- Question for you.
How are your New Year's resolutions going?
It's February now.
Usually by this point, either they've completely bombed,
and you're not doing anything anymore,
or you're still on track, you're happy.
Maybe you've got one pec here, one ab here.
Maybe you're eating healthier like myself.
But most importantly, I don't know if you guys have noticed,
but the YouTube channel,
we've been trying to beef up our production quality
by putting in a bit more effort.
This is my chance to introduce a segue,
'cause I saw parallels between that
and what we're talking about in this week's episode,
which is the difference between lazy b-roll and b-roll
when you put in a bit more effort and thought into it.
I thought I'd give you some context.
So a couple days ago,
we were working on a project with Visit Las Vegas,
also known as this really long name here, which is really
hard to remember, so I'm just gonna put it on screen.
So Visit Las Vegas organized a few fun activities
for us to go and shoot, and I thought this would be
a great opportunity to show you the difference
between lazy b-roll, which is just getting the shot
that's necessary for the video, versus actually putting
some thought, some effort into your shots.
So, on that note, let's see some of that not-so-lazy b-roll.
♪ I've got that new thing ♪
♪ New style ♪
♪ New walk ♪
♪ I've got that new vibe ♪
♪ New trick ♪
♪ New talk ♪
♪ Been traveling around the world ♪
♪ There ain't nobody quite like me ♪
♪ I got that new thing ♪
♪ New style ♪
♪ New walk ♪
♪ Go ahead and take a picture ♪
- Hi, guys, welcome to our first shot.
I'm exhausted right now,
but we have to shoot this hotel room for this video.
But I've just been on a plane for four hours,
and also two days ago, I was in Switzerland,
so I'm super jet-lagged.
So all I wanna do is sleep.
But you gotta push through and get the shot for the video.
So we're in this hotel room.
We need to showcase it.
Naturally, my instinct, my gut just says,
"All right, let's just get a quick, lazy shot.
"Let's just go and grab a 16-mil,
"do the old little dance where you go around the corner
"and you shoot in slow motion,"
but when I looked back at that shot,
the lazy approach, I realize there's a few problems with it.
Number one my shadow, you can see it down below there,
and number two, because the shutter is a little higher,
it's at 1/250 for the slow motion,
I'm noticing some weird artifacts
that are in the lights right now, and that doesn't look good
when you bring it into post later,
which means you can't really use that shot.
It's not gonna work.
So how do we make this shot more interesting
and also get rid of all of those problems
that we saw in the lazy approach?
Well, number one, we need to shoot at 24 frames a second
so we can bring that shutter to 1/50
and get rid of those weird artifacts in the lights.
Number two, if I don't wanna see my shadow,
I've gotta push back a little bit,
and number three, if we wanna make this room look bigger,
we're gonna use the 12 millimeter lens,
because the wider the lens,
the more epic the space is gonna seem,
which is gonna translate well
for the client that we're shooting for.
Also, I wanna add more motion and movement into the shot,
and there's a door right at the front.
I have my second shooter.
If I just ask him to open the door on cue
and I push through the door,
that shot's gonna look a lot better.
So as you can see here, I asked Lucas.
I said, "Three, two, one, open the door."
I pushed through with that 12-mil lens
at 24 frames a second, and that shot
looks way better than that first one.
So that's the one that's gonna end up in the edit.
♪ I've got that new thing ♪
♪ New style ♪
♪ New walk ♪
♪ I've got that new vibe ♪
♪ New trick ♪
♪ New talk ♪
- So after we checked in at the Palms Hotel,
our first activity
was a helicopter ride with Maverick Helicopters.
Now, I think any time helicopters get introduced,
you always get really jazzed up.
I always get like,
"Oh, a helicopter ride, let's go, let's go!"
But I had to remind myself to take a quick moment
to just chill out, Chris.
Remember this is a job,
and you have to get the best shot possible for this video.
So, before the helicopter ride,
I went to the pilot and asked him,
what's the best seat in the helicopter
to get the best vantage point of the Strip?
He told me the flight was about 12 minutes,
and most of the things were happening on the left side.
So he's like, try to get in this seat right here.
What I noticed, once I was in the left seat,
is that we spent about eight minutes
flying over the Strip on the left side
and only about two minutes on the right side.
