Yep, I’ve watched Kendra Eash’s video published on McSweeney’s Internet Tendencies that rips the shit out of video clichés, and I cringe, not because the examples used are not cringe-worthy (which they truly are), but because you can bet your bottom dollar that I’ve used several of them in my work over the years.
But there’s a subtler point here in the fact this video can be made at all and have real resonance with viewers; it tells us that online video has come of age.
People recognise the clichés and understand a vocabulary that has developed over the past decade in corporate and promotional videos
As Fash’s sharp wit illustrates, in a relatively short time video has developed a strong common visual language that can be mocked for being stereotyped.
It’s amazing that this medium of video, once the sole sphere of broadcaster and film makers, is now being made by everyone, everywhere, and its formats, created from scratch by video pioneers, are being questioned and morphed (as all interesting creative forms should) at an accelerated pace.
Something tells me this video revolution has a long way to go yet.