August 15, 2024 • 23 mins
Welcome to this week's edition of the Content Combo Podcast. I'm your host, Thomas Elliott, and joining me to make up the combo this week are editors Ansh Grey, Joey Kan, and filmmaker Richie Fowler. Today, we're going to shift gears and have a bit of fun discussing things we never want to see in a video.
The team dives into overused trends, unprofessional techniques, and elements that make videos seem lackluster. From the cliché "Hey guys!" YouTube intros to dull Zoom recording LinkedIn videos, we cover it all. We also highlight why poorly lit, overly lit, or badly edited videos can ruin the viewer's experience.
Our experts share their pet peeves, such as narrated B-rolls and the dreaded microphone-in-the-shot mistake, while stressing the importance of storytelling over mere aesthetics. We explore the value of setting trends rather than following them and the pitfalls of jumping onto technology crazes without a compelling narrative.
Join us for a lively discussion on what to avoid in video content to keep your audience engaged and entertained. Tune in every Friday for more insights from the Content Combo Podcast, and don't forget to follow us via the Casual Films website.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Welcome to the Content Combo Podcast, presented by Casual Films.
Tune in every Friday so you can hear from our team of experts about how to deliver
effective video content that drives results, every time, without fail.
And now it's over to our hosts.
Welcome to this week's edition of the Content Combo Podcast.
(00:23):
I'm your host, Thomas Elliott, and joining me to make up the
combo this week are editors aren't great yo joey khan
hey and filmmaker richie fowler you know in today's
podcast guys we are going to shift gears a bit we're going
to have a bit of fun talking about things we never want to see in a video now
to clarify for the three of you this could be trends you're sick of seeing techniques
(00:44):
that are overused things you don't like that make videos seem unprofessional
to you the list is endless so let
me start by asking the three of you what trends in video are you really
tired of at this point and why so tired
I just love the exact spread so tired whenever you see those YouTube videos
(01:05):
I don't it doesn't really relate to the videos that we produce but it's a trend
50 of the videos that start with hey guys welcome to my video and I'm like oh.
Stop saying hey, guys. Yeah. You know, the one I'm really tired of,
and I'm sure that there is a way of making them better, is the Zoom recording LinkedIn video.
(01:27):
The two guys side by side talking, I just find it really uncompelling and dull and boring.
And I don't know, like even if the content is really good, I just,
to be honest with you, I don't watch it.
I listen to it if I'm going to engage with it at all.
And I honestly feel people that make those videos would be better off making them as a podcast.
(01:47):
Cause it's not a video. It's not visual. It's like watching grass grow,
but not in slow motion or in a really cool time lapse.
It's like actually watching it grow. Like there was a live feed of it.
It's a 24 hour live stream, but no, I agree.
I feel like there is, there's definitely ways to make it higher production.
That could be as simple as just using a nice lens or getting a nice frame,
(02:09):
adding a little bit of light.
If you're not really a filmmaker or photographer, you don't really think about
light or how that make and how important that is.
Getting into those little go-docs, tiny little panel lights and lighting up
your scenarios so that you've got a little bit of colour, a bit of edge going
on, a little bit of craft going to it.
I have noticed the people that do those videos well now, and it's a very select
(02:32):
few group of people, they do the Zoom chat deal and then maybe they've been
organised enough to set up an iPhone as a second camera so you get another angle
that you cut to occasionally.
Occasionally they might have a couple of graphic slides to elevate the experience
and they have thought about things like the environment that they're shooting
it in. But just as a trend, I just don't like it.
I understand people feel like LinkedIn is a professional platform,
(02:55):
but just because it's professional does not mean it has to be boring.
Are you not entertained? Yeah.
Is that all we want? What other trends are there? Can you guys think of?
You know the one I don't like? Slide photo videos.
I'm not in love with the slide photo video. Like, at all. I don't think I've
ever been in love with it. I've always just felt like it just feels...
(03:17):
That's an old technique, though.
That kind of screensaver-y PowerPoint.
Yeah. I just feel like in the world we live in now, where it's so competitive for eyeballs,
even if you are not an exciting business vehicle,
cool right like it's harder for you to
get video or whatever else i would
almost rather use a generated content than a
(03:37):
slideshow you made some effort in in making a story
you shot something it maybe has an authenticity
factor that works for it slideshow videos
that are just like photo slide photo slide
text really awful stock music
track that has not improved since it
was first downloaded moded 12 years ago yeah i'm not
(03:59):
a big fan for me it's like looking at the same type of video over
and over again because obviously it's from the same template from
the stock libraries but i think i saw that a few months ago in another video
and yeah i did and then afterwards oh it's also again i can see with another
company with a similar type of structure okay no it doesn't look good if you're
going to get a template you've got to at least revise the template alter it
(04:22):
make it your your own so that when I look at it,
I don't just go, ah, Envato template.
Cause you can pick them. Like I can honestly pick them. Like,
so when I see the little crosses and the little lines, where I get Envato template,
take those things out, be smart with your template if you're going to do that.
Why don't we move on there? If we can't think of any styles other than the ones
we talked about, what kind of techniques,
either filming, storytelling or editorial are you tired of seeing?
(04:45):
When I see, like... I feel like we're going to get some juice. Oh, my God.