That means I got six more minutes
of shooting Las Vegas versus only two.
So if I had picked a different seat,
I would have had less time and a worse vantage point,
which means that b-roll would not have looked as good.
In case that math is wrong, 'cause I tried to do it
on the spot while I was talking to you,
essentially, the takeaway is that I got a lot more time
shooting the Strip, all because I asked the pilot,
"What seat should I sit in?"
This doesn't just apply
to when you're shooting in a helicopter.
The takeaway is for any important event,
you should always ask the person who's in charge
of the event, the experience, the bus ride,
whatever you're on, what's the best seat to be in?
What's the best vantage point?
When's the most important thing happening and at what time,
and where should I be, because that pre-planning
means that you'll get a better composed shot,
a better experience, a better vantage point,
which ultimately means a better video.
So lemme show you the difference
between the footage from my seat versus the footage
from another random seat in the helicopter.
♪ I got that fire, fire, fire ♪
♪ I got that heat ♪
- All right, next day, next activity.
This is a Pink Jeep tour.
You heard that right, Pink Jeep tour.
I was just as surprised to see a giant pink Jeep
in the desert, but actually, this was a super fun activity.
So here we have to capture this whole experience,
and what's happening here, our driver Ron,
who is a total badass, by the way,
was bringing us around Red Rock Canyon
and bringing us to a bunch of dope locations.
These locations are 30 minutes off the Strip.
Oh, my, I didn't realize how beautiful Las Vegas was.
This sounds like I'm selling it.
No, literally, I had a great time.
So the first stop, he drops us off in this parking lot,
and he brings us to this epic vista.
And I'm like, "Oh, boy."
I actually wasn't like that.
I was just grabbing my camera.
I was like, "This looks sick."
Then you think all you need to do is just like,
16 mil, wide-angle shot,
you get the shot right in the parking lot.
This looks dope; now I'm done.
Okay, yes, I'm at this dope location.
I only have 15 minutes.
Rather than just getting a shot and then just sitting there
on Instagram looking at other locations,
which would be a total waste of time,
I wanna try to get as many shots as possible
and the best shot as possible.
But naturally, people always go to the same area
where all the tourists are,
and they go, "Hey Don, hey Cheryl,
"this is a pretty cool vista, isn't it?"
And they shoot from eye level,
they get the shot, and it's boring.
It's so lazy.
Don't be Don and Cheryl.
I'm sorry Don and Cheryl out there
if you're watching this video.
I really appreciate your support, and leaving comments
and all that stuff means the world to me.
What I'm trying to illustrate
is that you should put a little bit more effort in.
There was this one spot further down in the parking lot
that actually overlooked the view, so we went down there.
We made sure that we brought
the gimbal with us, and we went down,
and we started looking at different perspectives.
Rather than just shooting eye level,
we were like, maybe shooting low will look better.
Then we started noticing all these bushes,
and we were like, "Well, the bushes kind of tell the story
"of being in a desert and looking at the Red Rock Canyon.
"So why don't we incorporate the bushes
"as foreground in our shot?"
So we brought the gimbal low, we found this one bush
that complimented the colors within the frame,
and we started to push through the bushes
and revealing the epic view.
And that shot looks way better
than just the boring, normal vista shot.
Let's see the comparison between those two shots.
♪ Take it higher, higher ♪
♪ Yes, I want more ♪
- Correct me if I'm wrong, unless your name's
Don and Cheryl, but shot number two looks really good.
So when we were on this Jeep tour,
we were specifically asked, "Do not shoot with a drone."
That was in the email, in bold, because we all know
that shooting with a drone wherever country you're in
is a little bit of a gray area, usually iffy.
Most likely, do not do it.
So don't do it.
You never wanna be a liability for your client.
But there are alternatives out there.
In this case, if you use an Insta360 One
on a giant selfie stick, it kinda looks like a drone.
It's a really good way of getting unique angles
and different perspectives, which is always a good way
to make your video look more interesting.
So here's the difference between just accepting
the fact that you can't shoot with a drone,
versus actually being prepared, bringing that silly
selfie stick with you when people are like,
"Look at that tourist with his selfie stick."
It's very evident which one wins here.
The black screen.
All right, so, we're still on this Pink Jeep tour right now.
