Styles of video

If you haven’t already visited our article defining the types of marketing videos we encourage you to do so.

With advances in technology in recent years, the boundary between the major styles of video has blurred somewhat and it’s now common for videos to be a mix of different styles. However, it’s still useful to identify the key styles of video:

Regular videos (live actors and scenes)

A video of someone and/or something acting before the camera. This is probably the style most used by marketing teams with a big budget. Every type of video can be created in this style (if you have the time and the budget) and there’s no denying that, if done well, the results can be very compelling and convincing.

Regular videos with infographics

It is very common to augment the clarity and impact of regular videos by adding a graphical element that highlights specific features or particular aspects of a product or service.

With the help of modern software tools, this is, in theory at least, quite simple to do by yourself. In reality, it’s frequently still hard to get a good end result.

360° & Virtual Reality Videos

This is a video that provides some way of interacting with the scene being presented. The style sets some limitations on the production, as well as the means to consume the video, thus it’s probably not the best choice for a first video, for most teams.

However, with the rapid development of new tools for easy viewing and interaction, the medium may become more valuable for certain situations in the near future.

Augmented Reality (AR) Videos

In this style of video, the consumer of the video is doing the filming, with some kind of software (most likely an app) adding information such as graphics to a live-view. As with a 360°, it’s probably not a good choice as a first video for most teams.

Live Videos (stream)

If you’re feeling bold, a live video might be an option for you. One of the great advantages of a live video is that viewers tend to be more willing to spend longer watching a live stream than a pre-recorded video. To get the most from the style it’s useful to encourage users to interact with you by posting questions and comments.

A potential downside of live videos is that you tie your viewers to a particular time.

Animated Videos

A video that does not display real-world objects or people. The descriptions below are not definitive and it’s not uncommon to use a mix of the styles listed below.

2D animation

2D animations are composed of a series of drawings or scenes in two dimensions. They were traditionally hand-drawn by artists, but almost all studios have now changed to using software to achieve the same effect.

Whiteboard animations

A dynamic, effective and pretty common subcategory that uses the analogy of a whiteboard to communicate the message. Videos often show the process of the message/graphics being written and drawn in real-time on the board, helping give a sense of being “live”.

3D animation

3D animations are composed of a 3D model with objects, textures, lighting and movement. This type of animation is mostly produced with 3D-animation software. Stop-motion animation was the original form of 3D animation and is a far more hands-on process.

Stop-motion animation

Stop-motion animation is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the frames are played back in sequence.

Disclaimer

These are the definitions we use internally at Pixigon and we find them useful, but there are probably as many definitions as there are articles on the subject, so please make sure to use definitions that make sense to you and your team.