Computer Editing: Tailoring Edits to Specific Viewers

As much as we may hate to admit it, videographers are only human. And as humans we have a tendency to let personal likes and dislikes tailor our decisions. To be more effective as an editor, you'll need to lay aside your personal preferences and edit with your audience's likes and dislikes in mind.
Editing to a specific target audience is an important step in creating a successful finished product. Before you make a single edit, you'll need to ask yourself a key question that is often ignored, "Who will watch this video?"
Suppose your goal is to create a fire safety video from some existing footage. What may be an excellent video for a teenage audience could be inappropriate for the 60-and-over crowd. The raw footage may be identical and the core message the same, "Stop. Drop. Roll." But the way you choose to edit that footage in regard to pace, style and effects will (or should) vary greatly depending on your audience. This is also true of titles, graphics and music choices. An older viewer is unlikely to be drawn into a fast-paced program full of modern rock music and rapid-fire edits. Similarly, a video highlighted with long stretches of a single narrator in a business suit will likely turn off most 16-year-olds.
The key is figuring out your audience. Then you can arrange scenes, build graphics and choose music to modify the pace. By taking the approach that one video does not fit all, you will in fact create better programs that communicate better with your viewers.

Know Your Audience

There is certainly a difference between the tastes (not to mention attention spans and capacities to retain information) of preschoolers, grade-school kids, junior and senior high students, college co-eds, adults 25 to 45 and adults 55 and up. Each time you edit, put yourself in the shoes of your viewers. If you are editing to a broad audience, choose a relatively neutral style: not too fast, not too slow. A subject like snowboarding, however, comes with a built-in audience that may be represented sufficiently with a single production.
To begin grouping your audience by age group, think about what you know about the generation gap. For instance, younger people and older people tend not to see eye to eye on many things. If you grew up watching MTV, for example, chances are you had a parent who couldn't understand the allure. If you're on the other end of the age chart, the Lawrence Welk show, which may cause teens to upturn their noses, may be just your cup of tea. The presentation of each of these programs is very different. Why? Because the people who watch each program have different visual tastes. Edit a Lawrence Welk-style video for an audience of teens and you'll likely miss your audience. The simple truth is that different generations often perceive things very differently. You can be very successful in accommodating those diversities if you adjust your program's pacing and style to your audience.
Editing relates to the presentation of your program, not the content. Pacing, of course, affects how quickly (or slowly) images are portrayed to your viewer. Style addresses the approach you take in presenting your message. While you can segment your audience in a number of ways, modifying your video to deal with age differences among your viewers is a great place to begin your work. <…