I'm gonna show you two shots.
Here's the first one, and here's the second one.
I'm gonna give you a hot second
to decide which one's better,
and I'm also gonna give you a tip, it's number two.
Naturally in these situations
when you're doing an activity, you wanna try to capture.
You're like, "Oh, cool, there's a pink Jeep.
"I'll just shoot the Jeep."
But you can actually go the extra mile and ask the operator,
"Well, can I get you to actually drive the Jeep?"
I think we always have this internal dialog
that we're disturbing the person
if we go up and ask them, "Hey, do you mind
"just getting in the Jeep and moving it just a little bit?
"Like, I just wanna get this cool shot."
Most of the time if you ask, people wanna be helpful,
and they wanna get a good shot for you,
because it's a win-win for both parties.
You get a cool shot, they maybe get featured in a video,
and everyone just gets
this really amazing video clip at the end of the day.
So, go and ask.
I'm gonna go ask Ron who's our guide today to see
if he wouldn't mind just driving the Jeep for one shot.
Do you mind if we grab a quick shot of the Jeep driving out?
- All right, whatever you guys like.
- Yeah, awesome, man, thanks.
- So you want me to drive up
and then just loop back around or something?
- Yeah, maybe just like back up a little bit.
- Okay, yeah. - I'll count you down.
I'll go "Three, two, one," and then just literally drive up
just around that corner a little bit.
- Okay, yeah. - Thanks, Ron.
That was easy.
(electronic funk music)
My dude Ron making this shot look good,
yeah. (Chris laughs)
♪ I got that new thing ♪
♪ New style ♪
♪ New walk ♪
♪ Go ahead, take a picture ♪
- So at this point in the video,
we've seen a lot of amazing views,
we've seen some really cool experiences,
but we haven't seen really that many people.
And I think one of the things
that you should always consider when you're shooting a video
is how can we introduce a character,
because it helps to really drive the story.
Having some sort of hero character in your content
dictates to the audience how they should feel.
So one of the content creators
that was also invited on this trip was Mark Harrison.
Shout-out another Canadian boy, his content's super dope.
Links are below.
I asked him, "Hey, do you mind being in my video?
"I'd love to create a little sequence
"of you going through Red Rock Canyon,"
and thinking in sequences is a great way
to introduce that character, showcase the landscape,
and give him a chance to showcase how he's feeling.
So I wanted to tell the audience,
"Wow, look at this location.
"You're gonna really enjoy the views here."
So, had the little sequence.
He goes around the rock,
he's exploring a little bit, being adventurous.
Comes down, looks out at the view.
I get the shot of his face.
He goes, "Whoa, this is sick,"
but he didn't say, "Whoa, it's sick."
He just said it with his eyes, 'cause he was "smizing."
I said, "Mark, smize," and he was like,
and that told the audience: "feel good."
So let's see the difference between our lazy b-roll here,
which is just some cool shots of our landscape,
versus having a sequence where it's starting to build
this anticipation of like, "What's he gonna go see?
"What's he exploring?
"Oh, he's exploring this.
"Oh, he's smiling.
"That's nice."
So our last activity was to go to this show called Absinthe,
which is a comedy, slash burlesque, slash talent show,
slash a lot of swearing,
slash, I really enjoyed it and it was amazing.
Here is my favorite shot from that experience.
Right?
Come on.
Like, I'm even super proud of that shot.
If there was the Shorty Awards for like, best shot
for a Las Vegas tourism board ad shot
between February and the end of February, I might get it.
All right, all jokes aside,
how many attempts do you think I actually had at that shot?
I'm gonna pause the video for a second.
Here, I'll pause it for you.
And then go and leave a comment.
I'm sorry, I'm still supposed to be paused.
Go and leave a comment.
Do it, Don and Cheryl, do it.
I'm about to tell you the answer.
Three, two, one, one attempt at this shot.
So let me give you a little context for this shot.
Before we went into the show, the only thing
that we were told was, "No flash photography."
And I was like, "Okay, no problem.
"We're gonna try to be strategic,
"'cause I know there's still a show going on.
"There's people watching, and I don't wanna disturb
"Don and Cheryl on their honeymoon right now."
