Bookmark Vlog Blog
Jul
23
KateModern is Dead - Or Let’s Hope So
Filed Under What is a Vlog?, Money & Marketing, Vloggers & Vlogs | Comments Off
Have faux video blogs already worn out their welcome? The British version of Lonelygirl15 (same creators) is something called KateModern over at Bebo (and other places). While it had some major press before its launch on July 16, a quick peek at “Kate’s” page shows that things might not be so promising.
Kate is young and artsy and appropriately angst-ridden. While known as “KateModern,” her Bebo name is actually AbstractHeart. KateModern seems to be a play on the name of the Tate Gallery’s museum of modern art – Tate Modern.
The idea for Kate was to give Lonelygirl a British counterpart, a cousin of sorts, and one day possibly a whole international family.
As co-creator Miles Beckett says, “Our audience has embraced (Lonelygirl15) so emphatically, we realized that other characters could live in other locations around the world.”
But is it working? And more importantly, does the concept itself, including Lonelygirl15, really work?
A week into the faux vlog and Kate has a little over 7,000 views on her profile at Bebo. Not too shabby if Kate were really Kate, but of course Kate isn’t Kate. Kate is a company-created character with major press pieces done on her before her launch.
The idea for KateModern was to admit up front that she wasn’t real, and to engage the audience with more “participatory” bits such as puzzles and mysteries to solve.
The big hope for Kate was that she could successfully integrate product placement into all of it.
Bebo’s Joanna Shields explains:
“At every stage, a user is involved with the story, whether blogging, uploading photos or simply watching the latest episode. There will also be the chance to be involved with the brands that take part. I’m not talking about traditional product placement, but the integration of brands such as Gillette, Pantene, Microsoft’s Windows Live, Disney and Orange into the plot, in a way that gives users a reason not only to remember the brand, but to create a long-term relationship with it.”
As mentioned earlier, however, perhaps it isn’t going so well. For all our sakes, that may actually be a good thing.
Why would we want a fake person invading what is supposed to be a “real” space? Characters from TV, books, movies, etc. are one thing, but building a cardboard user and setting them loose in our midst in order to “product place” seems like quite another. It’s not as if everyone is acting under the guise of an alter ego; it’s only Kate. And if only Kate gets to play, what fun is that?
Personally, I never really understood how Lonelygirl15 managed to keep at least something of an audience after she was outed. And while KateModern may be more honest about who she really is, or actually, who she really isn’t, the attempt to blur the line into the real-life vlog world still seems too contrived.
If the creators of KateModern want to give us a fictional character of a young artist as she deals with all the things such a girl would deal with, that’s fine, and possibly even creative, engaging, stimulating, and valuable. But when you want us to pretend that Kate is actually a real life human being 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, that almost seems a little like inviting us into psychosis.
Ever hear of those old women who think the people on soap operas are actually real? This is what they now seem to be encouraging.
Perhaps I hyperbolize, but I wish the creators would consider this:
If I were to write “Kate” a comment on her blog, as someone who isn’t psychotic (at least not clinically pronounced so), I wouldn’t think I was actually writing to a fresh-faced, artsy blonde girl with a penchant for pigeons and hyperactive arm-flailing. Instead, I would suspect I was writing to some 40-year-old marketer named Ian with a five o’clock shadow and the smell of tequila in his pores.
Do you really want me to think otherwise? For my own sanity?
Look, I stopped writing Santa Claus when the jig was up with him, and he was even still bringing me presents. Why in the world would I write Ian … I mean Kate? Is there anything she could put in my stocking?
This line of thinking got me to wondering whether others actually know that Kate isn’t real. While it was admitted in the press beforehand, her actual page doesn’t seem to make any mention of it.
Searching around about Kate on Bebo, I also came across a fairly dead “katemodernfans” page. I clicked on a picture and found one comment:
“Sally Walker said… 5 days ago
i absolutly dig this chick- she is a groovy spirited soul sister”
Now, because I know that Kate isn’t real, I don’t believe a word of it. I’m sorry, I don’t. Who IS this Sally Walker? I clicked on her name to find out (as if I could), but Bebo wanted me to register. Sorry again, Bebo.
I guess the bad spelling, lack of commas, and lowercase “i” was meant to engender verisimilitude, but because I know that Kate isn’t Kate, it does just the opposite. It makes me think everything associated with this “groovy spirited soul sister” is a sham. In fact, the more I interact with Kate, I start to think that not only is she a sham, I start to think of her as spam.
