We love making photography-based videos and the parallax effect is one more cool trick that can be used in these videos. So what is the parallax effect? Well, it’s this funky kind of effect that you do on photos to add a bit of movement to them and give them a 3D look. Basically, it’s created by moving components of the photo and not others.
To Give a Surreal Feel
We used the parallax effect throughout this next video. Note that the whole video was made out of photos, except for the opening scene of the guy with the coffee cup which is video.
See for example how the Chinese lady’s hand moves and the clouds etc.
Slow-motion
Using the parallax effect can be cool if you want a slow, controlled kind of look. For example in this TV ad we made.
Great for Putting Photos into Live Action
Sometimes you just don’t have the video footage you want but you do have a photo handy. Using this effect is a great way to add movement to photos, which would otherwise look dull and static in a live-action video. Often it’s prohibitively expensive to go out and film just this piece, or you’ve just run out of time. As an example of doing this, check out the below where the conference room at 5 sec was in fact a photo, even though it looks like video footage.
Parallax Effect: Cool huh?
So there you have it: the parallax effect is one more way to make interesting explainer videos. In practical terms, it’s quite time-consuming to do but can be well worth it. Are you researching styles for your video? Have a look at our ultimate list of explainer video styles or head on over to our YouTube channel for more ideas..
