I'm always curious to see how web media and video evolves. Down in the US, the Democrats have done a superb job using the web to their advantage, and Obama's team knows the value of YouTube: "Radio address? Forget it. The chief's going on the air to look people in the eye."
Republicans have been very slow to catch up. Almost stupid-slow. I don't know if they recognized the power of web video until Obama used it to his advantage, and by then it was too late.
A couple of weeks ago, Minority Leader John Boehner reportedly told his fellow Republicans that if they had 48 seconds for YouTube, get it up there. It looks like Republican Study Committee Chairman Tom Price heeded the advice.
It's funny to watch the baby steps being taken in the clip below. Almost everything in the clip is perfect. Timely. Good white balance so the exterior light from the windows doesn't make Price look blue. Decent background. Host sitting down so he doesn't shuffle and look nervous. Good eye contact with the lens. Unscripted so it seems more real. Simple and effective subject: handwritten notes in a bill designed to spend hundreds of billions. Call to action at the end: "Call your representative."
What they did wrong: no tripod. The cameraman (probably one of his staffers) is shaking like a leaf.
Handheld work is fine as long as the cameraman is steady and the situation warrants it. In this clip, they could easily have thrown five books (or one copy of the stimulus bill) under the camera and it would have worked fine.
But it's a start.
Update: A video friend of mine responds, "I thought it was fine, they were going for the impromptu look because the bill just landed on their desk." Damn. Now I'm rethinking it. But I still think the camerman could have been steadier.
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