Now, does “Gillette, Pantene, Microsoft’s Windows Live, Disney and Orange” really want to create those types of associations?
The spam associations become even more pronounced on her “blog.” One post is titled “Final Cut” (as in the video editing program).
Ian … I mean Kate says:
“I’m actually very good with Final Cut but I’ve been messing about with video settings all weekend trying to figure out how to make this art stuff look perfect.”
Someone responds:
“Just thank your lucky stars you’re using Final Cut and not Avid…that editing program is ridiculous. We might only use it out here in the States though… ???”
Another says:
“Hi Kate. Final Cut Pro? Or Final Cut Express?”
Sorry, sorry, sorry. I don’t believe ONE word of it. Maybe these ARE real people. Maybe they’re just being duped. And if that’s the case, then I’m still sorry, just a different kind of sorry.
It should be noted here that I am firmly for vlogs making money. And the fact that large corporations like Gillette and Disney are willing to move some money into this space is also an encouraging sign for vloggers.
However, I would urge some thought and RESPECT be put into these decisions. When your first move is to dupe us (as in the Lonelygirl15 series), I’m not sure why you would expect us to trust you in any way, or even have anything to do with you.
Product placement may indeed one day have a place in vlogs – in real vlogs, that is, with real people. While that may not be ideal, advertising is a fact of life. Many vloggers want to make money, and why not? They put a lot of time and work into what they do. The more they can live off their vlogs, the better they can make them.
But in an appeal to the advertisers and creators who would venture into this area, I would just say: Please, please, please don’t treat us like idiots. It’s bad for all of us. You included.
While it’s too early to declare Kate dead, I can freely admit to wishing for her death — hers and all her international cousins’. And, you see, as Kate isn’t real, it doesn’t really make me psychotic to hold out such hope. Or does it? … What do you think, Ian?
LINKS:
Kate’s section on the Lonelygirl15 site (looks like it will be katemodern.tv but it resolves here for now)
Groovy spirited soul sister comment
Kate’s Blog Post about Final Cut
Jul
2
The Elements of a Successful Vlog (Video Blog): Dancing Around the World Video
Filed Under What is a Vlog?, Vloggers & Vlogs | Comments Off
It seems that not only professional dancers or “stars” get famous for dancing. Your average Joe can too - or make that your average Matt. Matt Harding got so famous for his, well, very average to (as he says) bad dancing, that a chewing gum company (yes, chewing gum) is now paying for his way around the world. Sound like a load? Well, it’s not.
Matt was on a round the world trip when a friend gave him the idea that he should video himself dancing in all the places he went to. And so he did. The result was a video montage of Matt doing his little, happy traveler’s dance for about five seconds a piece in thirty-six of some of the most famous places on Earth.
Why This Vlog is Successful
But here’s the thing - although the idea for this video is “simple,” what makes it viral is that it’s a perfect mixture of a number of different elements coming together in just the right way. It’s kind of perfectly quirky. It’s upbeat. It’s interesting. It’s entertaining. And, in it’s own way, it’s even “deep.” It uses the strength of what video has to offer (as opposed to just text or just audio).
There seem to be five different elements that come together just right to make it what it is:
1. The dance itself (and, by extension, the dancer)
2. The music
3. The exoticism of the places
4. The number of different places
5. The “suspense” and “surprise” of what will come next
1. The dance itself is, well, a little goofy. But that’s what makes it perfect. It isn’t some great, choreographed, well-rehearsed performance. It’s funny. It’s joyful. It’s FUN. It’s the dance of a goofball being a goofball. It’s a real-life, average person. It’s the heart and soul of a good vlog.
2. The music - a song called “Sweet Lullaby” by Deep Forest, Eric Mouquet, and Michel Sanchez (Published by EMI Music, Sony ATV) - is also the perfect choice. It’s also upbeat, but it’s also suitably mystical and even haunting. It has a very “world music” vibe to it, and of course that makes it just the right choice for all the different exotic locations. Paired with the quirky dance, it’s also FUN. It doesn’t come off as too serious or demanding. And yet it could be those things in its own way.
3. The exoticism of the places is, first and foremost, simply interesting. To see one of them would be interesting. To see more than one starts to add a dimension of something global going on. To set these exotic places one after another in juxtaposition with each other, the quirky dance, and the haunting, yet upbeat music, it shoots the whole experience into another realm.
