Motion graphics story telling

The financial crisis running story yields an interesting assessment of TV and online reportage.

I posted a week or so ago how I thought newspaper video journalism was found wanting.

Broadcast TV News must be chewing its finger nails as well.

The emerging convention looks set on the use of motion graphics with typography at its core.

In some cases I think they work; others, the compositions look below par.

Motion graphics is a strong feature of graphic design, but perhaps rarely understood as 'journalism", more information design.

It comes from the graphic department, so there!

Online video makers and video journalists have FCP et al and After Effects to help them tell a complex story using graphics.

And why would they?

The reasons simplified are to help tell a a complex story, reinforced by figures and power words.

However you get the feeling, looking at the broadcasts, that it's also down to a lack of pics.

It's an area that video journalism should excel at being able to drive stories pictorially. Yet the evidence is yet to be convincing.

Perhaps its tradition; traditionally finance stories have been difficult to make as they're not visual enough. But you might also add that if Vjism has little time to experiment, play around with form, it'll fail to push visual grammar into new exciting areas.

And if you're asking film makers [at least the ones I know] do this as a matter of course, particularly in stock and say location.

I know they're two different beasts, but there's a lot video journalism or cine-journalism borrows from its visual sibling.

And reporting the story of the century [ early days] should be a cinch.

Apparently they're either prepping or shooting Wall Street II in the city. Any more news on that!