(upbeat music)
- Hey guys, welcome to TravelFeels
and welcome to TF Feedback.
Sorry I haven't done one of these for quite a while,
I don't even remember the last time I did one;
It's just been crazy busy with the baby and family stuff.
An update for you guys:
I got projectile vomited on for the first time.
Not once, but twice in one night.
But, I have been watching your guys' films
and I'm gonna try to fix this
and make some more Feedback Fridays
like this one right here.
And as always, if you want your film to be reviewed,
make sure to submit it on twitter - Twitter only!
Follow me on twitter, tag me in the post,
and use the #TFFeedback and I'll go through those.
And I'm gonna try to choose a few of them every week
and do some sort of Feedback Friday video.
Alright, so today, we're gonna talk about
the most important thing in filmmaking
and that's of course, storytelling.
Storytelling is a bittersweet pill, I find.
Storytelling is sweet because anybody can tell a story.
It doesn't matter where you are,
how much filmmaking skills you have,
it doesn't matter what equipment you have.
Everybody can tell a story; we do it all the time
when we're talking to each other.
We're all storytellers and there's stories all around us.
So, that's the sweet part of it.
The bitter part is that most of us
forget how to tell a story.
I don't know what happens, but as soon as we start
making videos, sometimes we just forget about the story
or we don't understand how to put a story into a video.
The number one reason why I get super bored watching
a video is because there's no story to it.
And story is hard sometimes because it's kind of vague.
For example, if you're doing a travel film,
how do you tell a story in a travel film?
What are you supposed to do?
But at the same time, we completely overthink story.
It's actually a lot simpler than we think.
All you really need to do is ask one question:
What was the video about?
If you can't answer that question,
either the story was too confusing
or there was no story and it was just visuals,
then you have a big problem.
I always say, "Story is king, but nobody is going to care"
"about your amazing story if your visuals suck."
Or more importantly, if your visuals don't match the story.
So, we absolutely need story - that's so key -
but we also need visuals and sound
that match that story or help build it.
So, yeah, story is king, but if your visuals suck,
then nobody's gonna watch your video.
Alright, so the first video we're going
to be talking about today is called, Stay With You.
San Francisco, California and it's by Josh Yi.
Super cool video, lots of really nice visuals.
I love the slow pushes and pulls.
It really just helps to hold my attention
and keep me interested in the video.
Some of these shots are probably my favorite shots
that I've seen in any of these videos
that I've been submitted.
For example, this one: I love the layers,
I love how it's moving.
And this one too with all the nice frames; it's really nice.
But when I watch this video and I ask myself,
"What is this video about?" I have no idea.
Maybe it's about San Francisco, but it's not really showing
San Francisco, it's just showing these two people.
And how do they get there? What are they doing?
Why do their outfits change? Is this multiple days?
What's going on here?
So, this is a prime example of really great visuals,
but where is the storytelling?
And that could've easily been fixed with some context,
maybe a voiceover or some text.
Or just telling more story through the visuals,
for example: showing the couple getting to the place
or the reason why they're there.
Right now, they just kind of seem to be hanging out
and not doing anything.
Or, if this video is about San Francisco,
then show San Francisco more
and show the characters interacting with San Francisco
instead of just the characters hanging out.
So, amazing visuals - I really liked this video -
but I do think a lot of the story is missing
and when I ask myself, "What is this video about?"
I can't actually answer that question.
But great job, just focus on storytelling now.
You have the visuals down, use those visuals to tell story.
Next, we have a video called, Summer in Joburg.
It's by the channel, LucasTrap,
and it's a really cool video talking about Johannesburg.
I think they're talking about Johannesburg.
Right? Joburg. Johannesburg. I think.
I actually watched this whole video
through pretty easily because of the voiceover.
There's really good storytelling going on.
The voiceover is talking about Johannesburg,
how it started out, and the reasons why
it's such a cool place - and it actually made me want
to visit Johannesburg, just listening to it.
But, I feel like the visuals didn't match
that story that was being told.
There's a lot of talk about adventure and youth
and I feel like the visuals and the music
were just not keeping up with that storyline.
Great example of this is when you're talking
about adventure and youth, and then you end up in a cafe
and I don't know about you, but for me,
a cafe doesn't signal adventure.
Unless you're Peter, it might.
But for me, adventure is not in a cafe.
So, for these parts, I would've gotten some friends together
and just hang out by a fire or go hiking or swimming
or whatever; something that's really just fun and exciting.
Even just hanging out in the city in some cool spots
and just getting laughter and that kind of stuff;
showing that youth, showing that adventure,
exploring around.
So, here we have a great example of really good storytelling
but the visuals just aren't matching that story.
Great video overall, really liked it.
Work on the visuals to match that storytelling.
And now, for the pick of the day.
It's called, We Love You, New Zealand by LevelSet Films.
So, this film isn't necessarily the kind of film
that I would make and it's not even the kind of film
that I would usually pick for the pick of the day,
but I think it does a really good job
of matching storytelling and visuals.
Just listen to the start:
- It's the environment! We need to keep it how it looks.
New Zealand is clearly special.
- Okay, that wasn't super exciting,
but it's actually really important.
It tells us a lot about our story.
Right away, we know that this is one of our characters
or the main character, we know we're in New Zealand,
and we know what the video is about.
It's about how special New Zealand is.
So, right away, the story is clear and then we continue
and those visuals just build on that story.
We're seeing all these cool spots
and we're seeing why New Zealand
is so special to these people.
Lots of really cool shots. The song just works really well.
And also, there's these cool, little,
mini stories within the big story.
So, for example, this camping one, you see the camping sign,
you see the van, you see them cooking food,
you see where they're sleeping
and that's all part of the bigger narrative
of why New Zealand is so special.
This is storytelling; there's a clear story
and the visuals match that story.
Notice how little talking was actually needed
to communicate the story and I bet this even happened
by accident, but they realized that this a really good way
to start the film and that it tells the story right away.
My only criticism is that I'm pretty sure
you saw some amazing landscapes and I didn't see
too much of that epic New Zealand landscape.
So, I feel like you could've shown some wides
instead of just showing those cool, detailed, tight shots.
But that's just nitpicking,
I think this was a really great film.
Thanks so much for submitting
and keep telling those stories!
So, there we have it: three great videos
that we can use to understand storytelling and visuals
a little bit better and how they work together.
So, remember: story is king, but nobody cares
about your amazing story if your visuals suck.
You need those visuals to prove your story.
And if you want feedback on your films,
make sure to submit it on twitter, nowhere else.
I'm not taking submissions on Facebook
or Instagram or anywhere else.
Those get ignored, but the twitter ones,
I'm going through them all.
Alright, guys, thanks so much for watching
this episode of TF Feedback.
I hope you learned something.
Guys, enjoy the filmmaking process
and go get some of those travel feels.
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