There is this thing, like, recently, or maybe in the past two years,
there's just people running around with iPhones and doing all this crazy,
like, dancing around with the camera.
And I know you can't see me, it's because it's a podcast, but they have,
like, pretending to be, like, a cinematographer, and they're all,
like, raw, and they're, like, squatting and jumping around and twisting their
(05:06):
iPhone into this, like, top shot of a pizza.
But then there's someone filming this person doing this, and then they're like,
oh, wait till you see the final product.
And you just look at it you know this is like but
there's like a i think he's a chinese guy and he does like
sports cars he looks like he's doing kung fu or something yeah
yeah no and then as a filmmaker you look at it and you're like
okay i was used you think of the editing right how much did
(05:29):
he speed ramp that all right and obviously they edited.
It and color graded it it's no you know there's there's a
lot of finessing beyond just getting the movement but even.
Then when i see it i still feel like it feels like
that meme of client expectation client budget right
you know like it's like you aspired to be
michael bay but the best you were going to be was yui bald
(05:49):
you couldn't you couldn't you couldn't quite
i'm sorry yui if you're listening but that's it right
like it's like you tried really hard and it and that always
makes me think about that francis ford coppola comment from
heart of darkness where he's interviewed and he talks about pretentiousness
in filmmaking the worst thing you can do if you're
telling a visual story is to be pretentious you know to aspire for so
(06:11):
much and then not deliver it you were straight into cinematic jail
and i know the
ones you're talking about and every time i see a lot of them on wechat video and
you're just sort of like you're like okay maybe
like the first one is cool but you've got all the copycat people
thinking oh we can do this because this is trending now
then it just turns into this like i mean talk
(06:33):
about trends i do like i like the people who do the like
they they pretend that they're doing all these moves and
then you actually see them then it's totally them filming themselves
it's like a total mistake of that on the back camera shooting
the front camera exactly your face right exactly but that's
funny yeah it's funny yeah that's intentional part of this is also any trend
gets to that point where there was the great video at the start of the trend
(06:56):
that kicked it off and then by the time it hits midway of the trend it just
gets worse and worse and worse and by the end of the trend just let it die You
know, don't bring it back. It's cool.
I have another one. Go, go, go.
The ones where people and they're filming themselves crying or something.
And they were like, oh guys, I just had such an emotional day and I'm just like
(07:17):
crying and like, my life is so hard.
And I thought it's so funny.
Yeah yeah why i mean if you're having such a bad day like why are you filming
it and sending out to people you know you're like obviously looking for sympathy
i do feel like there's a bit of that on linkedin in the moment right there's
a bit of that sort of how do i like pity party,
(07:40):
wow you know lots of people it has like
almost 80 000 followers settle down hang
on let me just let me just let me just check where i'm at.
At this time of the day hang on we were at 83,965 followers
there is like one video which i had actually seen
(08:01):
before which literally grinded my gear and i and i
just scrolled once on like youtube shorts and there was another one and.
Just kept on going forward with it it's those videos where
they're talking about like oh why you don't need a cinema
camera why you don't need a red camera why you
don't need a black magic why you don't need a sony i don't complain for
that but you know like why you don't only certain cameras you know yeah you.
(08:22):
Know but you could just shoot it with your phone like yes you
can show with your phone but there is limitations as well yeah
just like with every other camera system there's all those limitations and you
can't get i mean whatever videos they were showing i'm pretty
sure it's not shot from a phone because the
guy was using a samson phone and you can't
record in that particular format as well because he's using an old one
(08:43):
yeah phone so and it looks so
it's cheating it's cheating it looks like he shopped with like
like a panasonic it looks like that and he basically just say you
know just i mean i mean a classic one is like the shop by iphone status
you know that some some people like to lean on
a badge of honor yeah as a badge of honor tools for
like publicity but like knowing things that look
(09:04):
really high production value when you see the final product and
then seeing the behind the scenes of how they get there you're like
you don't understand that this iphone is being rigged to a a 20 30
foot crane or something you know something and there's
an old lighting crew behind it so whatever you as a user you
just you know sure you can try but you're probably not going to get
that so the whole thing we talked about like every time the new iphone
(09:25):
comes out there is somebody who inadvertently emails me or messages me and tells
me that professional video is dead we can now shoot on our iphone isn't it wonderful
i've just seen the latest iphone ad and it's amazing and you have to go there
through that process of going okay sure for a second just understand that ad you were talking about.
Right, was made by Apple, right?
(09:46):
They had the money to hire the best filmmakers in the world.
Which you are not, right? They had the money to, oh man, the best visual effects
house, the best post house.
They had, I don't know, John Williams score the thing or something,
whatever, whatever you're going to do is not going to be that.
(10:06):
And that's not to be dismissive. That's not to sound arrogant,
but that is the reality, right?
And yes, you know, like I shoot stuff on my iPhone, you know,
I've got the black magic app. It's pretty cool, right?
And you can shoot stuff on it in a pinch, but it's not the same as shooting on a black magic camera.
It's It's not the same. I'm going to go back. I'm actually going to give you
a corporate video trend that I'm really sick of. Because I just feel like it
(10:27):
should have died and it still exists.
Is the narrated B-roll.
