
Andre Torsvik, VP marketing strategy and planning at Vizrt Group, argues that for broadcasters worldwide the competitive environment is increasing and the number of screens and formats they must support are also growing
By Contributor
Published: September 8, 2022
Andre Torsvik, VP marketing strategy and planning at Vizrt Group, argues that for broadcasters worldwide the competitive environment is increasing and the number of screens and formats they must support are also growing
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>
All storytelling is powerful - stories are the stuff of our lives, they surround us and provide meaning and purpose. But in an increasingly information-saturated world, the visual storyteller has the ability to cut through the noise and be remembered. The history of media consumption is one where the primacy of the visuals has always been instinctively understood. Technological development follows suit, so screens in cinemas and the domestic environment get bigger, images get richer, and it is not by accident that the introduction of the web browser and enough bandwidth to support images (and later video) was what made the internet a genuinely mass-market proposition.
Humans are primarily visually driven creatures. University of Rochester researchers have discovered that more than 50 per cent of the cortex, the surface area of the brain, is devoted to processing visual information. Though we are nowadays interacting with digital and increasingly virtual spaces, we are doing so with senses that evolved over millions of years to keep us safe. Our acute eyesight and the importance our brain puts on processing visual data is part of that - when our eyes are open, a full 2 billion of the 3 billion neurons firing every second, deal with visual information. We already know that we process visual information quicker than that received by any other sense. Though the frequently quoted figure of processing images 60,000x faster than text has been roundly debunked as marketing flimflam, the fact remains that we can correctly identify images seen for as little as 13 milliseconds. Crucially, we also retain that information better.
Examination of what is known as the Picture Superiority Effect shows that our memory improves markedly with increasing visual stimuli. One study concluded that after three hours the ability to recall information from a spoken lecture was 25 per cent, rising to 72 per cent for reading the same information, and 80% for visual and verbal material (participatory learning involving role plays etc. took this all the way up to 90%). There are some things we remember better than others - the most easily remembered object in a photo, rather charmingly, is another human face.
There are multiple theories that try to explain this. A commonly understood one, the Dual Coding Theory, posits that pictures are stored twice in the brain, once as an image and once as a verbal record, making them easier to retrieve. Either way, the Picture Superiority Effect explains why, when you look at metrics concerning modern media, the data for engagement with visual material is so impressive. Simply put, people remember pictures better and they remember them longer.
This is reflected in social media. We have known that graphics have an important effect on social media engagement for some time now. In 2014, Twitter analysed its already substantial datasets and concluded that the inclusion of photo material in tweets boosted retweets by 35 per cent and overall engagement by 3x. Video, meanwhile, led to a 28 per cent boost, and it is likely that this value has risen since then as video content has become more prevalent in high bandwidth environments. In a similar vein, in 2015 Buzzsumo concluded that images added to Facebook posts led to 2.3x more engagement. And when you look into demographic data, an interesting trend emerges; a recent study found that images influence millennials (33%) more than Generation Xers (21%) and baby boomers (12%). Appealing to a younger audience is crucial to commercial success, so it was no idle whim that saw Facebook buy the then 13-employee strong Instagram for $1 billion in 2012.
Silent pictures A decade on, Instagram generated an estimated $47.6 billion revenue in 2021, accounting for almost 50 per cent of Facebook's total revenue, and it is interesting to note where we currently are in the accelerating journey towards more visual content. In an increasingly noisy reality, audiences are starting to rely solely on their visual sense more to consume media that was originally created with both audio and visual components. Up to 85 per cent of people watch Facebook videos with the sound off, meaning that the visual element has to convey more information than ever.
Automated subtitles have historically been one way of ensuring this happens, but transcription errors have tended to be at the mercy of a plethora of screen sizes and aspect ratios, making their effectiveness hit or miss.
After all, if the consumption of media ends up so stripped-back that only the visual remains, there is a real danger that it becomes impossible to understand the meaning of what we are seeing, thus robbing the story of any value whatsoever. That means producers need to add something, and that something is broadcast graphics. And once you add a tool as powerful as that to your process, the path is short between conveying information and enhancing it.
