El Gaffney

Length Matters

This is a short post about short-form content consumed in large doses on the web (in one sitting in front of my laptop each time). (And with oh so provocative a title!) It made me think about how much length (of video content in particular) matters given the many different situations, mindsets, needs or more importantly from an entertainment perspective wants and constraints (time, screen size, ADD, etc.) which people bring when they “go online” every day.

It started late Sunday afternoon after getting home from watching the Euro 2008 Final. I read a post over at Paul’s blog about Inside Sudan on VBS.tv. I watched the 5 approximately 4 and a half minute about Sudan and then moved over to Vice’s Guide to North Korea and knocked out the 13 part series (average 4 to 5-minutes each) like it was my job. (Actually, that’d be a pretty sweet job – Shane Smith’s job or a job watching all VBS’s content.)

Then on Monday night, I was exhausted but then as I was catching up on Kanye’s blog (by the way, peep this ridiculous thing he just did for Absolut’s Artist Series), he noted how Jay-Z killed in the U.K. So after the controversy, I wanted to see for myself. And I did. For almost an hour (ending after midnight), I watched the 9 parts (median time of ~8 minutes each) of Jay-Z live at Glastonbury on YouTube.

My feeling is (and behavior would suggest) that the smaller chunks of video content are more appealing to a time-crunched (perception even if not reality) web audience because they seem more digestible/watchable/doable. (Lunchable?) In fact, I think a short piece of content (like sampling) is critical to getting people to “invest in the rest.” (I’m considering trademarking this phrase.) I, personally, am also more likely to get through books with more, shorter chapters than few long ones. Each I read is a sense of accomplishment. However, I’m not buying a book based on this criteria. On the Interweb, most often you get it all for free, so engagement is more important. Thus, how the content is served up is more important.

One difference between the two viewing experiences is that on YouTube the next clip played without me having to click. This was not a necessity to keep me engaged but certainly a nice to have. Plus, I didn’t necessarily have to watch the performance the entire time rather could listen with surfing, so the autoplay was nice. However, back to the point, I couldn’t help but wonder if our Brawny Academy back at Fallon would have had more success had it made its ~15-minute episodes shorter (if we had cut each in half). It’s not about the sum total time of the content (which is the same either way), it’s about the length of its parts (which can be made more palatable, enticing to the audience).

Tags: fallon, kanye, vice, video

A Tale of Two Superstars

Thanks to new mash-up, TimeTube, which lets you search YouTube videos and creates a visual historical time-line of the search term whether it’s person, place or thing, I happened upon this video from February 2006. In the studio making “Bittersweet” is the first result for Kanye West and second for John Mayer (Eric Clapton duet is his first).

Kanye’s latest is result is home-girl singing/rapping Jesus Walks, and Mayer’s second to last is him calling a Japanese baseball game. (His last is a Perez Hilton lie detector test, which is not worth watching.)Yet what most of us Internetters know is that John Mayer in fact has release something more recently and with many more hits. And that’s this awesome video on his creative songwriting process.

Now I’m not going to launch into a diatribe on how you can’t get the whole story on YouTube anymore or how it is losing its cache as the home of great homegrown content. But as I’ve talked about specific to FoD (Funny or Die), it has major competition from other more specialized (and often high-quality) content sites that house videos as well as those that curate cool/funny/etc (even if they don’t know how they do it). Not to mention, if you want more of these guys specifically you can find them at their own blogs.

Instead, I’m just going to say how interesting it can be to see where a quick, innocent search takes you…whether it starts on someone’s blog, twitter feed or one of the many new tools out there like TimeTube. This search was short and specific. And thus the story (above) was framed in such a way. But it is nice to know that a less directed search can take some unpredictable turns if you let it (stumble), and it can lead to an even more random and intriguing story.

Tags: kanye, mayer, timetube

Inbox of Immaturity (1): Can’t Hate on Kanye

Yes, he threw another fit when he got shut out of a VMA again and didn’t get to perform on the main stage. But in fairness, he should have been up there over Britney and his rant was nothing like this. (Thanks to Mike.)

I’m sorry but Kanye’s immaturity is exceeded by his creativity, willingness to take risks, and determination to set the bar higher and in a new place. Here’s yet one more example: “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” alternative video with comedian, Zach Galifianakis.

Plus, you know I DVR’ed 106 & Park last night to watch see Kanye and 50. What became apparent was that BET would not have treated this “Clash of the Titans” episode any differently—other than the Stuart Scott opening it was just like they do when they have 2 artists guests that have nothing to do with one another: Video, then Fiddy came out and talked on the couch, then a video, then he performed, then more videos, then he left…if it weren’t for Kanye. Kanye came out, did two performances and not his biggest hit (Stronger, which is game changing in itself) but combo of Can’t Tell Me Nothing and the Good Life and then a slower joint, Big Brother, which as it was about to wind down, Jay-Z came out, and they did the Encore chorus together. Then Kanye and 50 came out together, they gave each other props, and the show ended with an I Get Money/Can’t Tell Me Nothing mashup.

In the end, it was starting to believe that Mister West has a chance of being, as he said, the new Prince. A girl was even hysterically crying as she met him. But it seems there’s some other competition for the guys (and I’m not talking about Kenny Chesney).

Tags: bet, ioi, jay-z, kanye, mtv, vmas, zachgalifianakis

The Hip Hop Showdown: Who Gets Money?

Tags: 50cent, competition, kanye, polls