The history of our company started in 1967.
And then we have like shots of people awkwardly standing in lobbies and handshakes.
And then some kind of dimly, grimly lit shot of an old guy in a chair telling
(10:48):
me how great it was when he founded the company.
I'm tired of that video. that to me is not what an audience wants
to watch in 2024 and if i got served that
up right as as a piece
of content i would just go scroll right yeah yeah
you know it's because i don't care i don't want it i
don't want that lecture anymore if you can't be bothered finding a
(11:08):
storytelling avenue to tell me that story that's more
interesting i can't be bothered with you i'm i'm
done yeah yeah no i agree
yeah in a way that's a that's kind of like an old tactic you
know an old technique and i i hope people can see beyond that
but i feel like that comes back to the markets and stuff because like market taste
education some people some markets say
(11:30):
for example in china there's there is an appreciation of that for some reason
but maybe that's just how people grow up which also it also depends on the sophistication
of your marketplace like you know how much video there is how much you're doing
how much exposure you have to different types of stories but in 2024 That model, generally speaking,
is just not acceptable kind of the world over anymore. You know, we've moved on.
(11:54):
It's like looking at a display on a museum of a timeline of something,
but it's a still thing that you're looking at.
And you don't need to have that in a video anymore.
It's played out. We've moved on from Ken Burns to that kind of look now.
Well, Ken Burns can still do Ken Burns, but that's because he's Ken Burns.
(12:15):
Yeah. It's authentic to him.
What are some of the common mistakes that you guys see all the time in video
that just drive you nuts or up the wall? You know what my pet hate is, right?
Oh, when people scratch their own microphone?
No, it's just when you see the microphone. I think it looks lovely,
to be honest. You do? You like it? I think so.
(12:36):
Are you, like, secretly doing some work for Rode microphones right now? No. I don't know.
Sennheiser? I got this microphone. It syncs up to my camera via Bluetooth.
And you can totally get good quality out of it. I think not just that,
not just like a lav mic over there, but like an actual Rode. Like the square?
Yeah. yeah no it's just over there hanging and it's
(12:57):
blinking it's transmitting and you're like great you
know how firework show we saw one recently where
they still had it on b-roll and i was like oh i
can't for me sound is one of those things that i shouldn't be able to see it
right i should be able to hear that it's really great i just don't ever want
to see a microphone ever unless it is a peek behind the scenes like in some
(13:17):
of those interview videos where you set it up and you see them sitting in the
chair and the mic's there and they're being comfortable great but if If they're
actually sitting there talking,
I don't want to see their microphone. Can we digress?
Yeah, no. This is all about things you don't like seeing.
No, no. All I was going to say is that us just being too judgmental in a way.
Because sometimes there's many layers of video content.
I'll tell you the one place that's acceptable. A blogger video.
(13:39):
Sure. That's what I was going to go to. If I'm a blogger and that's my style,
but if it's a corporate video or a professional piece of content put out by a brand, no.
I don't want to see your lapel microphone. Like I want to imagine that you are
mildly sophisticated enough not to do that. True.
I don't disagree. Yeah. I think one thing I see in Hong Kong is many of the
(14:00):
ads somehow they like special social media,
the background light is just blown out and it's just blown out and there's no
way you can recover that sometimes as well. Even if you re-edit the video, it's just white.
Is this the super wide, super blown out? And is this a person inside a dark room or something?
But use some lights to basically light up the subject and make sure like you
(14:23):
don't lose the quality in the background as well.
Add on to that, like I hate it when things are too over lit.
And I'm sure that's a subjective thing. It's a stylistic choice.
If you wanted something to look flat or whatever, but especially in this part
of the world, a lot of times things just look super over lit.
You sort of have to understand where that comes from though, right?
When I first came and shot ads in Hong Kong 20 something
(14:44):
years ago because in Australia everything's backlit because
the sun comes from down under well when I came here
the first time I think I did an ad might be like pro-namo or
something and I remember seeing the lighting set up and I was like oh god it's
so clean and so flat and it really bothered me but the client really loved it
and that's and that was the style and somebody actually had the time to take
(15:05):
me aside and said we had to understand that that comes from the Chinese approach
to artwork which which is quite soft, contrast-free.
There isn't a lot of depth and
perspective to it. That's the way traditionally the art form comes from.
So that's why we sort of like this very clean, very lit look. You see everything.
Well, you see everything. And it's hard because as a camera person,
you really want contrast, you want motion and so on.
(15:28):
But I think, again, that is, to use your thing, what we talked about in an earlier
podcast, that's education, right? That is also going to clients.
Sometimes that look is appropriate for stories.
It's not appropriate for every story. I think if you're going to tell somebody's
authentic story, having just a clean white light everywhere,
as an audience, there is almost general visual motifs or things that are in
(15:48):
the zeitgeist that we just connect to stories.
It's an unwritten visual language that we all understand. And I think when you
look at that in an authentic story, it's light everywhere.
And you're kind of like, why does it look like that? And as soon as you're doing
that as an audience, you're not watching it anymore. You're not watching the story.
What else? What else? Come on. There's one thing that popped up in my mind when
you were talking about that was about lighting.
Sometimes if you're looking at a video that's lower production value,
(16:12):
you might see some things like.