In 2018, the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the USA pioneered a workflow that saw it rapidly capture, log, and tag video which was then passed on to editors sitting on top of different social media channels. At this stage in the process, Vizrt's Viz Libero sports analysis tool was used to provide a layer of graphics, the idea being that the graphics would compress the time it took to
More from TVB Europe
15/04/2025
Jan Krupp, VFX supervisor at Scanline VFX, tells TVBEurope how the company created a range of environments for the Netflix film
By Matthew Corrigan
Published...
15/04/2025
Ateliere said that due to the current, unforeseen turbulence in the US and in the global business and financial markets the company is no longer in a position t...
14/04/2025
Stanley has been promoted to the role following seven years as general manager with the company
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 14, 2025 Updated: Apri...
14/04/2025
StreamAMG delivers more than 15,000 live events each year, with over 52,000 hours of content watched in 200 countries
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 14...
14/04/2025
TVBEurope content director Jenny Priestley sums up her 2025 NAB Show experience, from the end of AI hype to the impact of tariffs, trying out virtual production...
11/04/2025
Two creative projects will receive awards of £35,000 aiming to boost innovation in 5G across the media and entertainment sector
By Matthew Corrigan
Published...
11/04/2025
The London VFX studio has strengthened its pipeline team with two promotions and a new appointment
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 11, 2025 Updated: A...
10/04/2025
The report outlined a package of proposed measures to ensure domestic production...
10/04/2025
Attendees travelled from 160 countries around he world to the media and entertainment industrys Super Bowl event
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 10, 202...
10/04/2025
Kitty Higinbotham, president of Wall Street Communications, tells TVBEurope why communication skills are essential in an ever-changing industry
By Matthew Corr...
09/04/2025
Located across from Panavision London's camera and optics rental business, the new site is nearly 10,000 sq ft larger than the previous facility
By Matthew...
09/04/2025
The project aims to enable flexibility and integration to ensure consistent graphics experiences across diverse platforms
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: Apri...
09/04/2025
The proposal includes an investment of £20 million in local industry and could create up to 4,000 jobs
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 9, 2025 Updated...
09/04/2025
Andy Sumner also joins the company supporting its recent expansion into Liverpoo...
09/04/2025
TVBEurope celebrates the stand-out products on show in Las Vegas
By Jenny Priestley
Published: April 9, 2025 Updated: April 13, 2025
TVBEurope celebrate...
08/04/2025
Channel 4's Top Guns: Inside the RAF puts viewers at the heart of the action, following the service as it carries out operations around the world. Mark Tatt...
08/04/2025
DPP CEO Rowan de Pomerai and CCO Mark Harrison talk to TVBEurope about the organisations first decade, plans for the future and challenges facing the media indu...
08/04/2025
Reports say ProSiebenSat is lining up the investment bank to repel the Berlusconi-owned company as it seeks to retain independence
By Matthew Corrigan
Publi...
08/04/2025
Jodi Morelli, acting head of external communications for Globecast, and growth manager, North America at RISE talks to TVBEurope about the need to stay curious,...
07/04/2025
The company debuted new products, accessories and upgrades ahead of NAB 2025
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 7, 2025
The company debuted new products...
07/04/2025
Production company Fulwell 73 and financiers Cain International plan to build 20 premium sound stages at the complex
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 7, ...
06/04/2025
TVBEurope content director Jenny Priestley sits down with new Grass Valley CEO Jon Wilson to discuss his vision for the company going forward, what that means f...
04/04/2025
In our latest article on a piece of broadcasting history, Vizrts Russell Leak tells TVBEurope how his Dad created the motor used in a BBC 1 ident from the 1980s...
04/04/2025
The agency aims to bridge gaps in product strategy, development, and go-to-market programmes for media tech companies around the world
By Matthew Corrigan
Pu...
