The Elements of Digital Media

Digital Media and Customized Content

Digital media as witnessed in the case of videos allow the communicators of various messages to customize contents that appeal to the target audience. The advancement has allowed for the creation of videos using real characters of animations for communications on business, social and political awareness. Audience analysis forms the foundation of digital media whereby, the choice of the platform and the design of the message ought to be appropriate for the target audience. This composition will assess the elements of video as one of the digital media components.

Elements of Videos

The contents of a video form the basis for the success of a video in communicating a given message to the identified audience. The message to be contained in a video defines the choice of characters, graphical designs, and the theme. It is imminent that a video designer aims at persuading a target audience to think, do or feel in a given way by viewing a video. The contents of a video based on the target audience can be informational, inspirational, motivational or functional. Informational video contents include presentations that educate or impart information on the audience as seen in the case of class presentations and online video tutorials. Inspirational videos intend to elicit emotions from the target audience as witnessed in the case of documentaries that change the viewers’ feelings or moods about a given aspect of life. Motivational videos seek to spur participation, attendance or direct action on a given event as seen in business commercials. Contents in motivational videos capitalize on the use of visual designs that make products valuable and appealing to elicit anticipation and excitement among the viewers. Functional contents in a video strive to aid the viewers in accomplishing given tasks as witnessed in the case of instruction sets and maps projected in video formats. The design of functional videos eliminates mistakes and clarifying textual directions. The content of a video directs on the use of graphics and supportive elements such as the inclusion of sub-titles to help the audience attain the intended message appropriately (Elliot & Spence, 2018).

The Significance of the Platform

The platform used to present a video to the target audience is vital in determining the success of the given design in passing the message. Platforms for the presentation of a video include street projectors, cable televisions, or YouTube channels. However, the contemporary digital communications have been influenced by the growth and popularity of social media. Also, the advancement in e-commerce has seen businesses develop websites that utilize video presentation for marketing and communications with stakeholders on policies or financial reports. The audience traffic guides the chosen platform for uploading a digital media video. Social media such as the Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram allow the users to upload video clips on the given sites. The type of message contained in video and the target audience guide in the selection of the platform to upload. Vide messages that target the young adults would find the social media and the YouTube as appropriate platforms based on the fact that the majority of the human traffic in the given channels are young adults. Videos targeting households are compelled to use platforms such as cable television channels to pass the intended message. The choice of an appropriate platform is important in digital media videos to ensure that the intended message reaches the desired destination (Dinnen, 2018).

The Length of a Video

While a video must be engaging to create the appeal from the audience, the length of a video is an important element. Video designers ought to consider the attention span of its target audience. Short and precise videos are appropriate to ensure that the audience does not get bored and stop watching the given contents mid-way. Studies indicate that 20 percent of video viewers stop watching within 10 seconds and 60 percent close videos after two minutes. A video designer, therefore, needs to understand that he or she has approximately 10 seconds to capture the attention of the viewers. The message in a video ought to be compressed and designed to create appeal at first sight. Here, audience analysis as to understand the preferences of the target group is required to aid in presenting visual contents that create appeal (Hoskins, 2018).

Conclusion

The success of digital media videos in passing the intended message to its target audience is founded on the designer’s ability to understand the content, platform, and size of the video which is appropriate for the given context. Designing a video with the quality graphical presentation but containing the wrong content and uploaded in the inappropriate platform for a given target audience will not attract the required traffic required to deem the message as received. The use of videos in digital communications requires utmost audience analysis and the development of successful videos. While the message is the important aspect of a video, incorporating humor is important in capturing the viewers’ attention.

References

Dinnen, Z. (2018). The digital banal: New media and American literature and culture. New York: Columbia University Press, 2018

Elliott, D., & Spence, E. (2018). Ethics for a digital era. Hoboken, NJ; Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley, 2018

Hoskins, A. (2018). Digital memory studies: Media pasts in transition. New York, NY: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2018