OK folks… All of you passionate about shooting your own videos, creating your own movies, and getting the most from the experience, settle in for a moment. This post is long, but by the end I think you may view your practice of storytelling a little differently.
Storytelling is in for a change. Truth be told, storytelling never stops changing.
When we create personal videos and home movies we are using the same basic tools used to create every movie, every television show, and every viral video out there. The nuances and details of the craft evolve, but the camera is still the same basic concept that Lincoln patented with the zoopraxiscope in 1867.
A big part of my life is creating television programs. I am again honored to be nominated for an Emmy award, this time for my work on the PBS series BizKid$. I mention this because I try to bring the same sensibilities used to make network programs to the fun task of creating personal videos.
People believe there is a line between personal and professional video. There may be a technical line. But for storytelling, there is really no line to cross; it was blurred out long ago when home videos became fodder for primetime television. So what we talk about here, in this blog, are the same issues my peers face every day when making TV. Granted the stakes feel a little bit higher on a crowded set, but there is no less anxiety shooting your kid’s school play than there is shooting a documentary in a foreign land. That is as long as no one is shooting real bullets at you.
But social media is changing storytelling once again.
One constant is that with every technological leap comes a corresponding leap in how we tell stories. As professional producers and directors we spend less time as content creators. We are gravitating to the role of content aggregators.
For 30 years people have paid me for my point of view. That is the interesting part of working in media. It is a cool job because people see value in my point of view. What I notice, what I learn, what I see and how I present that information is of value to the larger community. My peers and I are blessed to make our living creating stories. And we are intimately involved with the entire process. The craft is as much about research, interviews, shooting, writing as it is about seeing the completed work on the screen. But all that is changing.
Much of the content is now being created by you, the Average Joe, or Jane, or Jens, or Janouk. The push in storytelling is moving towards personal stories created by you.
Consequently, and much to the consternation of my peers, the pros are gravitating to the role of content aggregators rather than creators. We are often repurposing other’s content. We are creating channels. We are telling our stories using the work of others. It is a big shift.
Perhaps like Twitter, where the potential is not in the volume of data but with the sifting of data, the viewers will tire of a sandstorm of content and gravitate to better content filtering tools. Perhaps the “value add” will once again be about relying on another to craft a new point of view from the 1 million videos that are a hundred miles wide and one inch deep.
For producers and directors we may eventually reemerge as storytellers in a new medium… one where we filter and reassemble content for new meaning. We will learn to rely on others to gather most of the content and we will create new meaning by synthesizing the sources into deeper stories.
We can use these new tools to create “Social Media”, because after all, all media is social. What differentiates this new storytelling from traditional television and computer interaction is the manner in which we present the information. This interaction results in the creation of shared meaning.
This next paragraph is a bit chewy, so bear with me as I wander over to a rather academic definition. It is the Grad School lecturer in me wanting to frame this idea accurately.
Social media are online communications in which individuals shift fluidly and flexibly between the role of audience and author. To do this, they use social software that enables anyone, without knowledge of coding, to post, comment on, share or mash up content. Often, users will form communities around shared interests. Users “engage” in this information media by sharing stories, experiences, advice, understanding, reactions and life’s daily moments. The tools that have been created for this “wisdom of the crowds” connect and aggregate this information so it can be presented in a new light. Social Media is all about the sum of the parts.
What does this all mean for video and film storytelling? I am not really sure.
For now I think it means we have some great tools available to us for telling our personal stories. There is no reason any more to shoot something and put it in a box in your closet. There are wonderful ways to craft your story, to put it on the web, to distribute to your friends, and maybe, just maybe, distribute it to the world.
Sure my co-workers will grouse about the competition, and we will worry about our future, but that shouldn’t (and isn’t going to) stop you. You are riding the swell of the next really significant technological wave. Get ready for a really wild ride. You could be the next Louis Lumiere. It should be fun.
Hmmm. This essay turned out a little longer than I planned. If you made it this far down the page and agree or disagree please let me know.
