Video Is NOT the Same as Writing

At the end of this post, I am going to include a link to a recent video I made for my YouTube channel, The Humble Word. I would encourage you to check it out and watch at least a minute of it. That would help my stats and all. You might even enjoy it!

But one thing is sure, and this is something I’ve actually known a long time: video is not the same as writing. There are several reasons for this, but I will tackle only one reason today.

Video is a distraction.

Yes, and I mean it. Video is a distraction for the viewer. But it is a distraction for the creator as well.

The time and effort it takes to both create and produce video content can become overwhelming. The bulk of what I do in creating video content is spent in editing. Even a 5-minute video will need at least 30 minutes of editing. Think about how much time is spent editing a video three times that long! Hours!

So, when it comes to the actual message being shared, how much more could have been invested into the prerequisite study and preparation for delivery? All of this extra time and effort could be mitigated by having extra people helping out with the editing, but when it’s just a one-man show, what can you do?

Unlike the reader, the viewer can easily be distracted by moving images. Yes, a picture can be worth a thousand words, but video can result in a thousand words going in one ear and out the other. Well-crafted written material creates its own images which are dependent on further attentive reading of the text. Images in a video can completely distract the viewer from relevant dialogue and critical thinking.

For example, try this on for size (but it might only fit heterosexual males who were at least 13 by 1983).

Imagine, it’s 1987 and you’re sitting on your parent’s colonial style couch, the fluffy cushions a brown plaid. You’ve grabbed a cold Pepsi from the fridge, along with some Triskets and some Cheez Whiz, and now are ready to watch some music videos on MTV. That’s when, just as you look down to squirt out another swirl of canned cheese, the sound of a tambourine catches your ear.

You look up, your flattened shredded wheat square no longer important, and see four girls in flashy Egyptian party garb. The Bangles were on TV singing, “Walk Like an Egyptian.”

It has already aired a few times, so you know exactly what to expect and when. Your heart rate starts to increase as a slight tightness in your throat makes swallowing your last sip of Pepsi more difficult. You grab the dark pine armrest of the couch with your right hand to pull yourself forward, closer to the warm glow of the only color tv in your house. Blindly you place the sweaty aluminum soft drink can down on an out-of-date TV-Guide.

The blond chick with the bass (who’s not ugly, but not your first pick), has already sung. She’s followed by the red head. And now, just after the blond Bangle finishes her unrealistic guitar solo, the whistling precursor to the moment time will stand still begins. There are no words to describe the group whistling, but you can hear it in your head. It’s the same tune as the verses.

Then, long after your last sip of Pepsi, your mouth dry from the shredded wheat cracker half-chewed still in your mouth, you let go of the wooden armrest left sticky by your palm and stand up.

Staring breathless and wide-eyed at the RCA cathode tube screen, you watch Susanna Hoffs’ lips form words that eventually end with her tongue pressing against the roof of her mouth, thereby making the “n” sound.

“Walk like an Egyptiannnnn…. Walk like an Egyptiannnnn…”

But if it wasn’t enough to hear – to FEEL – her make that “n” sound with her tongue, at the same time she did something that would forever confirm you were a red-blooded heterosexual male…

With her black mascara-framed brown eyes she looked to her right…. Paused. Then to her left…. Paused. Then back to her right. And then, at the last critical moment before your brain could go no more without oxygen, she flips her head back and steps away from the microphone with a smile, knowing she just cast a spell that would rake in millions – and you would happily give your share.

Now, did I lose anyone? Or were you with me right to the end? If you were affected by that, it wasn’t because you watched video of the Bangles performing on stage. It was because the written words progressively created images and emotions in your mind that could only be resolved by reading to the end.

Interesting thought…

Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. However, He is also eternal.

If we continually focus on Jesus, then all distractions will fade. He will supply all we need for all we need is Him.

And there is no closing paragraph to the Living Word.