I don't know the camera person didn't know
how to use the camera properly and you're watching through the take
and somehow like the lighting is changing throughout
the same shot you know all the color temperatures the
color temperature changes because they set it on like auto or something or the
auto focus is on or something and it goes blurry and then sharp and blurry and
(16:34):
sharp again oh you're making me feel uncomfortable yeah and they did really
like some it's not stuff that we've done it's just some stuff that i've seen
around not necessarily in hong kong like you.
Said when you see those types of stuff as an audience it just takes
you out of enjoying the story and you just think oh my god that
lighting change was so horrible i also think it's the thing i
don't know how many of you around the table have read nick's
(16:56):
book the new fire but there's a great line in that way nick
talks about also understanding that as a brand every piece of
visual content you put out directly relates to
the value of your brand right and so you should take
pride in the content that you put out you should think about what it
means for your brand there is the perception amongst some people
that just doing video is enough and i would
(17:16):
argue that that's just not good enough anymore particularly when all
your competitors are doing video everybody else is doing video
the fact is we live in a video driven world now you
need to be a bit better and so when you see something that
comes out particularly from a really big brand and i think we've all done this we've gathered
around youtube or linkedin in the office and
watch something and go on oh that's true
(17:37):
and you feel bad like you sit there and go i don't
know who who made that or how they got approved but oh
you know most audiences might not notice.
Those things but i think again most audiences now are more sophisticated about
video than they were and if there's like a color temperature
changes that's like really massive people notice that if the
auto focus goes and you see that a lot particularly in event
(17:58):
videos like event reels and you see you go it's a
highlight reel surely there was a shot that didn't have that on
it right like you could have got yeah it just shows like lack
of care in the craft at the end and you're just like it's kind of funny though
because sometimes you can you can kind of see this with hollywood movies in
a way another good point which nick and adam mentioned during the conference
(18:20):
is the netflixization of society that's what thomas is touching upon people assume,
that things should be a certain quality or a certain level but sometimes you see certain,
videos or trends where it's so cinematic so over the top i feel like it doesn't
actually suit the The story trends I'd like to see is actually people looking
(18:40):
at it more from a story perspective rather than purely an aesthetic perspective, because,
aesthetics is only one thing.
And there's so many Hollywood films where it looks beautiful. It's amazingly shot.
Lighting's amazing, but the story just has no substance and you just end up not connecting.
Think about the story more, whether that's needs high budget cinematic lighting
or something, whether or not, but.
(19:03):
That's just something I like to see. What kind of videos make you guys turn
off or scroll up fastest?
Hi, welcome to Grammarly. Those type of videos. Oh my God. The ones that you
can't skip. The ones that you can't skip.
Like, get a YouTube preview of that.
I'm not saying that that video is bad. I have seen the old video.
Wonderfully shot. It actually tells what they're providing the services. It's great.
(19:27):
It's the frequency. It's just the intro in the first five seconds.
I'm about to listen to a nice beautiful song and then I get this video it's
just not the right thing to watch but I'm about to relax down yeah you should
just get YouTube premium because apparently there's no more adverts for now.
But then you go and watch those content creators that have paid partnerships
(19:49):
we're watching their content and then they're like oh by the way this video
was brought to you by Grammarly yeah,
they'll get you in the end I like watching
ads that's why i don't really use uh creaming sometimes
but yeah yeah i guess this
is my last question do you think there is sometimes a real lag between
when some brands pick up a trend that leads to some
(20:09):
video trends just going on way longer than they should and
i try and equate it to when the world was slower so for the internet
and you saw a trend and you were like oh
well cool but often by the time you pick that trend up it's not
cool anymore and i find in the world that we live in now because it's
so fast and that's why in a way i certainly wish
most brands would avoid trends in video generally
(20:30):
altogether and actually just focus on creating stuff that's cool for them that
sets a trend or is their own thing brave big rave no i agree like it's better
to actually set a trend to invest money and capital basically to set up a trend
because in the long term it'll give you more return if you think about it you
won't be spending as much money in marketing,
to create the trend after it's already gone viral.
(20:53):
Because once it has gone viral, people will be copying your trends and eventually
they will always ask, where did this video come from?
And that's where it's going to go back to you so you're going to be getting a lot more return
for your investment i guess for me when i feel
like this is more technique or something say when fpv drones or
360 cameras came out where companies like oh that's cool let's do something
(21:15):
but then as a filmmaker this is just purely the novelty of it it doesn't tell
a story it doesn't tell the story i feel like that's that makes it more about
just it being aesthetic rather than compelling it's cool don't just hop onto
a technology craze because it's there if you.
Don't have a story to tell with it don't use that tool do you
think there's a space for this in the corporate world or within i think
there is i think for some change management or
(21:38):
training video training viewers i think
we did a piece for business where they're moving into a
new space and so we made something experiential that enabled them
to understand how the workspace would be different because you
were going from having your own desks to going to
a shared common space where there were lockers and
there were desks and so we created a thing that helped you experience that before
(21:59):
you went there and that works quite effectively for them because it developed
a change management mindset for them but it doesn't
work for everything and I think you really have to think about what it
is and what you want people to do and how that effect helps
tell the story because if the effect doesn't help tell the story take it
away I'm gonna wrap things up here do we have any final thoughts and comments
on things we never want to see in a video again don't
(22:21):
make bad stuff don't make
bad stuff is good advice I think I think we'll leave it at thanks for joining
us on this edition of the Content Combo podcast as always I'm your host Tom
Selleck and thanks again to our combo Arch Grey Joey Cohn and Richie Fowler
for their amazing contributions to our show tune in every Friday for more of
the Content Combo and don't forget to follow us via the Casual Films website.
