Yeah, I’ve notice that too. Also, it seems as though the video staff uses narration more than the multimedia staffers who do video.

I don’t know for sure, but the background of the videojournalists might be more in broadcast than documentary-style video (though I know Brent McDonald on video staff did doc video in grad school).

Also, it seems that a lot of the videos try to tell a more complete story instead of working in a complementary manner with text or vice versa, so they probably figure it’s easier for a journalist to summarize and add additional context.

It’s a great question — something I’ve thought about but never asked about.

I hope all is well!

The majority of videos/mixedmedia videos I have been watching lately from the NYTimes have narrators. I am wonding whether this is a trend you are noticing elsewhere or any other insight you might have into why this is happening. Is this a viewer preference? Is this written journalists working with video? I agree strongly with you that narrators rarely add value to a piece. I want to know why this is happening and whether it will continue.

Best,
Eileen

@Robb: Completely agree about considering the context(s).

I should have clarified about VOs — that’s just more my preference. I’ve seen plenty of Web videos with them that are excellent. Lots of different styles can work on the Web, but I was more focusing on the documentary style I learned.

@David: Great points. I’m glad you found the post.

@Everyone: These guys are some of the best out there. I’ve learned a lot from them, their sites, videos, etc. If I had made a more comprehensive list of resources, they’d definitely be on it. Be sure to check out:

http://www.robbmontgomery.com
http://campvj.ning.com
http://visualeditors.ning.com

http://www.viewmagazine.tv

In other words seek out the knowledge repository or get “grandmothered” or “grandfathered” to understand different methodologies.

There are at least half a dozen different workflows that are standard and the variations you’ll find specific to that someone, group or institution.

For example, BBC does things differently to ABC News, and to newspapers (all attract talent so have a good pass-it-on and the Indies (number of video web communities) do things differently to the establishment, which facilitates a disruptive discourse – which then can become the norm. And the cycle continues.

To re-work your last point: “Know what you know from being that nomad”, I tell my students. That much has helped me enormously in mixing almost two decades of IM videojournalism .

Curating something around Vjism at our biggest arts/culture centre in the UK, which might interest readers. Keep you posted :)

Web video is a very rich medium.
It matter in what context they will be viewed in. A stand alone player? an iPhone app? Embedded in a text story, embedded in a Flash container?
The context demands different approaches. It is not about you – it is about the user experience. Start from that perspective before you turn on the camera.

Web films connect because of the immediacy and the best ones are edited in ways that propel you through the scenes in ways that length limits alone don’t address.

Learn to make great, short films. The discipline is important because great longer films are built from a library of tight, shorter film sequences

I teach that there are no hard and fast rules about whether your story needs elements like pieces to camera, voice overs or how long to stay with shots of interview subjects.

A fully-trained VJ will know how to document and employ do all those things because some stories simply need those narrative devices to establish or make connections between the “subject” and verb. in the timeline.

@Eric: Great point. I almost included that in the e-mail/post, but thought it might have been obvious or implied. I’ve added it with a note above.

@Adam: Yup, Web video needs to be clean break from TV. But there are things we can learn from TV about video storytelling — both what to do and what not to do online and on other platforms.