I was expecting a commentary on whether or not this was more green, so I was a little shocked seeing the spartan page that awaited.

I think it LOOKS a lot better. Without the benefit of commentary from the author, I can't say whether that was his intent or not. From the stills, I can say that it takes a little away from the video, in that it isn't clearly framed as the main content on the page, but I'm guessing that motion video would make that problem go away.

As a complete aside, I almost love the lack of commentary from the author. I certainly don't recommend it for every post, but it's almost like blog art, in that the resultant conversation is free-form.