More visual storytelling examples

A little while ago, I was looking for tastefully created video with a certain look and feel (see previous post here). I think I found a few more examples that I’d like to share, and i’ll try to keep adding more as I see them.

This one below by Vertical Online hits just the right tone of music, colour grading and multi cam framing that make we just want to hit repeat.

In searching for new inspiration I’ve found myself crushing hard for this crew called Stillmotion, a group of photographers and filmakers out of Canada that are just killing it with their fluid, dynamic movies. 

This last one by Stilmotion is so tasteful it hurts. I went to see this exhibit at the Shedd Aquarium on just this clip alone.

One more example. It pretty obvious that I prefer graded footage to ungraded, so it’s no wonder I’m drawn to warm or ‘crossprocessed film’ looks when I come across videos online. Clearly, almost all the video I see is shot on digital rigs and these filmic looks are all a conceit, but I’m still a sucker for them regardless. In this last example I’d like to highlight the use of motion at different apparent speeds. The ultra slow-mo parts are actually derived from footage shot at 60 frames per second then frame blended to look more like 1000 fps. Apparently Twixtor is the After Effects plug-in of choice for this. Fad? Yes for sure, but done tastefully, it can really make for some arresting images.

Ok… I keep trying to wrap up this post but remember I had one more to add! 

This last one is an interview of a product manager at Adobe shot by Shane Hurlbut. Yawn. But what I really enjoyed about this video was the use of the rich environmental backgrounds and the use of two cameras throughout. Fairly plain jane footage, shot well. Unfortuately, this can’t be embedded like the others but can be seen here.

And… this brings me to these two personal videos I shot and edited that I’d like to share. Neither are particularly rich in terms of visual flair (it’s just grabbed footage of my baby on two different mornings) but it does show the power of picking a soundtrack that can set the pace and tone for the entire video. 

The final video also featured the use of a small hand operated dolly/slider via a miniature toy Red Wagon. If you look very carefully at the slider shots, you can see a very subtle rumble in the video as the camera rolls over on it’s tiny plastic wheels.

Comments

[Simon King]

Great post, thanks for sharing these. I love the effect on the slow motion bike, though it almost goes too slow for me at times -- more like it froze into a still frame. I definitely need to check out that Shedd Aquarium exhibit when I get back in Chicago though.

[Heart | Car Crash Attorney]

That baby was so cute, I think she has a look-a-like in some movies, I just can't figure it out though, thanks for the post.

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Heart | Car Crash Attorney