vine.
Just as Twitter created value for its users by limiting the length of a post to 140 characters, Vine creates value in video by limiting the length of a clip to 6 seconds. The constraint has unleashed a deluge of creativity and makes the app’s browsing experience the closest thing to channel surfing we’ve had since the’90s. Remember how addicting channel surfing was?
Success on Vine is measured by the number of times the video has looped. It’s not enough that your audience watched it. They have to want to watch it over and over… and over again. More loops means higher ranking and a better chance of becoming a featured Vine. Featured vines get more exposure which tacks on more loops.
Youtube videos and Gifs work with a similar characteristic. I like to call it:
Loopacity
Definition: a video’s capacity to improve the more you watch it. I made it up myself. It’s not a real word… yet.
This is a fantastic metric for a brand. We, as a marketing community, should come together and thank the nice people at Vine for forcing us to be better at our jobs to succeed on their platform.
So, how do you entice your audience to watch the same 6 seconds loop 20 times before chasing the next shiny vine tickling the bottom of their monitor? Below are 6 styles of video that anyone can make and everyone will feel compelled to watch repeatedly.
1) Amazing Shot
Hard to set up and requires hundreds of takes but once you capture that lucky shot you’re sitting on rewatch gold.
2) SuperSpeed
Each frame is a single picture lined up with the help of the ghost feature. Great for getting exposure for new product. Just be sure to to add a description prompting the audience to click the video.
3) Rube Goldberg Device
4) Endless Loop
Done right your audience doesn’t even realize the video has looped. The video keeps going, they keep watching and your loop count ticks up.
5) Motion Cut
By transitioning when the camera pans you create the illusion of single shot. Can you spot the frame where the edit was made? How many times did the video loop before you spotted the cut?
6) Magic
You don’t have to know any actual sleight of hand to pull off this kind of effect. Making his duplicate probably requires a blue screen and editing software, but if you can pull it off you’ll guarantee repeat viewing as your audience tries desperately to find a flaw in the illusion. Enough to get you started? Mastery in any of these techniques will open up endless possibilities for reaching your audience base. When it comes to outreach, Vine is a fantastic platform to show off your brand’s personality.
Nick Cotton is a project manager based out of Los Angeles, California. He’s got a background in the entertainment industry, and uses his talent at online messaging to extol the virtues of content marketing, interactive fiction and sentences measuring 280 characters or less.
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