(22:43):
Music.
Welcome to the Content Combo Podcast, presented by Casual Films.
Tune in every Friday so you can hear from our team of experts about how to deliver
effective video content that drives results, every time, without fail.
And now it's over to our hosts.
Welcome to this week's edition of the Content Combo Podcast.
(00:23):
I'm your host, Thomas Elliott, and joining me to make up the
combo this week are editors aren't great yo joey khan
hey and filmmaker richie fowler you know in today's
podcast guys we are going to shift gears a bit we're going
to have a bit of fun talking about things we never want to see in a video now
to clarify for the three of you this could be trends you're sick of seeing techniques
(00:44):
that are overused things you don't like that make videos seem unprofessional
to you the list is endless so let
me start by asking the three of you what trends in video are you really
tired of at this point and why so tired
I just love the exact spread so tired whenever you see those YouTube videos
(01:05):
I don't it doesn't really relate to the videos that we produce but it's a trend
50 of the videos that start with hey guys welcome to my video and I'm like oh.
Stop saying hey, guys. Yeah. You know, the one I'm really tired of,
and I'm sure that there is a way of making them better, is the Zoom recording LinkedIn video.
(01:27):
The two guys side by side talking, I just find it really uncompelling and dull and boring.
And I don't know, like even if the content is really good, I just,
to be honest with you, I don't watch it.
I listen to it if I'm going to engage with it at all.
And I honestly feel people that make those videos would be better off making them as a podcast.
(01:47):
Cause it's not a video. It's not visual. It's like watching grass grow,
but not in slow motion or in a really cool time lapse.
It's like actually watching it grow. Like there was a live feed of it.
It's a 24 hour live stream, but no, I agree.
I feel like there is, there's definitely ways to make it higher production.
That could be as simple as just using a nice lens or getting a nice frame,
(02:09):
adding a little bit of light.
If you're not really a filmmaker or photographer, you don't really think about
light or how that make and how important that is.
Getting into those little go-docs, tiny little panel lights and lighting up
your scenarios so that you've got a little bit of colour, a bit of edge going
on, a little bit of craft going to it.
I have noticed the people that do those videos well now, and it's a very select
(02:32):
few group of people, they do the Zoom chat deal and then maybe they've been
organised enough to set up an iPhone as a second camera so you get another angle
that you cut to occasionally.
Occasionally they might have a couple of graphic slides to elevate the experience
and they have thought about things like the environment that they're shooting
it in. But just as a trend, I just don't like it.
I understand people feel like LinkedIn is a professional platform,
(02:55):
but just because it's professional does not mean it has to be boring.
Are you not entertained? Yeah.
Is that all we want? What other trends are there? Can you guys think of?
You know the one I don't like? Slide photo videos.
I'm not in love with the slide photo video. Like, at all. I don't think I've
ever been in love with it. I've always just felt like it just feels...
(03:17):
That's an old technique, though.
That kind of screensaver-y PowerPoint.
Yeah. I just feel like in the world we live in now, where it's so competitive for eyeballs,
even if you are not an exciting business vehicle,
cool right like it's harder for you to
get video or whatever else i would
almost rather use a generated content than a
(03:37):
slideshow you made some effort in in making a story
you shot something it maybe has an authenticity
factor that works for it slideshow videos
that are just like photo slide photo slide
text really awful stock music
track that has not improved since it
was first downloaded moded 12 years ago yeah i'm not
(03:59):
a big fan for me it's like looking at the same type of video over
and over again because obviously it's from the same template from
the stock libraries but i think i saw that a few months ago in another video
and yeah i did and then afterwards oh it's also again i can see with another
company with a similar type of structure okay no it doesn't look good if you're
going to get a template you've got to at least revise the template alter it
(04:22):
make it your your own so that when I look at it,
I don't just go, ah, Envato template.
Cause you can pick them. Like I can honestly pick them. Like,
so when I see the little crosses and the little lines, where I get Envato template,
take those things out, be smart with your template if you're going to do that.
Why don't we move on there? If we can't think of any styles other than the ones
we talked about, what kind of techniques,
either filming, storytelling or editorial are you tired of seeing?
(04:45):
When I see, like... I feel like we're going to get some juice. Oh, my God.
There is this thing, like, recently, or maybe in the past two years,
there's just people running around with iPhones and doing all this crazy,
like, dancing around with the camera.
And I know you can't see me, it's because it's a podcast, but they have,
like, pretending to be, like, a cinematographer, and they're all,
like, raw, and they're, like, squatting and jumping around and twisting their
(05:06):
iPhone into this, like, top shot of a pizza.
But then there's someone filming this person doing this, and then they're like,
oh, wait till you see the final product.
