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Video Is Absolutely Boring
- Thread starter OzRay
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- olympus om-d e-m1
Plenty of very interesting videos on Youtube that are not technically perfect or even excellent but they are very interesting and good enough to watch. Made by what I would call your average Joe that has more interest in their subject than in video production per-se.
The mistake you make is precisely the part I have highlighted. No, lets not look at 'professionals'. Look at your average Joe and his youtube video instead. If the subject is interesting and the presenter has enthusiasm and can convey their story effectively, then the job's good one with only slight editing.
Technical perfection is entirely optional and mostly fruitless and time wasting unless being paid for it.
shinndigg
Senior Member
Ray, you're starting to sound an awful lot le a certain curmudgeon that used to contribute to forum 1022! Has a particular weekly thread wroth his name attached;-)
larsbc
Forum Pro
[snip]
Additionally, on the point of digging up old digital photos, Facebook already reminds people of photos they captured years ago. And Google Photos will automatically add keywords to photos to make it easier to search by subject. But anyone who cares about their photos should be keywording them anyways. IMO the people who will lose photos are the casual shooters who leave everything on their phones or on a single drive. A discussion of this nature really depends on who you're talking about; there are many ways to safeguard your photos and videos to make them available to the next generation. The question is whether the photographer is up to the task.
The other consideration is that for anyone who knows what they're doing and actually cares about their photos, they'll have multiple perfect copies in multiple locations. So yeah, I think my digital photos have a better chance of being intact near the end of my life than the photos my Dad took over his lifetime.
Storage keeps getting denser and cheaper. I have absolutely no problem storing my videos (both locally and in the cloud). I keep only the videos I really want (I edit heavily) and cull the rest. If 8K video ends up consuming so much space that it becomes a problem (ie: price per GB doesn't keep up with the move to bigger video files) then people will simply stick to lower resolution video. It's weird to suggest that people are going to shoot in 8K and then compress down to 480p or worse later on for storage.
Additionally, on the point of digging up old digital photos, Facebook already reminds people of photos they captured years ago. And Google Photos will automatically add keywords to photos to make it easier to search by subject. But anyone who cares about their photos should be keywording them anyways. IMO the people who will lose photos are the casual shooters who leave everything on their phones or on a single drive. A discussion of this nature really depends on who you're talking about; there are many ways to safeguard your photos and videos to make them available to the next generation. The question is whether the photographer is up to the task.
_vlad
Senior Member
Video totally boring...
I am pretty sure that old painters of the past would have said the same about photography compared to painting...
Maybe that is the reason why there are so many technically perfect photos absolutely Sharp with no noise and with gorgeous colors but otherwise totally boring with no idea / vision what to show.
I am pretty sure that old painters of the past would have said the same about photography compared to painting...
Maybe that is the reason why there are so many technically perfect photos absolutely Sharp with no noise and with gorgeous colors but otherwise totally boring with no idea / vision what to show.
Bhima78
Senior Member
While there are some absolutely fantastic videographers that make stunning timelapse and whatever videos of the natural world, I find all of them utterly boring. I kind of realised this just now when I started to watch the video presented here: http://www.redsharknews.com/production/item/3860-shooting-at-night-with-the-sony-a7s .
After 200 hours and a month of shooting, and who knows how many hours in post-production, I could only stand it for about a minute and then went elsewhere. Now I'll watch hours of Tim Allen in Last Man Standing (there's a hint there), as an example, but all these Vimeo and other videos, to me, become excruciatingly painful within minutes.
So now the E-M1 MkII will be capable of 4K video so that even more fantastic timelapse videos and similar, of the natural world, can be inflicted on an unsuspecting audience. That said, there's a little voice at the back of my head that tells me some may disagree.
zuikowesty
Senior Member
I really cherish the stills I have taken of my family that have captured a moment, and which take me back to that moment, yet also say something about the subject to even those who do not know them. However, I also value greatly the video I took of our daughter and son, with a new Hi8 camera, to the extent that I have digitized all 20 hours of it, and ensured that it will still be around when I am old. Maybe then I will find some time to finish editing it, but if not I will still enjoy watching some of it every now and then.
You are right; stills are much more accessible in that they can be framed for regular viewing. But in the absence of good stills, or in addition to, videos can enrich the experience with motion and audio, where family snapshots don't do justice. I do still occasionally capture moments on video, for this reason. But I am under no illusion that the video will become art, whereas I do try to make art with stills, and sometimes even succeed.
W
windriver
Guest
While there are some absolutely fantastic videographers that make stunning timelapse and whatever videos of the natural world, I find all of them utterly boring. I kind of realised this just now when I started to watch the video presented here: http://www.redsharknews.com/production/item/3860-shooting-at-night-with-the-sony-a7s .
After 200 hours and a month of shooting, and who knows how many hours in post-production, I could only stand it for about a minute and then went elsewhere. Now I'll watch hours of Tim Allen in Last Man Standing (there's a hint there), as an example, but all these Vimeo and other videos, to me, become excruciatingly painful within minutes.
So now the E-M1 MkII will be capable of 4K video so that even more fantastic timelapse videos and similar, of the natural world, can be inflicted on an unsuspecting audience. That said, there's a little voice at the back of my head that tells me some may disagree.
Of course there are people that are mesmerised by these sorts of videos, and yes, they do bore me after seeing so many of them presented on photography sites.I guess there are lots people who do not share this view, and I'm also guessing your aim with this post is to get them fired up and have them argue with you.
So, an argument with Ray over something that bores him
The vast majority of these videos have no story behind them other than just showing 'nice' scenes and trying to be artistic.
I find YouTube videos taken by rank amateurs, or with dash cams, more interesting than these artsy videos. At least with the former there is generally a story that you can relate to.
