Some of my favorite videos are:
Neighbors
In this short clip, Daniel structures the piece with a personal voice over. The content is very emotional (death, AIDS, and the way people interact with each other) and he chooses a very definite stylistic construction. He uses seemingly simple visual elements to tell this story - shots and sounds of the rains. He uses extreme close-ups of water droplets hitting the windowsill in a sad dance, the sound of the rain droplets, emotion evoking music, and color that seems painted on the frame (using soft focus). He holds each shot for a time, seemingly slow, but the pacing perfectly matched to the eloquence of the piece. He thought about leaving flowers but didn't, instead, he leaves this post.
Theory/Practice - an entry about the theory and practice of this videoblogger's craft.
His visual style is moving. He opens with the fog resting on the outside of a building. He uses music to get us from cut to cut. He tells the narrative (taking his sleeping baby to the botanical gardens), but says "I don't point the camera and explain...". Instead, he shows us visually (he calls it "tangentially").
He varies the framing - revealing both the landscape and the details of his world. He makes a simple shot - of a pencil scratching notes on paper - so beautiful. He explains his vlog stylistically: I add music, I play with the image. Does this stop being a vlog? This is my world - this is how I see it, how I think it - I vlog it for you...
