The Benshi

These days lots of people are thinking to themselves, “I wonder if a good video might help bring attention to our project?”

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The video we did for Science Cheerleaders is about to pass 100,000 views on Youtube.

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You wanna see a demonstration of what a good video can do for you? Take a look at what is erupting with the Science Cheerleader project.

A month ago I joined Darlene Cavalier and her Science Cheerleaders in Washington D.C. at the U.S. Science and Engineering Festival. I hired an excellent young local videographer named Brandon Garcia (I found him off of Craigslist — one of 85 people who responded to my post — you can do the same thing). We filmed for a day, then edited for a week, ending up with a 3 minute video that is being blogged about all over the internet.

THIS is the power of video. THIS is why I wrote an appendix at the end of my book offering up a few basic tips on how to make a video that will stimulate people (rather than bore – btw, in case you missed our discussion of boredom on the NY Times blog of Andy Revkin click here). THIS is why I’m headed to Norway in January to run a videomaking workshop. THIS is why we are running another video workshop at the Ocean Sciences meeting in Puerto Rico. THIS is why I’m doing a videomaking workshop at U. Mass Lowell in April. THIS is why a number of public health and medical groups are working with me now on videomaking.

On and on.

And maybe you’re saying, “Oh, sure, how tough is it to make a popular video filled with sexy cheerleaders.” Well, you wanna know how easy it is to make a boring video with sexy cheerleaders? It’s a powerful medium. You can take it either way — you can bore or you can inspire. It’s your choice.

Goooooo Science Cheerleaders!