so today today is the day it's been said
before that being an editor is a
thankless job because when you do it
right no one is supposed to notice I
think this idea goes for Casey neistat's
daily vlog a hundred percent when my
stats exceeds all you should see is the
fun
though there are plenty of imitators I
think it's pretty much impossible to
duplicate the style of casein I set I
think that style is worth taking a
closer look at because along with
various other interesting subgenres like
what we're trying to do with video
essays the daily vlog particularly what
nice that has done to it has grown
organically and uniquely out of the
medium where it lives online video
shouldn't let people do that the inner
vitality of nice that show is undeniable
that's down to his personality his world
view is insane work ethic even his
recklessness but I think the craft that
supports these things goes largely
unnoticed see nice that's revolutionary
move was bringing more than a decade of
video graphic experience to a sub-genre
that prizes amateur craft daily vlogs
need a dose or a feeling of amateurism
because what makes them valuable is how
real they seem in an age where reality
TV was dominated by Jersey Shore and the
hills where scenes were prompted by
suggestions of producers if not
completely scripted I don't care about
anything else but me and Jionni smushing
daily vlogs are the response a real
slice of life with no corporate mediator
and the signature of something that's
not corporate is a lack of polish the
product that passes through the hands of
only one person before it was delivered
to an audience
no audio touch-ups no color correction
no notes from a distant boardroom nice
that elevated that amateur spirit to an
art and I say spirit because I think
what he does is actually amateurish when
it comes his vlog and in YouTube in
general I was try to find opportunities
to up my game when it comes to
production value nice that has been
slowly developing his style from the
start in 2003 he and his brother made a
short film called iPods dirty secret
about the crappiness of iPod batteries
that collected over a million views in
six weeks in the era before YouTube a
hybrid combination of gonzo journalism
guerrilla filmmaking and cinema verite
the signature evolved across a number of
short movies and eventually found its
way into the vlog for which its
perfect match in cinema verite the
camera is often acknowledged made a part
of the product nice that takes this to
another level by making his massive
collection of camera equipment and his
studio another character in his show
DSLRs GoPros power shots 360s iPhones
drones each camera and each lens has its
own personality and nice that's
constantly swapping them around but it
goes further than this nice that keeps
all his old footage routinely working in
mini DV memories VHS tapes and other
first generation video camera cliffs
within this universe old video camera
footage doesn't look dated it's just
another strata in the ongoing story of
the democratization of filmmaking a
story that parallels our lives
his main rig however is this a Canon 70d
on a gorilla pod I mean this tells you
everything you need to know about nice
stat as a filmmaker this is a heavy
thing to carry all day daily vloggers
before this may do with handheld to
varying sizes power shots small enough
to fit in your pocket the idea was that
it was always with you unobtrusive nice
that has a slightly different mo he
wants his show to feel natural not be
natural my goal with this vlog isn't and
it has never been to like share all the
intimacy's of my life it's always just
been to create a good or entertaining
piece of content every day and so to up
his production value takes a million
little things like setting the camera
down framing a shot then running back
out of frame to come into frame again
like the shot I showed at the beginning
of this video like going out at sunset
and waiting 30 minutes while three
different cameras take three different
time lapses like carrying a 70 d on a
gorilla pot all day like carrying the
70d and a gorilla pod and a boosted
board controller all in the same hand
just to look natural I'm trying to teach
Shaun how to ride the boosted board
record with a video camera and drink a
smoothie at the same time how's it going
John
can you do this Angela the
effortlessness of Casey neistat's vlog
is an illusion the next time you watch
one just pay more attention to his
camera setups notice how things are
framed notice how his time lapses always
feature some sort of large movement
notice how edits through action feel so
smooth and then think about what
actually was happening there there are a
lot of things on YouTube but only a few
of them are legitimately something new
Under the Sun these new styles
cultivated not from film or TV but out
of how we watch and share specifically
online video have to be acknowledged and
studied and celebrated if we want this
medium to be recognized as something
other than the stepchild of older
formats I get a thrill watching nice
debts work I'm motivated by it by the
art that's in it and how wonderfully
visible it can be it's a style you can't
duplicate because the show is animated
and held together by his energy but that
ought to be encouraging because it means
that in the age of online video when a
creation can be the unmediated vision of
its creator there's a style within all
of us and there are literally millions
of people waiting for you to find it yes
I'm starting a proper daily blog I'm
psyched
there is a new nerdwriter video every
Wednesday so if you go right there and
click that you'll subscribe and get all
the videos and that really helps me out
I want to tell you guys about a channel
that I really love called wisecrack they
do shows like 8-bit philosophy earthling
cinema thug notes which is my favorite
probably you can go right there and
watch a video subscribe if you like it
you like the nerd writer you're gonna
like them so they're awesome check that
out I'll see you guys all next Wednesday
for something new
oh and by the way
be