04/04/2025
Carole Pigeard, SVP of global sales at Moments Lab tells TVBEurope how diverse perspectives fuel evolution in the media and entertainment space
By Matthew Corr...
03/04/2025
Innovations across Premiere Pro and After Effects deliver AI-powered upgrades and workflow improvements, said the company
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: Apri...
03/04/2025
The new upgrades aim to enable smarter tracking, greater control, and faster workflows while expanding interoperability across robotic systems
By Matthew Corr...
03/04/2025
From a trip to space to the inaugural Sports Summit, and a look behind the camera of Wicked, this is whats on the TVBEurope teams radar at the 2025 NAB Show
B...
03/04/2025
Because of the nature of this sort of sliding scale of tariffs, there are opportunities that werent there before, analyst Alice Enders tells TVBEurope
By Jenny...
02/04/2025
Sally Wallington, SVP of sales at Pebble, explores the mission-critical considerations broadcasters should make when choosing a playout provider
Sponsored Cont...
02/04/2025
TVBEurope meets Tim Claman, chief product officer at Avid, to discuss the compan...
02/04/2025
Submissions will be accepted up until 23:59 PST on 2nd April
By Jenny Priestley
Published: March 24, 2025 Updated: April 3, 2025
Submissions will be acc...
02/04/2025
Leclerc will work with group members to explore and champion UK digital media distribution via broadcast, IP, mobile or hybrid delivery
By Jenny Priestley
Pu...
01/04/2025
Adopting open standards, the solution aims to provide workflow standardisation, allowing for automation and other innovations across a diverse range of markets
...
01/04/2025
Submissions will be accepted up until 23:59 PST on 2nd April
By Jenny Priestley
Published: March 24, 2025 Updated: April 1, 2025
Submissions will be acc...
01/04/2025
The AI issue takes a look at how AI is reshaping broadcasting, including areas such as sports commentary and archiving and storage, plus we discover how Norways...
01/04/2025
Joining the company with more than two decades of experience forging and scaling alliances in the industry, Wastcoats role will support TVUs strategic developme...
31/03/2025
Submissions will be accepted up until 23:59 PST on 2nd April
By Jenny Priestley
Published: March 24, 2025 Updated: March 31, 2025
Submissions will be ac...
31/03/2025
The company is said to be working with KPMG on a deal that could include the sale of a majority or minority stake
By Jenny Priestley
Published: March 31, 202...
31/03/2025
The confidential agreement ends multi-jurisdictional litigation between the parties over the issues
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: March 31, 2025 Updated: ...
31/03/2025
Em Bell, senior client services coordinator at dock10, tells TVBEurope why a can-do attitude and problem-solving mindset is ideal for the TV industry
By Matthe...
28/03/2025
TED-Ed series Ada fuses storytelling with eye-catching animation. The Should We ...
28/03/2025
Rita Madeira, content producer at Digital Azul, tells TVBEurope how the industry thrives on connections and welcomes curiosity
By Matthew Corrigan
Published:...
27/03/2025
The Mini has a footprint equal to the size of an average smartphone and can be placed side by side for use in stereoscopic or volumetric video
By Jenny Priestl...
27/03/2025
The teams behind House of the Dragon, Masters of the Air, Silo and The Lord of t...
27/03/2025
The initiative aims to help young women pursue higher education in broadcast and media technology, offering financial assistance and networking opportunities
B...
27/03/2025
We believe that ProSiebenSat.1 needs a strong shareholder that can provide expertise and experience in the industry, making an active contribution to its growth...
26/03/2025
The Chancellor presented her speech in the House of Commons today
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: March 26, 2025 Updated: March 27, 2025
The Chancellor p...
26/03/2025
The council will guide key focus areas to help grow a more secure, interoperable and effective media creation ecosystem, said the organisation
By Matthew Corri...
26/03/2025
Donna Thomas, executive vice president, Vubiquity talks to TVBEurope about how nurturing an early entrepreneurial streak paved the way for her career
By Matthe...