For The Dog Lovers
Who can resist cute animal videos?
Check out The Dodo on Instagram, an account that features stories of adorable animals and then leverages them to advocate for animal-rescue and abuse-prevention programs.
The Dodo’s videos use a lot of B-roll clips, which I prefer, because those are the video tracks that typically spotlight the cute animals. It makes sense to focus on the B-roll footage because the stars of the videos are usually unable to effectively contribute to the interviews. The editors then use the interview footage sparingly to add a face behind the voice of the animal’s caretaker explaining their story.
Last week, for example, The Dodo featured Delilah, also known as “D,” from the Mr. Mo Project (@mrmoproject). The Mr. Mo Project is a 501c3 nonprofit that rescues senior dogs and dogs with special needs. Donations for the dogs’ various living and medical expenses can be made here, and you can apply to foster some of Delilah’s friends from The Mr. Mo Project here.
Sweet and petite, Delilah is what is commonly referred to as a “tripawd” dog, meaning that she has only three legs. Delilah had to get her fourth leg amputated due to the abuse of her previous owner.
The Mr. Mo Project rescued D and rehabilitated her to the happy, playful pup she was always meant to be.
The video starts with footage of D’s first day at the rescue shelter. She still has her fourth leg, but it is visibly unusable. The tone becomes darker as her adoptive owner reflects on the heartbreaking neglect that Delilah suffered with her previous owner.
The video then cuts to D undergoing her much-needed surgery. After the amputation, the music becomes more upbeat, and the B-roll shows D playing happily as her owner speaks off-camera about how full of life D is now.
The background music also combines well with the narration to powerfully convey the owner’s relief and joy when the dog is recovering and coming out of her shell. The video transitions to a clip of Delilah’s dog pals from the rescue operation officially welcoming her into their pack, which brings the video to a conclusion.
I am looking forward to experimenting with B-roll in my own videos, strategically placing B-roll footage over the dialogue. I plan to feature my own three dogs in the B-roll as my main visual component, only sparingly using interview footage to allow family members to narrate.
As in The Dodo video, the emotion needs to be conveyed through a combination of the music, the visuals and the narration.