And you just look at it you know this is like but
there's like a i think he's a chinese guy and he does like
sports cars he looks like he's doing kung fu or something yeah
yeah no and then as a filmmaker you look at it and you're like
okay i was used you think of the editing right how much did
(05:29):
he speed ramp that all right and obviously they edited.
It and color graded it it's no you know there's there's a
lot of finessing beyond just getting the movement but even.
Then when i see it i still feel like it feels like
that meme of client expectation client budget right
you know like it's like you aspired to be
michael bay but the best you were going to be was yui bald
(05:49):
you couldn't you couldn't you couldn't quite
i'm sorry yui if you're listening but that's it right
like it's like you tried really hard and it and that always
makes me think about that francis ford coppola comment from
heart of darkness where he's interviewed and he talks about pretentiousness
in filmmaking the worst thing you can do if you're
telling a visual story is to be pretentious you know to aspire for so
(06:11):
much and then not deliver it you were straight into cinematic jail
and i know the
ones you're talking about and every time i see a lot of them on wechat video and
you're just sort of like you're like okay maybe
like the first one is cool but you've got all the copycat people
thinking oh we can do this because this is trending now
then it just turns into this like i mean talk
(06:33):
about trends i do like i like the people who do the like
they they pretend that they're doing all these moves and
then you actually see them then it's totally them filming themselves
it's like a total mistake of that on the back camera shooting
the front camera exactly your face right exactly but that's
funny yeah it's funny yeah that's intentional part of this is also any trend
gets to that point where there was the great video at the start of the trend
(06:56):
that kicked it off and then by the time it hits midway of the trend it just
gets worse and worse and worse and by the end of the trend just let it die You
know, don't bring it back. It's cool.
I have another one. Go, go, go.
The ones where people and they're filming themselves crying or something.
And they were like, oh guys, I just had such an emotional day and I'm just like
(07:17):
crying and like, my life is so hard.
And I thought it's so funny.
Yeah yeah why i mean if you're having such a bad day like why are you filming
it and sending out to people you know you're like obviously looking for sympathy
i do feel like there's a bit of that on linkedin in the moment right there's
a bit of that sort of how do i like pity party,
(07:40):
wow you know lots of people it has like
almost 80 000 followers settle down hang
on let me just let me just let me just check where i'm at.
At this time of the day hang on we were at 83,965 followers
there is like one video which i had actually seen
(08:01):
before which literally grinded my gear and i and i
just scrolled once on like youtube shorts and there was another one and.
Just kept on going forward with it it's those videos where
they're talking about like oh why you don't need a cinema
camera why you don't need a red camera why you
don't need a black magic why you don't need a sony i don't complain for
that but you know like why you don't only certain cameras you know yeah you.
(08:22):
Know but you could just shoot it with your phone like yes you
can show with your phone but there is limitations as well yeah
just like with every other camera system there's all those limitations and you
can't get i mean whatever videos they were showing i'm pretty
sure it's not shot from a phone because the
guy was using a samson phone and you can't
record in that particular format as well because he's using an old one
(08:43):
yeah phone so and it looks so
it's cheating it's cheating it looks like he shopped with like
like a panasonic it looks like that and he basically just say you
know just i mean i mean a classic one is like the shop by iphone status
you know that some some people like to lean on
a badge of honor yeah as a badge of honor tools for
like publicity but like knowing things that look
(09:04):
really high production value when you see the final product and
then seeing the behind the scenes of how they get there you're like
you don't understand that this iphone is being rigged to a a 20 30
foot crane or something you know something and there's
an old lighting crew behind it so whatever you as a user you
just you know sure you can try but you're probably not going to get
that so the whole thing we talked about like every time the new iphone
(09:25):
comes out there is somebody who inadvertently emails me or messages me and tells
me that professional video is dead we can now shoot on our iphone isn't it wonderful
i've just seen the latest iphone ad and it's amazing and you have to go there
through that process of going okay sure for a second just understand that ad you were talking about.
Right, was made by Apple, right?
(09:46):
They had the money to hire the best filmmakers in the world.
Which you are not, right? They had the money to, oh man, the best visual effects
house, the best post house.
They had, I don't know, John Williams score the thing or something,
whatever, whatever you're going to do is not going to be that.
(10:06):
And that's not to be dismissive. That's not to sound arrogant,
but that is the reality, right?
And yes, you know, like I shoot stuff on my iPhone, you know,
I've got the black magic app. It's pretty cool, right?
And you can shoot stuff on it in a pinch, but it's not the same as shooting on a black magic camera.
It's It's not the same. I'm going to go back. I'm actually going to give you
a corporate video trend that I'm really sick of. Because I just feel like it
(10:27):
should have died and it still exists.
Is the narrated B-roll.
The history of our company started in 1967.
And then we have like shots of people awkwardly standing in lobbies and handshakes.
And then some kind of dimly, grimly lit shot of an old guy in a chair telling
(10:48):
me how great it was when he founded the company.
