USATODAY.com video

Xenia Shih

The video I watched was titled "Elmo helping kids cope with Iraq war" on USATODAY.com. The first thing I noticed was that the background of Sesame Street characters interacting in the beginning completely overpowered the voiceover when the voiceover began. In fact, whenever there was natural sound in the background, it overpowered the voiceover. Therefore, I think that the video could have been improved if the natural sound were toned down a notch. Also, the video ended really abruptly, so I think that there could have been a smoother transition in the end.

The story would have been far less interesting if it had been text only. The visuals were really engaging throughout the video, and the Sesame Street voices gave the story life. The video also showed clips of the episode in which Elmo helps kids cope with the war. Had the story been text only, the audience wouldn't have had the benefit of seeing an example of the way Sesame Street is attempting to address the Iraq war. Therefore, this subject made for a much better video than text only story.