When you’re making a video ad, you need to appreciate that as people watch the ad, they will have a choice of where to look at each moment. If they don’t focus on what you intended them to focus on, it’s too late. Nobody rewinds an ad. When they come across the ad again, they invariably pay attention to the same things and miss the same things. The director and editor of the film need to control people’s gaze to ensure they notice any elements that are critical to convey the ad’s intended meaning and the brand’s role. A common error is for the video to include a moving element that distracts attention at the exact moment viewers’ attention needs to be directed at the brand.
If two or more elements compete for attention at any moment, the viewer is likely to shift their focus quickly from one to the other. This creates a sense of unease and confusion, that causes viewers to lose interest and possibly look away. If viewers do continue watching, they’re unlikely to follow what’s going on, and they will probably miss something important (such as the brand). Fast cutting between scenes can have the same effect, due to what’s known as cognitive overload. This is particularly true for older audiences. Eye-tracking tests involving a sample of respondents, or simulated using AI, will quickly highlight these kinds of issues. An ad’s audio and visual components also need to be carefully orchestrated. If it isn’t easy for people to combine them into a coherent story, they tend to focus just on the visuals, or just on the audio. The brain does this is to avoid the feeling of confusion caused by cognitive dissonance. Great filmmakers, such as Disney, use sound and vision in perfect harmony so that everyone follows what’s going on and experiences the intended emotional journey and meaning. |