Casey Neistat
This is the hardest thing I've ever done.
Camera
Sunglasses
Can we get a photo Casey?
Got the drone!
Look at that!
This is the falls
This guy has changed the vlogging genre on YouTube forever
His style is so unique, it has been ripped off by a number of creators
and it's happened so much people started doing parodies of
vloggers copying Casey Neistat.
What is up guys? Today, we are super busy because we ran our Tabasco sauce at the house
So we're at the Safeway to come get some more
Got it
No, no no, no
Stop copying Casey Neistat
The" Casey Neistat styled" vlog became the new standard on YouTube
All of a sudden people were into riding Electric skateboards and using lo-fi hip-hop in their vlogs
But as soon as Casey announced he was ending the daily vlog
it's not quick bait. I really am ending the vlog
I've noticed those copycats have disappeared too
the end of the "Casey Neistat Styled" vlog seems to have exposed the unfortunate fate
of copycats on YouTube
Welcome to psych IRL. My name is Donna.
So a lot of people including myself were inspired by that "Casey Neistat Styled" vlog
and I really want to separate inspiration versus plain copying
So inspiration is okay and copying isn't
and I think a lot of that was exemplified
when the "Casey Neistat styled"
not Casey Neistat himself, but the style
and the demand for it kind of decreased.
like you don't see any more vloggers
popping up with his same style anymore
Now this could just be because of my lack of interest in those types of videos
So maybe the algorithm isn't showing me anymore.
So I'm gonna go ask someone and see if my theory is correct
Neistat has a particular style of vlogging that has been a contribution to upping the quality on YouTube
Prior to him most vlogs were shot on a point-and-shoot camera
It was convenient to take anywhere and discrete as to not draw attention to the Creator vlogging
Vlogging satisfied that voyeuristic tendency people feel when watching reality TV
But it felt more personal because the youtuber would talk directly to the camera
Neistat brought his background in filmmaking on to YouTube.
His videos were a reflection of his background
They have this feel of gritty guerrilla filmmaking in the streets of New York City
the quality increased because things were filmed on a DSLR
Many of his shots are set up
Last day in Sydney
And he uses time-lapses, transitions, and montages to move between scenes
Despite this, Neistat's vlogs still have that raw feel to them
many were inspired by this new style and implemented it into their own work
while others clearly copy and pasted his aesthetic
now that leads us to the question
What is the difference between plagiarism and inspiration?
We're gonna go interview Swoop right now. You may know her as a youtuber
who lost 600K subs all of a sudden because of the algorithm
but she has very Casey Neistat inspired shots
But she also does her own thing with her videos. They're like these narrative pieces with structure,
but she also has some vlogging elements to them
So uh let's go interview
Okay are you ready? I hope so
Okay did you notice that a lot of people who did the "Casey Neistat styled" vlog
A lof of the comments were like
You're copying Casey Neistat. You're copying Casey Neistat.
Yeah. What are your thoughts on those comments?
I mean a lot of times it's true
like let's be real
I didn't get a lot of that comments just because of you know, the different kind of way. I was approaching stuff
and
you know to be like
Say I'm copying Casey
would actually be a compliment to me but like it I never feel like I actually like get anywhere near there
There's a lot of people who are vlogging who are like I am going to get a Joby and put my camera
At do you know Casey's angles and I'm gonna have a little top down shot
you know and like, you are copying Casey
and there's something to be said for yes, like sincerest form of flattery blah blah blah
But there's also something to be said for you need to try to make it a little look more of your own
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but in entertainment it's just scummy
first and foremost imitation is human nature
Newborns have been found to mimic simple gestures from adults such as sticking out their tongue
Imitation allows us to pick up new skills by observing others.
It's an integral part of learning
In regards to Neistat copycats, a good number of them were young and doing just that
Learning.
By attempting to recreate a shot, you master it the more you do it,
but it can lead to several problems
Blatant plagiarism is an obvious no-no
you're profiting from someone's idea and claiming it's your own
This American youtubers videos for example were copied word for word and shot for shot
The only difference is, the copycats video is in French
This morning, I woke up, got dressed
Was feeling great about the day
about to go get some breakfast when?
Casey Neistats copycats aren't so blatant about what they're copying
the use of his techniques aka time lapses, set up shots, and transitions
don't qualify as copying in my book
after all he didn't invent those types of shots along with those shots
Along with those shots, copycats were mimicking his entire lifestyle
People were all of a sudden travelling via electric skateboard to cool places
Sometimes you would see an entire journey of someone trying to get a time-lapse when they didn't do that before
Everyone was talking about how cool their gear was
I mean at the end of the day, everything is a copy of something right like there's no new ideas
anymore. I think that's what they say. There's no new art form to be created. You know, if someone's like taking a
story, an event that Casey put in the vlog and they're like
recreating that same thing, that same story and they're using his same shot angles and
Then that's crossing the line
From New York City to Cape Town South Africa
There will be a slight delay for morning this evening and crawl to the X 3 3 8
Jesus Christ! Oh my god!
