Tag: hybrid

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Video and Social Media – A Great Partnership

Facebook hit one billion video views last month. There are four times as many video views as actual Facebook members. That’s astounding. It also speaks volumes about how much video has become a part of our lives. With Facebook, people are sending video messages to “friends” without sharing them globally on You Tube or other video host sites. http://tiny.cc/v3d8K. Social networkers can also embed their Facebook videos on other web sites or blogs.

But if you think one billion video views in a month’s time is amazing, then you’ll be stunned to hear that YouTube gets over one billion views in a day!

And let’s not forget the new iphoneG3 that is not only a display tool for video, but a tool that can create video content as well. And this is not one of the new hybrid still cameras that also shoots video files – it’s a phone!

So between the new tools that create video content, coupled with the new tools that allow us to share video content, video is becoming a new “norm” in how we communicate. And with these new tools it has become easier for the consumer to use video to communicate. Does that mean video professionals should feel threatened. Not at all. To me it means that because video is becoming the new “norm” there is more and more of a demand for it. And that means that for my clients who have only worked in print before, are now finding a need to deliver their message in video to consumers who have come to expect it. And that’s good for me and my business.

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Embracing Technology and Why

There’s a lot of talk these days about technology. Should I get a video camera or a hybrid camera? Should I twitter? Should I connect on Linkedin and Facebook? Should I upload videos to YouTube? Perhaps the question most people overlook is asking themselves why? And if they do ask themselves why – what kind of answers do they give themselves?

There is no one answer for everyone. But the worst way to try to answer those questions is to say because everyone else is. However, here are some possible answers to the question why?

Should I buy a video camera or the best video camera like the RED? Ask yourself if you want to target clients who are using more and more video. How are they using video – online? Broadcast? If the answer is online then perhaps the RED camera is a more expensive option than needed for something that will be output for online purposes. If your answer is broadcast then understand that those needs are high end and may require a high end camera. But don’t stop there. Ask yourself if you want to just be a shooter or do you want to play a bigger role in the production. Ask yourself if you are willing to devote the time necessary to learn these new skills of how to shoot motion. Ask yourself what are the markets that you want to work in. If you are leaning towards videojournalism, then perhaps the RED is not the camera for you. You may be better off with something more discreet.

Should I get a Facebook profile? Should I twitter? Should I use Linkedin? I’m a firm believer in utilizing all these platforms but only after you have come to an understanding of how and why. Each one of these platforms has the potential to either create awareness and strengthen your brand or do harm to your brand if you haven’t come to terms with who are you trying to target and why? Furthermore, you need to know that Facebook and Twitter are ways to give insight into your personality as opposed to Linkedin which is more of a professional networking platform. You should also realize that social media is all about sharing. So if your motives are to sell and promote in a direct way – it will be self defeating. Sharing builds trust. Sometimes that takes time. You need to be consistent and you need to be sincere. You need to be authentic. When you share and are sincere and are coming from a “right place”, good things will ultimately come from that.

Lastly, embrace technology because it enables you to go after opportunities. It levels the playing field. No longer do you need Hollywood budgets and big crews to tell a story in motion. No longer do you need the “gate keepers” to write the rules of who gets published and who doesn’t. Anything is possible because technology empowers all of us to fulfill our dreams. But you need to define your dream first. Only you can do that for yourself.

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Story Telling

Now that I am producing both still imagery and video, I am trying to find the right word or title that I can call myself. I’m not just a photographer anymore, yet I really hate the word videographer. I’ve come up with a couple of words like “hybrid” and “visionographer” but still can’t quite find that right word.

And then I realized who I am. I’m a storyteller. I tell the story through visuals and sound and motion. Storyteller – a simple name for a person who has played that role since human beings began telling their story by painting on cave walls.

I love the story – beyond anything else – beyond the toys and the tools. It’s in my blood – it’s what has always motivated me and inspired. It’s why I became a photographer. It’s why I needed to learn video. Both were essential in telling my stories.

I must say that almost every magazine story I ever shot, what I loved most was connecting with people and listening to their stories. Perhaps I should have been a writer but I was more comfortable with my visual ideas and always felt a loss for the right words to express them.

When I think of all the movies that I’ve seen, the ones that really stay with me, have one thing in common – they tell a good story. A film can have all the special effects in the world but if it doesn’t have a good tale – it’s nothing beyond the packaging and fizz.

So the next time someone asks me what I do – I know what I will say – I’m a storyteller.