4. The number of different places also seems to add to the power of the clip. There are thirty six in all (you’ll find a complete list below, however you may want to watch the video first - read the next point for the reason why). We see Matt dancing his quirky little dance all over the world. The video itself runs 3:42. Take out the credits, and you get about 3:30 of actual dancing around the world. Most places get in the neighborhood of five to six seconds of air time - just enough time to take the local atmosphere in, and then it’s on to another completely different spot before you have time to get bored.
5. The last element of the video that seems to help make it work is that it has its own form of suspense and surprise to it. By about the third location, you find yourself wondering what will come next. To increase this curiosity, there is no geographical “logic” to help you guess. In other words, he doesn’t simply move around the globe in the way a traveler might - going from the U.S., down into Mexico, into Central America, then to South America, etc. You have no idea if the next little scene is coming from a country next door or across the world.
So, in short, the video was able to incorporate a lot of different elements that took advantage of the strength of video, the strength of a vlog.
1. It had a “real-life” person.
2. It incorporated and meshed nice music for mood.
3. It SHOWED us things (the exotic locales). Video should “show,” after all.
4. It gave us a lot (36 locations).
5. And it kept it interesting and moving by providing a type of suspense and surprise about how it presented its content.
In the end, it adds up to pure entertainment - and even more.
VLOG FACTS
The places in the video and the order in which they appear:
1. Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
2. Petra, Jordan
3. Machu Piccu, Peru
4. Venice, Italy
5. Tokyo, Japan
6. Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
7. Brisbane, Australia
8. Luang Prabang, Laos
9. Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
10. Area 51, Nevada
11. Tikal, Guatemala
12. Half Moon Caye, Belize
13. Sossusvlei, Namibia
14. Routeburn Valley, New Zealand
15. Monument Valley, Arizona
16. South Shetland Islands
17. Chuuk, Micronesia
18. London, England
19. Very Large Array, New Mexico
20. Abu Simbel, Egypt
21. Easter Island, Chile
22. Haute-Picardie, France
23. Mutianyu, China
24. New York, New York
25. Ephesus, Turkey
26. Guam
27. Mokolodi, Botswana
28. Berlin, Germany
29. Sydney, Australia
30. Dubai, United Arab Emirates
31. Rock Islands, Palau
32. Mulindi, Rwanda
33. Neko Harbor, Antarctica
34. Kjeragbolten, Norway
35. San Francisco, California
36. Seattle, Washington
Vlogger: Matt Harding - See his blog
Original Song “Sweet Lullaby” by Deep Forest, Eric Mouquet, and Michel Sanchez (Published by EMI Music, Sony ATV)
3:42 in total, about 3:30 of actual dancing
Apr
15
It’s hard to say if the following video is a vlog or not (back to that old question: What is a vlog?). It’s a video on a blog, but does that make it a vlog? In reality, it’s a homemade commercial for Nike produced by marketing blogger Joseph Jaffe featuring Tiger Woods and a dramatic chip shot on the 16th hole of the Masters. But in addition to being a video on a blog (making it something of a vlog), it has other characteristics that vlogs will no doubt come to be known for in the days to come - namely, it beat mainstream Corporate America to the punch (in this case, Nike). The shot took place on Sunday afternoon. Jaffe created the commercial (a 60 second and a 30 second version) in thirty minutes and had uploaded it to his blog by Sunday night.
Now, the set up: Tiger Woods, needing a perfect shot on the 16th hole, chips toward the flag from just off the green. The ball, which is going in the wrong direction, takes what seems to be an improbable, impossible, 90 degree turn toward the hole. It rolls and rolls and rolls, weaving too far right, then weaving back to the left again until it looks as if it’s indeed on line for the hole. As it crawls closer and closer, the camera zooms in tighter and tighter. The only question left is: Will it have enough oomph left to actually make it to the cup? After a heart-breaking last push, it finally makes it to the lip; but perched there on the edge, it stops. The crowd, having begun a collective, crescendoing gasp of hope five feet earlier, deflates instantly with an even louder moan of disappointment. Nike’s black swoosh sits dramatically emblazoned on the snow white ball as if put there by some sinister product-placement marketer looking to squeeze every last ounce out of the TV coverage. But then, suddenly, it drops! Somehow, miraculously, it drops! Straight into the hole. The crowd erupts, Tiger erupts, the caddy erupts, the announcer erupts! … Fade to black: Just do it.
