Pre-Video Assignment - Nam

The Good

Click to Enlarge: Popcorn
by NPR

One of my favorite things about this clip was how the music and visuals complemented each other so nicely. Unlike most videos, the music wasn't there just to fill in as a background; it was there to enhance the viewer's overall experience. From the beginning, you can see that the presentation of the title, as well as the placement of the kernels goes perfectly with the music. At around 47 seconds into the video, the sound effects of the kernels popping are timed perfectly to go along with the music, taking the role a crash symbol would usually play in an orchestra. Also, the clicking sound effects of the magnification taking place (from 1:06 - 1:15) were perfectly in rhythm with the music. Although these are small details that not everyone may notice, these details are what puts this video at a higher level from other multimedia projects. Aside from the musical aspect of the video, there was a great variety of visuals presented at various different angles. Transitions were clean and movements were always slow and steady. The voice of the narrator was never covered up by the music, and stayed nice and clear throughout the entire video. 

The Bad

Are you a Popcorn Lover????

by Tertiary Productions

Although this video had some interesting content, there were a few major issues that detracted from the end product. First, I felt that there was a lot of unnecessary movement throughout that made me feel dizzy and a little sick inside (and I don't get motion sickness). The variety of visuals was nice, however the presentation of it was poor. The rocking-back-and-forth motions made it difficult to focus, and the surplus of zooming-in-and-out motions became so predictable that I quickly lost interest. Another thing that bothered me greatly was the fact that whenever there seemed to be something I could read, I was never given the time to read it. For instance, I would have liked to have a couple more seconds to read the different kinds of popcorn flavors they offered on the board in place of repeatedly seeing the "Dale and Thomas Popcorn" logo on the bowls and cups they had in the store. I think this could have been a pretty decent project, but I just found the overall effects and visual presentation to be distracting and sickening a bit too often.