Taking the credits

By Sam Smith on Mar 6, 08 08:43 PM in Creative industries

This post is tinged with a health and safety caveat. My drive to work in the morning is often a time for me to mull over the tasks for the day before I get stuck in, which means I have a lot of different thoughts competing for limted attention. Add to this the concentration required to negotiate the M42 bottleneck safely and I confess I can't remember the name of the woman who appeared on Radio 4's Today programme on Monday talking about television credits. Sorry.

Whoever she was, she was arguing against the trend for TV credits to be squished into split screens, talked over and sped up. She claimed that the viewers were being denied the opportunity to fully experience the credits, although she did grudgingly admit that credits were as much, if not more, for the benefit of the people involved in production of the TV programme as they were for the viewer.

This got me thinking about the amount of information we are often unwillingly exposed to on a daily basis. Rolling credits may be a TV/film based example but there are parallels across a number of media. I would be surprised if it turned out that a significant number of viewers enjoyed watching/reading the credits.

If we're honest, in the majority of cases, credits are there for the benefit of the producer not the viewer and rarely add to the viewing experience. They are forced onto the viewer and we often react by switching attention, channel or walking away.

Whether it's in websites, brochures or TV, there is a temptation to try to provide every single bit of information that's available. When you've got a lot of information, it becomes even more important to identify which bits of information your target audience is after and not to hide it or clutter it with vanity information.

There area some really clever ways of providing access to large amounts of information without crowding pages and getting in the way of what the user wants - take a look at the way clothing company Banana Republic's site handles their 'get this look' feature for example.

The golden rule is when you've got a lot of information - give the user what they need to know first and what it's nice to know second. Now go and look at your 'About Us' section on your website ...

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Mik Barton said:

It's certainly interesting to ponder on where else we are bombarded with information we don't really want.

At the same time I'm interested in the messages we get from how the information is presented and the quantity of it - not just the words themselves.

When I go to the cinema I never rush for the exit the second the credits roll (partly I want to site and consider the film, perhaps discuss it with my partner in the next seat - and partly, I simply don't see the point of running and getting caught in the crowd)

So I sit there and usually express amazement at the number of people involved in making a film. The actual name of the best-grip's wardrobe assistant or the third assistant location lawyer is unimportant - but the message that a lot of people deserve credit comes through. Perhaps we can get the same message when the credits are rolled sideways at double speed too, so that's OK then.

In radio advertising lots of producers now try and make a joke out of the audio small print they have to include. No-one can pretend that the 'terms and conditions' read at breakneck speed can actually be taken in by the listener (Has anyone ever tested that in court I wonder?) - but at least we get the message "there is small print involved, be careful before you part with your money".

March 7, 2008 2:45 PM