Aegon, one of the world’s largest pension providers, were looking for a novel way of presenting additional brand information within a web video. Originally they felt it would require multiple videos, each focussing on a particular strand of their business. I was asked to come up with a way of introducing interactive elements in order to keep the movie short and snappy.
I built this flash interface which allows the viewer to pause the video and see more information simply by hovering over the screen. When you move the mouse off the screen the information disappears and the video continues. Sounds quite simple now that I see it written down.
If you’re reading this two years from now, you might be wondering what the fuss is about. Html5 is standard isn’t it? Well at the time of writing, Html5 is far from standard. It’s brand new and still has lots of issues. And one of the biggest is – how does Html5 handle video?
An explanation for non-techies. To date, video on the web has been dominated by Flash. But with Apple’s announcement that Flash would not be supported on the Ipad, it became clear they are trying to force the issue on the idea of an alternative.
For people like me who produce a lot of web video, there’s no simple answer as to how to encode clips that will satisfy both the older browsers like Internet Explorer and newer ones like Chrome. At this point, both support Flash but only the newer ones can handle Html5. So you could carry on using Flash for a while, but once they start actively dropping support for it, as in the case of the Ipad, you need to start looking at alternatives.
So the unusual thing about the video above is not its content, but the fact that it will play in any browser you choose, including the Ipad. The way that you see it is dependent on the browser you’re using. If I’m wrong and it doesn’t work for you, please let me know. And let’s see where we are in two years time.
To see how the video plays on your mobile, scan the image below to view this post in your smartphone:
Corporate broadcasting is becoming increasingly viable over the internet, and businesses are now waking up to the online possibilities for video. Having worked in television and been a seasoned web designer, bringing the two sides together was a natural progression. For this piece of web video by LA Media, I was brought in to assemble all the video elements and help to integrate it with the Scottish Power website.
I'm Greg Moodie, a freelance graphic designer based just outside Edinburgh in Scotland. I've been trading as Funhouse Graphics since 1998 and specialise in 2d & 3d animation with a heavy dash of quirky.
