Here’s an easy way to tell when you’ve been doing too much video editing … I was genuinely impressed with the production value of the latest Delta Airline flight safety video.
Yes, seriously. It’s very good.
At one time I had a Delta SkyMiles balance of over 320,000 miles. I went to Asia ten times in one year. I have seen many flight safety videos. They tend to be dry, bland and obviously produced in a time when Laser Disc was considered “technology†instead of an interesting historical footnote in content distribution.
Delta has obviously fired those people and employed someone who watches MTV, modern TV commercials and the occasional episode of Extreme Home Makeover or Ask a Ninja. As much as I hate most of content on TV today, I have learned a lot about keeping the audience’s attention using the editing style they employ … faster pace, quicker cuts, shooting the same content from multiple angles.
Yes, the Delta safety video is designed to trick you into paying attention. Shots change every 2-4 seconds, an editing technique started in the music video business and picked up by every realist show producer since The Real World. By the time your brain gets wrapped around the scene it changes, forcing your brain to try and digest the next shot … and the next one … and the next one …
The flight attendant’s dialog is smooth and occasionally funny. The shots are well lit. The damn thing looks better than anything I’ve ever produced … and I’m still talking about the in-flight safety video for a once-bankrupt airline. I don’t know if I should be impressed with Delta or annoyed with my video production skills.
Looks like I have a lot of editing to do while I’m on the road. I’m tempted to add an airline safety video spoof to the list, just to make myself feel a little better.
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