What are your "must-sees" in a video review?

Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Hi all,

I'm just getting started with video reviews. I loved how the text review mentor program gave me a lot of good grounding for what to include in my text reviews---but since video reviews don't really lend themselves to mentoring in the same way, I thought it would be good to have a thread where the experienced video reviewers could share some ideas, and the newbies like me could learn what are good things to include.

I think a lot of people just do what they've seen others do---but it's possible that, through inertia, we put extra emphasis where watchers of the review don't really need to see things. For example, I don't really care at all what most packaging is like (maybe it's nice to see, for really fancy packaging like Njoy's, but little clamshells? When a text review says "clamshell," I know what it means, so the video doesn't really add anything.)

But one thing I really do want to see---is how the material responds. I think this is the biggest gift that the video reviews can give to somebody toy shopping. My favorite videos show how the material flexes when you pull it, how it squeezes when you press it, and whether it flops or holds firm when you hold it by the base.

Also, for vibrators, P'Gell does her nice "bracelet test" so there can be an objective way to judge how intense vibrations are. I try to do the same thing with my watch clasp.

What are your favorite things to see in a video review? What is really important for you? Are there things that reviewers in general spend too much time on in video reviews that would be better off left to the text portions?

Of course, there are differences from product to product as far as what's important---but what are your guidelines. For my next video review, what should I be sure to include?
07/06/2011
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Contributor: MaryExy MaryExy
I don't have experience doing video reviews, but I agree that seeing flexibility/rigidity of the toy is a big deal to me. I think that covers the other thing I like, too, which is just seeing the toy in someone's hands for a good size comparison (I use the 1:1, but it's different to me when I see something compared to a person instead of just on a white background.)

I like seeing nice boxes in reviews, maybe a brief look if it's just a cheap box (like taking the toy out of the box at the beginning of the review or something). As long as I know whether the box is something I wanna keep, though, I don't mind hearing about it just in text reviews. I do want to know what comes in the box, though! Are there just basic look-at-our-products booklets, free lube packets, a storage bag, etc?

I don't really have anything past that right now.
07/06/2011
Contributor: Jul!a Jul!a
I try sometimes to touch the running vibrator to a desk or table (wherever I'm filming), but I've only really done that when the vibrator is pretty quiet to begin with. Squeezing, flopping, twisting, bending, whatever the material does should be shown. I had a vibrator once that I did a video review on because I didn't feel like I could really explain the floppyness very well in my text review. I know I used to be bad about showing the packaging and I'll give a brief glimpse of it if I still have it around, but I try not to spend more than a few seconds on it unless there's something worth noting. If it's liquid, I wanna see how viscous it is. If it lathers, I want to see how well it lathers. If it makes noise, turn it on and walk us through the functions so we can hear how loud it is.

And that's about all I got for right now lol.
07/06/2011
Contributor: Coralbell Coralbell
I agree that the flexibility of a toy is very nice to see. Sometimes the shape doesn't come across well in the angles shown in the pictures, and can be shown a lot better in a video so we can see it from a few sides. Maybe compare the size to other toys. It can be helpful to let a vibrator move around on a surface to show how strong it is. It's nice when you can hear how loud something is too, but that's kind of hard because depending on how close you hold the toy to the microphone it can really change how loud it seems. Also, sometimes you can get a better idea of vibration patterns by hearing them rather than a description. For lubes, massage oils, lotion etc. try to show the thickness and texture, and maybe how quickly it absorbs into the skin if it does that pretty fast. Show the packaging if there's something interesting about it.
07/06/2011