You F-er I knew you were going to do that!
So it almost felt like the aura of Casey was being cloned over and over again
You don't see any glimpse of personality in the copycat
It really does just feel like Casey Neistat #5,978
You also have to question like, is this really you?
is this really who you are and since you're not Casey like if you're not living your own experience
even if you're covering your vlog with like similar angles just because there's only so many angles you can do
as a filmmaker
But if you're just trying to copy his narrative or his story or his subject matter, then that's kind of ridiculous
Still have to bring in your own thoughts or your own
Whatever the concepts going to be. Watever the point is of your particular vlog
what differentiates inspiration from copying is that inspiration
concentrates on the self rather than on someone else
while copycats mold their lifestyle to become like Neistat, they inspired
the inspired use his technique to build their own narrative
for example
The classic POV door, keys, montage is a staple in Neistat's vlogs
Swoop uses this technique to serve as a transition to the next location
and that's all she really uses it as, a tool
There really is nothing else in this video that gives me Casey Neistat style vibes
You see many others using his technique as tools to fit their own style
So they're distinct personality still remains
They aren't trying to ride an electric skateboard or run a hundred miles per day
I'm coming from a place where you know my old channel
Was just a lot more
polished and like pristine and like great lighting and when I started over on Swoop
I wanted a completely just different break and like Casey was what I was watching a lot of at the time
it just felt like a more gritty connection to the viewer
and it was more like I'm very rough around the edges as a person and like
you know, I'm like all over the place sometimes and so it's a lot easier for me to just
Put that out there and I love that about Casey just like there's no
Apologizing, but I don't know
I just love that that rawness and the filmmaker approach that he has
which is what I wanted to do with this channel
The big thing for me is having the dichotomy of partly scripted
It's more like I have a specific scenario
like when I crashed my subscribers wedding, they're very planned events
that I would then build a story around and have like
You know, some scripted introducing the story and then the vlog parts is where I'm actually, you know
I'm actually crashing the wedding and like you can't plan what's gonna happen there.
So that's the part I'm vlogging. For me
It's like a weekly content versus like here's my life everyday and here's what happened in my life today
Let's look at another element in Neistat's vlog, the time-lapse.
copying would be taking that element and placing it in your video
just because Casey does it
Inspiration would be using this technique to further your own original idea
The result of copying during a trend is short term growth since the viewers want more of that content
But that doesn't last
those who tried to replicate Casey's lifestyle as best they could
have lost the viewers attention
For one, they can't maintain that lifestyle
and secondly, too many people were doing the same thing
For Casey, this lifestyle is easy to maintain because it's his
For others, its impossible
As time progressed and Casey stopped his daily vlog,
there did seem to be a decrease in interest for other "Casey Neistat styled" vlogs
Sure the algorithm could be a factor
But I think the platform became too oversaturated with these look-alikes
This doesn't only apply to Casey Neistat styled vlogs either
It's happened with many other genres that were trending, challenge videos, quirky teens sit-down videos, skits, etc.
Your growth for following a trend won't last long with over saturation. The viewer will only choose creators
they are most interested in
and the unfortunate reality of copying someone is that you will always play second to the original
So instead of trying to copy a certain style,
take elements that inspire you and use them to bolster your own style
your own personality
So you can copy a style. You can copy an aesthetic
But ripoff artist can never emulate the heart. The heart behind telling a great story
The soul behind something that actually moves or affects people in an emotional way
copycats
ripoff artists. keep original people on their toes
because what it means is, if you want to stay original you need to stay way
Way ahead of the curve
You've got to stay so far out there that the rip-off artists are just chasing you down
and they will never actually catch up
All right, so what do you think is the difference between
copying and inspiration
because it does seem like some sort of gray area. Can you really copy a lifestyle?
Well, we did a video on Swoop's channel and I did a little bit of acting and you know what?
I was in the play in the fourth and fifth grade
so, you know this acting is gonna be super stellar
No but for real, Swoop is one of the most original content creators right now out there
She's taking these
Casey Neistat techniques and just using it to
bolster her own personality. So it's really cool. And again, yeah, we did a video on her channel.
You want to see some great acting? go see it right now!
That's the end of the video. I'll see you guys next time. Stay psyched!