The most obvious technique we can borrow from gaming is that of game-play. Add interactive elements to your videos that give viewers the chance to participate in the content. Serious topics like health and safety can be made more entertaining and memorable by including game-play options such as quizzes and multi-choice questions.
Virtual Worlds
While virtual reality is a natural fit for the game industry, it has applications in video production as well. You can create experiential spaces with surround sound and multiple screens or VR headsets that showcase your product or service and provide truly immersive experiences for the viewer. Tools such as 360-degree cameras and ambisonic microphones are becoming cheaper and more available, making this new approach to video production one to watch in the future.
Game-style Animation
Game design has a massive influence on animation styles. The top-down view in simulation and ‘world-building’ games can be used equally well in animated infographics. Many mobile game apps go for a lo-fi, retro aesthetic that can be highly effective when adopted as an animation style for video content.
Game Structures
Games are often built around levels and rewards. You start with a simple challenge and when successfully completed – you get a prize. When creating video content, it can be useful to apply similar techniques. Rather than make one long video, try chunking it into smaller segments based on a single key message. If you’re using video to market your product on YouTube, you can offer rewards such as discount codes to your viewers at the end of your video.
Provide Value
A well-designed video game provides users with a sense of accomplishment when they figure out a challenge or complete a level. We can improve the quality of video content by focusing on this same goal of satisfying our viewers with helpful and entertaining information that has genuine value to them.
First Person View
Many games provide a first-person view, where the players interact with the game world, and everything is viewed from their point of view. This immersive approach to the story helps build engagement and is the reason gaming is so popular. Video content should strive to match this level of engagement by acknowledging the needs of the viewer and speaking to them as directly as possible. A message delivered straight to the camera can be much more influential than an interview scenario.
Stick to the Story
A-list video game titles go through similar levels of development to blockbuster Hollywood movies. Years of planning ensure that the story is fully realised before expensive animation processes begin. Corporate video production doesn’t have the same levels of financial risk but its still very important to develop, workshop and test your script ideas to refine the final product.
Web-ready Video
The emergence of HTML5 as a web standard has seen the convergence of traditional web design with motion graphics and video content. HTML5 media content offer exciting new opportunities to explore new concepts in video production that include game-play and interactivity.