I'm tired of that video. that to me is not what an audience wants
to watch in 2024 and if i got served that
up right as as a piece
of content i would just go scroll right yeah yeah
you know it's because i don't care i don't want it i
don't want that lecture anymore if you can't be bothered finding a
(11:08):
storytelling avenue to tell me that story that's more
interesting i can't be bothered with you i'm i'm
done yeah yeah no i agree
yeah in a way that's a that's kind of like an old tactic you
know an old technique and i i hope people can see beyond that
but i feel like that comes back to the markets and stuff because like market taste
education some people some markets say
(11:30):
for example in china there's there is an appreciation of that for some reason
but maybe that's just how people grow up which also it also depends on the sophistication
of your marketplace like you know how much video there is how much you're doing
how much exposure you have to different types of stories but in 2024 That model, generally speaking,
is just not acceptable kind of the world over anymore. You know, we've moved on.
(11:54):
It's like looking at a display on a museum of a timeline of something,
but it's a still thing that you're looking at.
And you don't need to have that in a video anymore.
It's played out. We've moved on from Ken Burns to that kind of look now.
Well, Ken Burns can still do Ken Burns, but that's because he's Ken Burns.
(12:15):
Yeah. It's authentic to him.
What are some of the common mistakes that you guys see all the time in video
that just drive you nuts or up the wall? You know what my pet hate is, right?
Oh, when people scratch their own microphone?
No, it's just when you see the microphone. I think it looks lovely,
to be honest. You do? You like it? I think so.
(12:36):
Are you, like, secretly doing some work for Rode microphones right now? No. I don't know.
Sennheiser? I got this microphone. It syncs up to my camera via Bluetooth.
And you can totally get good quality out of it. I think not just that,
not just like a lav mic over there, but like an actual Rode. Like the square?
Yeah. yeah no it's just over there hanging and it's
(12:57):
blinking it's transmitting and you're like great you
know how firework show we saw one recently where
they still had it on b-roll and i was like oh i
can't for me sound is one of those things that i shouldn't be able to see it
right i should be able to hear that it's really great i just don't ever want
to see a microphone ever unless it is a peek behind the scenes like in some
(13:17):
of those interview videos where you set it up and you see them sitting in the
chair and the mic's there and they're being comfortable great but if If they're
actually sitting there talking,
I don't want to see their microphone. Can we digress?
Yeah, no. This is all about things you don't like seeing.
No, no. All I was going to say is that us just being too judgmental in a way.
Because sometimes there's many layers of video content.
I'll tell you the one place that's acceptable. A blogger video.
(13:39):
Sure. That's what I was going to go to. If I'm a blogger and that's my style,
but if it's a corporate video or a professional piece of content put out by a brand, no.
I don't want to see your lapel microphone. Like I want to imagine that you are
mildly sophisticated enough not to do that. True.
I don't disagree. Yeah. I think one thing I see in Hong Kong is many of the
(14:00):
ads somehow they like special social media,
the background light is just blown out and it's just blown out and there's no
way you can recover that sometimes as well. Even if you re-edit the video, it's just white.
Is this the super wide, super blown out? And is this a person inside a dark room or something?
But use some lights to basically light up the subject and make sure like you
(14:23):
don't lose the quality in the background as well.
Add on to that, like I hate it when things are too over lit.
And I'm sure that's a subjective thing. It's a stylistic choice.
If you wanted something to look flat or whatever, but especially in this part
of the world, a lot of times things just look super over lit.
You sort of have to understand where that comes from though, right?
When I first came and shot ads in Hong Kong 20 something
(14:44):
years ago because in Australia everything's backlit because
the sun comes from down under well when I came here
the first time I think I did an ad might be like pro-namo or
something and I remember seeing the lighting set up and I was like oh god it's
so clean and so flat and it really bothered me but the client really loved it
and that's and that was the style and somebody actually had the time to take
(15:05):
me aside and said we had to understand that that comes from the Chinese approach
to artwork which which is quite soft, contrast-free.
There isn't a lot of depth and
perspective to it. That's the way traditionally the art form comes from.
So that's why we sort of like this very clean, very lit look. You see everything.
Well, you see everything. And it's hard because as a camera person,
you really want contrast, you want motion and so on.
(15:28):
But I think, again, that is, to use your thing, what we talked about in an earlier
podcast, that's education, right? That is also going to clients.
Sometimes that look is appropriate for stories.
It's not appropriate for every story. I think if you're going to tell somebody's
authentic story, having just a clean white light everywhere,
as an audience, there is almost general visual motifs or things that are in
(15:48):
the zeitgeist that we just connect to stories.
It's an unwritten visual language that we all understand. And I think when you
look at that in an authentic story, it's light everywhere.
And you're kind of like, why does it look like that? And as soon as you're doing
that as an audience, you're not watching it anymore. You're not watching the story.
What else? What else? Come on. There's one thing that popped up in my mind when
you were talking about that was about lighting.
Sometimes if you're looking at a video that's lower production value,
(16:12):
you might see some things like.
I don't know the camera person didn't know
how to use the camera properly and you're watching through the take
and somehow like the lighting is changing throughout
the same shot you know all the color temperatures the
color temperature changes because they set it on like auto or something or the
auto focus is on or something and it goes blurry and then sharp and blurry and
(16:34):
sharp again oh you're making me feel uncomfortable yeah and they did really
like some it's not stuff that we've done it's just some stuff that i've seen
around not necessarily in hong kong like you.
