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Investigation 5/17: Vlogging

Vlogging is a relatively new style of filmmaking that shows the events of a story from the point of view of one person or a small group of people. Vlogs typically range in quality and complexity, with some having exceptional production quality and others being a simple as someone speaking to their phone camera. While I have no personal interest in creating a vlogs, I wanted to understand what its like to tell a story through a vlog and what composes a good vlog.

First Person Filmmaking

Vlogs are meant to tell a story through the point of view of the filmmaker. Most stories are usually told through the perspective of an outsider looking in. Star Wars is an example of this, with the audience watching the events of the story unfold in front of them. Vlogs however, tell their stories exclusively from what the creator experiences. The audience only gets to see what the filmmaker sees. This creates a more personal story told only through the genuine events seen by the filmmaker. While the story of a vlog is presented in a first person perspective, the production of a vlog can also be described as first person. Unlike major productions, vlogs are usually only filmed from the camera that is used by the filmmaker. This means that the entire production of the vlog relies solely on the filmmaker. The filmmaker is the one who decides what to film, what to say, and how to present the finished story. Both of these qualities, in my opinion, seem to describe vlogging as being first person filmmaking.

 Production Quality

With one person being the one to create the entire vlog, the production quality usually doesn't compare to the quality of real feature length films. However, the range of quality that your vlog can be is very large. A vlog can be as simple as speaking to the camera about the events of your day. This style of vlogs was very common years ago when vlogging first became popular. An example of this can be seen in the embedded video by youtuber StephenVlog, in which he talks to the camera and shows what happens during his day. The other end of the production spectrum can be seen within the vlogs of youtuber Casey Neistat. Casey works to make every single vlog that he makes a miniature movie. He makes use of various cinematic techniques, B-roll, and drones to tell the story of his day in the most visually appealing way he can. Both examples by Stephen and Casey show how much or how little production value you can decide to put into your vlog.

Thoughts On Vlogging

As I previously stated, I don't have very much interest in creating a vlog. I personally don't believe that I have any stories that I would like to share through the format. However, after analyzing what goes into creating a vlog, I do now know what to do should I find a story or event that I would want to share. I would likely try to present that event in such a way that it seems like the audience is with me as the event happens. As I said, vlogging is first person filmmaking and making a vlog seem personal is what I feel is the best thing caused by vlogs.
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