Video
A video is a medium, showcasing pictures in motion, with or without audio or sound. A video or a motion picture is made to communicate thoughts or ideas to the audience watching it. A video with audio proves to be greatly useful for audiences who are illiterate being unable to read or write or for the hearing impaired without the audio.
Videos are produced whenever and wherever necessary depending upon the desire of the maker. They are made casually or formally based on the social, professional / business, and/or personal requirements in locations in reality or atmospheres virtually suiting the topics of the videos. The different types of videos include cinemas, TV shows, online motion pictures and web series, cartoons, animations, gaming through Augmented Reality, real time sports, travel, food, music, dance, drama, short films, storytelling, documentary, discovery, et al.
Movies are watched in cinema theatres, and videos are watched on a TV or a computer through CD/DVD players, whereas digital videos might be uploaded to online social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.
Videos are created depending on specific audiences’ interests or likes. For instances, gaming videos for players, educational videos for students, entertainment videos for universal audiences based on different cohorts of age, gender, language, nationality, profession and the like.
Videos are recorded using a video camera or a webcam / software recorder digitally. The camera or the recorder is placed in front of the scene and the performers where they perform their actions in front of the camera within its coverage or scope / field of view. The camera records the performance while the videographer captures the play from different angles of the stage of play.
Past
In olden days, motion pictures were captured on films using large analogous cameras. These films were shown in movie theatres using projectors and/or telecasted on televisions.
Present
Today, due to the emergence of digital technology, motion pictures are now recorded on an electronic medium of computer storage memories transmitted electronically to be broadcasted on the internet to be viewed on computers, smart TVs, smart phones, and/or on digital storage devices projected on the screens of digital theatres for the audience to watch.
Evolution
These days, motion pictures are not directly recorded in real time. There are numerous instances of using computer generated images (CGI) and/or Visual Effects (VFX) being used to produce the desired video. This concept is being prevalently used in cinema at present. We often come across such computer graphics and animations even in the social media motion picture platforms.
Trend
As the evolution of technology is inevitable, the animation and graphics have somehow become a trend these days even though there is a huge demand for the natural real movie made without a green screen background.
Future
In the coming days, motion pictures are on the verge of moving into an era of virtual reality (VR) or Augmented Reality (AR), a part of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is the future of videos in the metaverse, besides on real life situations and areas. Already, we listen to the news of VR being used in defence services, gaming, and the like.
Benefits
Motion pictures help a great deal in communication, better than just mere images or still pictures. This makes it easier for the audience to grasp the communicated message than by reading text or listening to narrators or audios. It gives an in-depth expression of the thoughts of the performance and the performers and makers continuously for a specific time period sufficient enough for the message to be passed to the audience, unlike any images or still pictures which are just snapshots at single points in time.
Today, a video can be recorded, edited and/or processed digitally using quality software available online. The video produced can easily be uploaded to the social media for the netizens to view without difficulty in no time.
Setbacks
Once made, a video or a motion picture cannot be changed; or once a performance is done, it cannot be changed going back in time. We might get a feeling that the same performance in a video might be done better than the previous one giving rise to a situation where the motion picture should all be redone again to get the desired final output.
Overall, videos or motion pictures are a great entertainment factor for all of us which provides us with recreation, acting as a retreat from the hectic work situations, being examples for performing artists, be it the old version of real filmography, the latest version of electronic cinematography, or the future version of the augmented reality based digital videography.
Author
Srilakshmi Krishnamurthy, MSc
Co-Founder, Iconxt Interactive Pvt Ltd.
