Monday, October 9, 2017

Spare Me the Narration, Please


Knowing that I’m someone who loves photography and photographs one might think that I also enjoy videos, but I don’t.  I don’t like videos on Facebook.  I don't like them when I'm checking the news.  I don’t like vlogs.  I don’t like listening to a YouTube DIY or product review, (especially when it’s narrated by somebody who sounds like the local motel owner).  I have the attention span of a dog or worse, so I’m not going to plod through anybody’s “slice of life” clip with rapt attention.  If you’re one of the scooter bloggers I follow, I might have noticed that you’ve mentioned the idea of tinkering with video now and then, and I hope and pray that your wonderful blog never turns into a vlog.

I find that a still photograph allows me to enter the scene that’s captured in it in my own mind in a way that a video doesn’t allow me to do.  A video ruins a view of something for me with somebody’s incessant yapping away about what’s being seen and it doesn’t allow me to experience the view in my own way.  The videographer suggests or outright tells me what I should see, rather than allowing me to simply see what he’s showing me.  I find the intrusion of his voice to be obnoxious as if were he yelling out in a church or a library.  Imagine if a visit to a museum came with the artist accompanying you to each of his works and telling you what you should be seeing in his creations.  It would make his works of Art much the less if he failed to communicate what he wanted you to feel in the artworks themselves.

 Enjoy your ride, but please don't narrate it on my account.

Too often a video narrator has diarrhea of the mouth and constipation of ideas.  He finds the need to keep on yammering even if his thoughts aren’t well formed and he ends up seeming to be talking for the sake of talking.  All that unnecessary yakking detracts from the view, rather than adding to it in a good way.  Now add the buzz of a scooter or the roar of a motorcycle in the background of everything that’s being said?  No, thank you!
  
I like to read someone’s thoughts.  To read them; not hear them.  Written thoughts are generally well put together because they’re not usually just spewed out off the cuff, or off the tongue as it were.  They often involve the use of the delete and backspace keys, both of which are used about as often when I’m writing as the space bar.  They’re polished in a way that extemporaneous speech typically isn’t, and they serve a purpose other than simply allowing the narrator to enjoy the sound of his own voice.  I can usually read the printed word a whole lot faster than I can listen to the same words being spoken, especially when the speaker is breaking up his sentences with a bunch of pauses, ums, and ers while he thinks of what’s going to be spoken next.  Most importantly, though, I can process written words more thoroughly when I can allow my brain to soak them up and reread them if necessary.

 No, sir, I'm not going to listen.  I want to read!

So, if you’re a successful blogger, I encourage you for my sake to keep on being one rather than giving posting videos any serious consideration.  Old Yeller here probably isn’t going to give your vids a listen, though admittedly with some degree of regret for what he might be missing.

5 comments:

kz1000st said...

You have my word, Joe. I've heard myself on videos I made. It was pretty terrible. My ego doesn't require me lecturing ad nauseum when I could convey my thought in a well written paragraph. Also it's easier to edit mistakes when they're printed.

Steve Williams said...

I can't imagine a scooter blogger going down the video path. That would fall into the same bad decision making heap as trading a Vespa for a Harley. Or worse, some sort of self-driving assisted SUV.

Videos don't affect me the same way as you. YouTube is often my first stop when trying to figure out how to do something. Like putting window putty on an old double hung window. Or changing the drive belt on the scooter. And I'll watch a slice of life video if the subject resonates. But generally, I tire quickly of riding videos -- especially those that just meander in their message.

I'm with you though on the power of still pictures and text for the reasons you've indicated. I can sound marginally intelligent in text but create a different picture speaking off the cuff. This fact, along with the withering amount of work to produce even a bad video, will likely keep me off the video trail.

But the idea lingers. Much like living in a VW Westfalia Camper Van does...

Whoever the scooter blogger is that has you concerned, hopefully they'll wake up and smell the coffee. And stick to what they do best. Especially since the good riding season is just beginning.

It's 34F outside now and there's frost on the car windows. I forgot to charge my heated insoles for my riding boots. It's a bad start to the morning.

Steve Williams
Scooter in the Sticks

Joe said...

Steve, I am greatly relieved! Thank you for setting my reading and viewing minds at ease.

-Joe

Steve Williams said...

I should probably warn you that I'll be posting a video today -- one made by Canadian moto-blogger David Masse when he visited a week ago. It's on his site but I thought I would share it.

Just keep your eyes closed!

Joe said...

Aw, heck, Steve! After years of knowing each other here I suppose I can grit my teeth and make it through one.

Joe