And I was like, "Okay, if I sit in this chair right here,
I'll be able to slide out real quick
"and get a really cool gimbal shot
"while some sort of cool action's happening."
So, I noticed that the show had started.
I was like, "Oh, this green fairy's in the sky.
"Maybe she'll come down."
So I stepped out, got the gimbal set up,
set the focus, and I was like, "All right,
"she's coming down in three, two, one, all right,"
started walking forward.
Walking forward, "Ooh, this looks good.
"Oh, the lights, oh, God, don't screw up the shot,"
and nailed it, and then, promptly, right after that,
a security guard came up to me.
He was like, "Sir, do you mind taking you and your gimbal
"and never doing that ever, ever again please?"
Actually, he just said,
"Hey, just don't do this in the aisle.
"You can shoot from your seat and it's no problem."
So, what is the takeaway here?
You have to choose your timing wisely.
As the great poet Eminem once said,
"You only get one shot.
"Do not miss your chance to blow"?
Go?
Glow?
"'Cause opportunity comes once in a lifetime.
"You better" get the shot.
What I'm trying to illustrate her is that you should treat
every shot like you only have one attempt at it.
Try to put the same pressure that you would have
if you were shooting a wedding and you get that first kiss,
and if you miss that first kiss,
ooh, that contract's out the door, son,
because there's a good chance
that that opportunity is a fleeting opportunity,
and you won't be able to get it again.
So try your best to have vision.
Try to pre-plan as much as you can.
Try to respect the audience and the people around you
so that you're not getting in their way,
so that ultimately, you get that one shot,
and you get it first time.
And I'd like to show you the difference
between me just sitting in a chair
trying to get b-roll, which is not bad,
but it's kind of static and a little boring,
versus like, taking that risk.
We're still respecting that audience,
but treating it like I had one shot at this,
and look at the difference between those two shots.
All right, guys, that is the end of the video.
Hopefully you've learned a few things.
I wanted to leave you on a little bit of a message,
just something how I was feeling the last year
and why I kind of wanted to make this video.
I think it's really easy as photographers and videographers
or creatives to be complacent and, AKA "lazy."
Sometimes we just do what works.
So you go, "Oh, this is the photo that will get the likes.
"This is the video that will get the views.
"This is just enough to be okay,"
and I think it's important to try your best
not to be complacent, AKA lazy.
What excites me as a videographer
is when I get a really interesting shot,
or I'm making something that I'm really excited about
and I get fired up about,
and that's the difference between kind of Chris Hau
the last part of last year versus Chris Hau this year.
I don't know if you guys have noticed,
but we're really trying to put a lot of effort
into these videos right now and taking the extra step
and working as a team to make stuff that excites us,
and pushing the boundaries,
because I think when you are lazy or complacent
and you just do enough to get by in this industry,
it kinda takes away all the fun.
What I really want you to leave with,
aside from all the tidbits and the nuggets
and the comparisons in this video
is just, get that excitement again.
I've been starting to feel this past year,
I've been really enjoying creating content,
and by putting in the extra effort and seeing the results
of it, it's gonna light this fire inside of you
that will ultimately spread to other people,
get them really amped, and you're gonna create
a community around you of people that are stoked
and pushing the boundaries all the time.
So again, that key takeaway is maybe,
rather than being lazy on that next shot,
putting that extra effort will create this momentum
for you to just be a dope-ass creator.
If you guys enjoyed this video and you saw any value in it,
please press like.
That stuff means the world.
I don't know why I said it like Oprah.
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Leave a comment.
Do all the other things that people do down there.
Go have fun down there.
Now I'm really awkward.
I love you guys, bye, and thanks for always watching,
and maybe if you made it to this part, whoo!
Wait, I'll do an ASMR version.
Bravo. (Chris whispers)
I don't want to be lazy anymore,
but I still like cookies.
K, bye.
(chillhop music)
Don and Cheryl are trying to have a nice vacation,
and they're like,
"Why does that boy keep coming with a gimbal?
"I paid some good money for this show,
"and I wanna enjoy it, and his little short haircut
"keeps going by all the time, and I wanna see the girl
"come down from the top that's dressed like a fairy,
"but her butt's kinda showing.
"That's fun."
Let me start playing the music, 'cause it's stupid.
(Chris laughs)
(chillhop music)