Everyone’s Doing Video

I was walking along Queen St. in downtown Toronto yesterday afternoon and came across a film crew doing “streeters” for TV or the Web, which usually involve a pretty young girl asking people passing by what they think about something fairly simple (e.g. Are people in Toronto still polite? How do you deal with summer heat?). It used to be that seeing a film crew was a big deal because there weren’t that many around. Like moths to light (or Cinderella to the spindle), you would find yourself mysteriously attracted to the “spectacle” even if was just some guy with good hair talking about weather. After all, this was TV happening right in front of you.

Today, everyone’s doing TV or online video. With the barriers to entry lower than ever (lower-cost cameras; inexpensive, easy to use editing software, and cheap bandwidth), it’s easier than ever to “do TV”. Suddenly, the guy who interested in doing TV can do it and, if they’re lucky like Ze Frank or Andrew Barron, become quasi-famous. Last week at the mesh conference, i watched 1938media’s Loren Feldman walk around shooting video using a really small Casio camera with a 2GB memory card. In no time at all, he was putting 60 second to three-minute interview clips on the Web.

What I did learn was Loren was although making TV is easier and cheaper than ever, it’s still a challenge to be able to do something in front of the camera that’s worth watching. What Feldman and Ze Frank have is “presence”, although their styles couldn’t be more different. Feldman, an ex-actor, is clearly comfortable in front of the camera and has a unique and engaging view of the world. It works. That’s why he can attract an audience.. The way I see it, the biggest challenge facing the video revolution is not the making of video but how consumers find the good stuff amid a sea of choice.

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