These sorts of video are completely different, like those done by David Attenborough. They have a story line, they provides themes and subjects that you can relate to.
It's these 'artsy' videos that pop up all the time on photo sites which, while impressive, are becoming 'meh'.
Yes, you are right, technical perfection is not important. All the same with photos. That is why 4K for consumers feels stupid to me.
However, you need "good enough" in more departments not to ruin your video. Like with pictures, if your subject is great, the technical details will be a lot less important.
Take a youtube video on a subject you are not really interested in: you will be a lot less tolerant to the technical/artistic flaws (e.g. sound).
On the other hand a great video will manage to interest a much larger audience, even with an obscure topic.
However, you need "good enough" in more departments not to ruin your video. Like with pictures, if your subject is great, the technical details will be a lot less important.
Take a youtube video on a subject you are not really interested in: you will be a lot less tolerant to the technical/artistic flaws (e.g. sound).
On the other hand a great video will manage to interest a much larger audience, even with an obscure topic.
Unfortunately there seem to be far too many of them lately on photography sites.
Not always. Often written guides, with illustrations if necessary, are far better as you can go though them at your own pace, easily go backwards and forwards, and print off pages if necessary.
Instructional videos can be very badly done, I see this time and time again when I'm looking for a solution to something on Google and come across YouTube guides that fail dismally.
For viewing the operation of some tool or device, then video is very useful.
Of course there are, but I was really talking about these 'artsy' videos that keep popping up everywhere lately.
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Thoughts, Musings, Ideas and Images from South Gippsland
http://australianimage.com.au/wordpress/
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Tommi K1
Guest
Sorry, Apple has "Continuity" while Microsoft has "Continuum" that allows to make a phone as desktop with a dock.If I knew what it was I'd probably love it.Might even love it already without even realising it.
Apple Continuity:
Have a look at a random set of videos produced by DigitalRevTV and their viewing figures. Technically most are pretty amateur, but that is their style. After a year or so most of their prodigious output are at over half a million views and their most popular videos are at between 1 million and 5 million views. Anyone can shoot that style of video in at least as good a quality with almost any modern video-capable camera or even phone. It's the content and editing that makes or breaks the video, not the technical merit of the shooting or camera used. Would they gain another million viewers per video if they held the camera steadily, used sliders, shot in 4K using a broadcast video camera and got the focus spot-on without hunting always? I believe not.
You keep trying to oppose to what I say, but I don't think we really disagree.
Again I never said that you needed to be perfect in any departement. I never said that the technical perfection was important and I stressed twice that research for pure IQ like 4K was nonsense.
Your example is the perfect example of why video is hard. Can the random dude reproduce a digital rev tv show ? no. He can get the same gear and even better IQ but
- He won't have Kai's presence and charisma in front of the camera
- He won't have the time do due multiple takes if something goes wrong
- He won't have lok's ability to manual focus to track Kai in the streets
-He won't have the knowledge or time to mix all the audio, video, and edit at the right time to keep the video entertaining
-He won't have the bloody producer's money to pay for the expenses and other assistants.
etc. etc. etc.
Now the fun thing is there are some videos without Kai and just with Lok and they already feel a lot more boring and don't get nearly as much views.
I also know bike review videos with great characters and on some videos, they messed up the sound and lighting: the result is still watchable, but has a lot less sucess than their well produced videos.
So my point was : "For video it is also a lot harder to find the knowledge know how and gear, for composition, storytelling, editing, sound recording/processing, acting talent etc. all at the same time."
In the end I don't really understand what is your point, or why it is fundamentally different than what I said.
While there are some absolutely fantastic videographers that make stunning timelapse and whatever videos of the natural world, I find all of them utterly boring. I kind of realised this just now when I started to watch the video presented here: http://www.redsharknews.com/production/item/3860-shooting-at-night-with-the-sony-a7s .
After 200 hours and a month of shooting, and who knows how many hours in post-production, I could only stand it for about a minute and then went elsewhere. Now I'll watch hours of Tim Allen in Last Man Standing (there's a hint there), as an example, but all these Vimeo and other videos, to me, become excruciatingly painful within minutes.
So now the E-M1 MkII will be capable of 4K video so that even more fantastic timelapse videos and similar, of the natural world, can be inflicted on an unsuspecting audience. That said, there's a little voice at the back of my head that tells me some may disagree.
And the funny thing is, every person that I know that shoots video uses an iPhone or an iPad. Additionally, every person that I see shooting stills/video (hard to tell which), unless they are a news photographer, uses an iPhone or iPad (or maybe an Android phone). This:
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Thoughts, Musings, Ideas and Images from South Gippsland
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Thoughts, Musings, Ideas and Images from South Gippsland
But they do - buy because of the video capability not because of the still image dream that actually promotes them.I just wish they had the quality 50 years ago that they have today! To look back at family movies and see parents long dead, and see myself as a kid is precious!
Therefore: this is how it works in reality and is exactly right - no pretensions to be a movie producer - capture the family as and how it was. Maybe someone will get pleasure from them in 20 or more years - if the best clips fom the 2,000 available can still be found. Maybe even someone will become famous and the clips will help put together a visual of their life (with proper editing of course).
But these are all precious private moments and there is nothing more boring to others than watching the private life of others who they don't know.
The true revealed reason why people actually buy these things.
However they will not buy them unless they have been reviewed comprehensively, dissected over whether their sensor has become more powerful and that unaffordable highly capable lenses are made for them. Wow at test images, imagine themselves as photographic stars who will wow an international audience with their skills.
Buy the greatest and discuss how it could be even greater ....
... and then go take those marvellous family records using this very capable gear in a very basic sort of way.
That is what people are like they tend to buy the dream and live the reality.
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