Said when you see those types of stuff as an audience it just takes
you out of enjoying the story and you just think oh my god that
lighting change was so horrible i also think it's the thing i
don't know how many of you around the table have read nick's
(16:56):
book the new fire but there's a great line in that way nick
talks about also understanding that as a brand every piece of
visual content you put out directly relates to
the value of your brand right and so you should take
pride in the content that you put out you should think about what it
means for your brand there is the perception amongst some people
that just doing video is enough and i would
(17:16):
argue that that's just not good enough anymore particularly when all
your competitors are doing video everybody else is doing video
the fact is we live in a video driven world now you
need to be a bit better and so when you see something that
comes out particularly from a really big brand and i think we've all done this we've gathered
around youtube or linkedin in the office and
watch something and go on oh that's true
(17:37):
and you feel bad like you sit there and go i don't
know who who made that or how they got approved but oh
you know most audiences might not notice.
Those things but i think again most audiences now are more sophisticated about
video than they were and if there's like a color temperature
changes that's like really massive people notice that if the
auto focus goes and you see that a lot particularly in event
(17:58):
videos like event reels and you see you go it's a
highlight reel surely there was a shot that didn't have that on
it right like you could have got yeah it just shows like lack
of care in the craft at the end and you're just like it's kind of funny though
because sometimes you can you can kind of see this with hollywood movies in
a way another good point which nick and adam mentioned during the conference
(18:20):
is the netflixization of society that's what thomas is touching upon people assume,
that things should be a certain quality or a certain level but sometimes you see certain,
videos or trends where it's so cinematic so over the top i feel like it doesn't
actually suit the The story trends I'd like to see is actually people looking
(18:40):
at it more from a story perspective rather than purely an aesthetic perspective, because,
aesthetics is only one thing.
And there's so many Hollywood films where it looks beautiful. It's amazingly shot.
Lighting's amazing, but the story just has no substance and you just end up not connecting.
Think about the story more, whether that's needs high budget cinematic lighting
or something, whether or not, but.
(19:03):
That's just something I like to see. What kind of videos make you guys turn
off or scroll up fastest?
Hi, welcome to Grammarly. Those type of videos. Oh my God. The ones that you
can't skip. The ones that you can't skip.
Like, get a YouTube preview of that.
I'm not saying that that video is bad. I have seen the old video.
Wonderfully shot. It actually tells what they're providing the services. It's great.
(19:27):
It's the frequency. It's just the intro in the first five seconds.
I'm about to listen to a nice beautiful song and then I get this video it's
just not the right thing to watch but I'm about to relax down yeah you should
just get YouTube premium because apparently there's no more adverts for now.
But then you go and watch those content creators that have paid partnerships
(19:49):
we're watching their content and then they're like oh by the way this video
was brought to you by Grammarly yeah,
they'll get you in the end I like watching
ads that's why i don't really use uh creaming sometimes
but yeah yeah i guess this
is my last question do you think there is sometimes a real lag between
when some brands pick up a trend that leads to some
(20:09):
video trends just going on way longer than they should and
i try and equate it to when the world was slower so for the internet
and you saw a trend and you were like oh
well cool but often by the time you pick that trend up it's not
cool anymore and i find in the world that we live in now because it's
so fast and that's why in a way i certainly wish
most brands would avoid trends in video generally
(20:30):
altogether and actually just focus on creating stuff that's cool for them that
sets a trend or is their own thing brave big rave no i agree like it's better
to actually set a trend to invest money and capital basically to set up a trend
because in the long term it'll give you more return if you think about it you
won't be spending as much money in marketing,
to create the trend after it's already gone viral.
(20:53):
Because once it has gone viral, people will be copying your trends and eventually
they will always ask, where did this video come from?
And that's where it's going to go back to you so you're going to be getting a lot more return
for your investment i guess for me when i feel
like this is more technique or something say when fpv drones or
360 cameras came out where companies like oh that's cool let's do something
(21:15):
but then as a filmmaker this is just purely the novelty of it it doesn't tell
a story it doesn't tell the story i feel like that's that makes it more about
just it being aesthetic rather than compelling it's cool don't just hop onto
a technology craze because it's there if you.
Don't have a story to tell with it don't use that tool do you
think there's a space for this in the corporate world or within i think
there is i think for some change management or
(21:38):
training video training viewers i think
we did a piece for business where they're moving into a
new space and so we made something experiential that enabled them
to understand how the workspace would be different because you
were going from having your own desks to going to
a shared common space where there were lockers and
there were desks and so we created a thing that helped you experience that before
(21:59):
you went there and that works quite effectively for them because it developed
a change management mindset for them but it doesn't
work for everything and I think you really have to think about what it
is and what you want people to do and how that effect helps
tell the story because if the effect doesn't help tell the story take it
away I'm gonna wrap things up here do we have any final thoughts and comments
on things we never want to see in a video again don't
(22:21):
make bad stuff don't make
bad stuff is good advice I think I think we'll leave it at thanks for joining
us on this edition of the Content Combo podcast as always I'm your host Tom
Selleck and thanks again to our combo Arch Grey Joey Cohn and Richie Fowler
for their amazing contributions to our show tune in every Friday for more of
the Content Combo and don't forget to follow us via the Casual Films website.
(22:43):
Music.
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