Youtube is ruining video!

by tomskowronski | October 28th, 2008

youtubeAlright I know, I get it. You can post your OWN content on Youtube!  But that doesn’t mean that you should. There are always positives and negatives when it comes to any user generated content video sharing site.  Here are the positives, freedom of expression. That’s right, whether you want to tell off the girl who turned you down with a close up of your nose while your talking. Or you feel like dancing in your underpants to the theme from Jaws, you have the right to express yourself! Should you? Sure you bet!

What’s the downside? The result is usually, people who own cameras end up creating the content. Instead of people who know how to use cameras, creating the content.  This means fast shaky zooms, pans that never stop and rack focus techniques used not only as transitions, but throughout the entirety of the video as well. These are perfect examples of what not to do in video production! Watch five youtube videos and see if you notice any of the seven deadly camera sins, I did. Go try, here are some to get you started:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIAnfNvzEiY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jumu2a90Vz0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ktd5Yrbtlao

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9lfCSGIJ7E&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXJ9o4eSWt0

There is no creativity, no design and no talent. More importantly, these videos lack style and format. Therefore, the art of video production doesn’t exist on youtube. Which, ironically enough is a web site geared around creating video. 

2 Responses to “Youtube is ruining video!”

  1. abflex Says:

    Wow, that was arrogant.

    What if a journalist would say that blogs (and use your post as an example) is ruining the written word? Usage of clichés, simple typing mistakes such as double spaces or misuse of commas. Short sentences and paragraphs used only to get the viewer to not twirl away to another blog or site because the one he’s currently reading is too “boring”. One could say that blogs are making the art of writing into a joke.

    Or if a web designer (or any graphic designer as a matter of fact) would say that blogs and poorly designed web sites are ruining the art of digital design. Poor typography, columns too narrow, not knowing when to save your graphics as gifs, jpegs or png’s, framing the content into something that is by definition unknown to man, functions in product not functioning properly and so on. One could say that poorly designed blogs and web sites are completely destroying the art of digital design.

    So, Tom Skowronski, I’ve decided to retype your poorly written blog post not only one, but two times, focusing on the two groups mentioned above. Feel free to copy it and then paste it into whatever community you find fitting.

    THE WRITTEN WORD

    Alright I know, I get it. You can post your OWN content on Blogger! But that doesn’t mean that you should. There are always positives and negatives when it comes to any user generated written sites. Here are the positives, freedom of expression. That’s right, whether you want to tell off the girl who turned you down with a haiku. Or you feel like quoting all of Barney Stinson’s one liners from How I met your Mother, you have the right to express yourself! Should you? Sure you bet!

    What’s the downside? The result is usually, people who own computers (or pen and paper, or maybe a typewriter) end up creating the content. Instead of people who know how to write, creating the content. This means poor sentences, misuse of punctuation and exclamation marks. These are perfect examples of what not to do while writing your next novel! Read five blog posts and see if you notice any of the seven deadly sins of web writing, I did. Go try, here are some to get you started:

    http://videomaker.com/community/blogs/videonews/2008/10/4107-youtube-is-ruining-video/

    http://videomaker.com/community/blogs/videonews/2008/10/4107-youtube-is-ruining-video/

    http://videomaker.com/community/blogs/videonews/2008/10/4107-youtube-is-ruining-video/

    http://videomaker.com/community/blogs/videonews/2008/10/4107-youtube-is-ruining-video/

    http://videomaker.com/community/blogs/videonews/2008/10/4107-youtube-is-ruining-video/

    There is no creativity, no flow and no talent. More importantly, these words are crap. Therefore, the art of the written word doesn’t exist on Blogger. Which, ironically enough is a web site geared around writing.

    THE DESIGN

    Alright I know, I get it. You can design your OWN pages with Dreamweaver and publish it online! But that doesn’t mean that you should. There are always positives and negatives when it comes to any user designed site. Here are the positives, freedom of expression. That’s right, whether you want to tell off the girl who turned you down with a picture of her nosehairs sticking out. Or you feel like showing photos of yourself in underpants with a print from the poster from Jaws, you have the right to express yourself! Should you? Sure you bet!

    What’s the downside? The result is usually, people who own computers end up creating the content. Instead of people who know how to use photoshop, write css, code html and various dynamic script languages, creating the content. This means stretched and poorly compressed images, no color harmonies, poor typography and repeated background patterns used not only as a column background, but throughout the entirety of the site. These are perfect examples of what not to do in digital design! Watch five websites and see if you notice any of the seven deadly sins of web design, I did. Go try, here are some to get you started:

    http://videomaker.com/community/blogs/videonews/2008/10/4107-youtube-is-ruining-video/

    http://videomaker.com/community/blogs/videonews/2008/10/4107-youtube-is-ruining-video/

    http://videomaker.com/community/blogs/videonews/2008/10/4107-youtube-is-ruining-video/

    http://videomaker.com/community/blogs/videonews/2008/10/4107-youtube-is-ruining-video/

    http://videomaker.com/community/blogs/videonews/2008/10/4107-youtube-is-ruining-video/

    There is no creativity, no design and no talent. More importantly, these sites lack style and format. Therefore, the art of digital designn doesn’t exist on MySpace (for instance). Which, ironically enough is a web site geared around creating web content and design.

    This could go on for a while. What about photographers flaming Flickr or musicians raising hell about MySpace or Virb? The bottom line is that with the good, you also have to put up with the bad. YouTube is a fantastic way to give people the opportunity to show of their work to the entire world, give them the opportunity to express themself and try out different techniques with instant feedback from people who are not afraid to speak their minds. Sure, the compression can at times be hard on your eyes, the physical size of the movies are a bit small and the content can at times be really, REALLY bad.

    But you know what?

    You don’t have to watch it.

  2. EarlC Says:

    I would need to know your credentials, you would need to establish your credibility, before taking your comments seriously. Oh, wait a minute, you are exercising your freedom of expression. Right! You are taking advantage of being able to say what you want, what you think, regardless of skill levels or intellectual capacity. Kind of like people who post their amateur video on YT…
    …right?

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