Film Style and Animal Rights Videos
I know, it seems like two topics that wouldn't mix. Yesterday I was watching HBO, during a DVRed episode of "Bullshit" there was a commercial for "This American Life". I am VERY excited about that!!
Anyways, the commercial was about a pig farmer. It showed him artificially inseminating his pigs, smiling, talking about how he missed the good old days, disinfecting his boots, a huge sign about the health hazard that was the pig house, etc. And I got to thinking...
Animal cruelty/rights film has it's own style. If you've ever watched a PETA flash video from their site, or "Dealing Dogs" (the HBO special on the Beaird Class B dealer bust) then you've seen what I'm talking about. The video style is choppy, hidden-camera type even when the camera doesn't have to be hidden. In "Dealing Dogs" and PETA videos the camera does, but in the "This American Life" preview, it did not. The background noise is almost white noise, no voiceovers. The editing style is choppy, as if the editor is trying to get as many images in your head as possible. Any dialogue comes from the actors themselves, not a spokesperson.
Why am I analyzing this? In case Arkansas Labrador Rescue ever gets big enough, I want to make a video ad. That would NOT be the style I'm going for. I'd shoot for the "We're for Dogs" ad style by Pedigree. Heartbreaking shots of wagging body labs in the shelter with a compassionate voiceover. Something like "One heart, one hope: one home....yours? This is the thought of Arkansas Labrador Rescue's dogs. If you've been thinking of buying a puppy from the paper, from a breeder, from a friend, please don't. Someone already did, and then they brought their dog to us. For you. One heart, one hope: one home....yours?"
Anyways, the commercial was about a pig farmer. It showed him artificially inseminating his pigs, smiling, talking about how he missed the good old days, disinfecting his boots, a huge sign about the health hazard that was the pig house, etc. And I got to thinking...
Animal cruelty/rights film has it's own style. If you've ever watched a PETA flash video from their site, or "Dealing Dogs" (the HBO special on the Beaird Class B dealer bust) then you've seen what I'm talking about. The video style is choppy, hidden-camera type even when the camera doesn't have to be hidden. In "Dealing Dogs" and PETA videos the camera does, but in the "This American Life" preview, it did not. The background noise is almost white noise, no voiceovers. The editing style is choppy, as if the editor is trying to get as many images in your head as possible. Any dialogue comes from the actors themselves, not a spokesperson.
Why am I analyzing this? In case Arkansas Labrador Rescue ever gets big enough, I want to make a video ad. That would NOT be the style I'm going for. I'd shoot for the "We're for Dogs" ad style by Pedigree. Heartbreaking shots of wagging body labs in the shelter with a compassionate voiceover. Something like "One heart, one hope: one home....yours? This is the thought of Arkansas Labrador Rescue's dogs. If you've been thinking of buying a puppy from the paper, from a breeder, from a friend, please don't. Someone already did, and then they brought their dog to us. For you. One heart, one hope: one home....yours?"