Apr
7
The Competitive Advantage for Local TV - Vlogs
Filed Under What is a Vlog?, Vlogalism | Leave a Comment
As some mainstream, online newspapers begin to take on certain qualities of blogs, it will be interesting to see whether the websites for TV stations begin to take on some qualities of vlogs. Of course one of the main problems in trying to predict whether this situation will pan out or not is the fact that vlogs currently don’t have much in the way of standardized qualities for a TV station to copy or not. It’s so early in the time of the vlog that the practices that will become common haven’t really been determined yet - apart from anything a vlog has already inherited from the blogosphere.
Feb
27
What is a Vlog Debate Rages On
Filed Under What is a Vlog? | Leave a Comment
It seems the debate about what a vlog is rages as we speak over at the Yahoo videoblogging group. One interesting vlog made on the subject was by Michael Verdi. It seems to be mostly a response to some ideas put out there by Andreas Haugstrup. Michael seems to be arguing for people to not put vlogs in a box. Let them breathe at this early stage. Andreas seems to be saying that a key element to vlogs is that they take advantage of the blogosphere infrastructure.
See Michaels vlog. (look for “Vlog Anarchy”)
I can see both points of view. As Michael says, I think we shouldn’t try to pigeonhole vlogs too much at this early stage.
Feb
24
Definitions of Vlogs and Blogs
Filed Under What is a Vlog? | Leave a Comment
The New York Times has a recent article that mentions vlogs quite a bit here.
There are actually a lot of people in the general public who still really don’t know what blogs are exactly. You’ll notice how the NY Times feels the need to define blogs (and rightly so). That actually might be a good thing for vlogs. Not yet, of course, but soon, many people will come to an understanding of blogs and vlogs simultaneously. “A blog is such and such and a vlog is a blog with video,” they’ll be told. My guess is that many people, upon understanding both concepts for the first time simultaneously, will naturally say, “So where can I see some of these vlogs?” … Ah, the pull of video.
Feb
19
What is a Vlog?
Filed Under What is a Vlog?, Vlogalism | 1 Comment
What is a vlog? That’s a good question for a first post, I would think. But I have a feeling that the answer isn’t so simple, and that as long as I write this blog, it’ll be a question I come back to again and again. In fact, I’ve created a whole category for that question so I can dump any ramblings I might have there.
Of course on the most basic level, the question “What is a vlog?” can be answered quite easily. “V” stands for video, and “log” stands for, well, log. So a vlog is a video log - a video record, or journal, or progress report. And, of course, the term vlog has its origins in the term blog.
But when you get into the different possible definitions of what a journal or a progress report or a record can contain, you begin to get into murky waters. Vlogs, I believe, will be a very different animal than simply blogs (web logs) with video. Although a blog can be technically any type of media posted to a web log (including, of course, video), it’s my guess that blogs and vlogs will one day part ways and be considered two very different types of outlets. Some people will put video onto their mostly text blogs, and some people will put text on their vlog sites, and some will marry the two almost equally, but it’s my guess that when the general public begins to discover vlogs, and more and more people begin putting their latent visual sophistication to work in the form of video logs, the world will begin to look at vlogs and blogs as very different entities.
Without the debate even having started (that I know of), I’m sure one day soon this question of “What is a vlog?” will inflame many a good people (mostly snobs vs. non-snobs … snobs can be good people too … in their own way). Trying to answer the question “What is a vlog?” will be like trying to answer the question “What is art?” There will be those who insist that to be a vlog, it has to follow a set of pre-defined criteria. Some will argue that in order to define something there has to be, well, definition, i.e. specific qualities ascribed to the thing being defined. And, of course, that’s so. But the problem they will run in to, in my opinion, is that the specific qualities they will use to define what a vlog is will be “pre-defined.” An important aspect of definitions is that they are actually “after the fact” labeling devices. Definitions are contextually dependent. They not only label, they evolve as the animal being labeled evolves. If they don’t, they become useless.
I’m afraid I can see it coming already. There will be vlog snobs who will insist that video a, b, or c isn’t a “vlog” because it doesn’t do x, y, or z. “It might be a video,” they’ll say, “and it might be posted on something that looks like a blog, but it isn’t a vlog. I know, because I vlog and my vlogs do x,y, and z .” And, of course, they’ll be wrong.
But just as wrong-headed will be those who consider themselves non-vlog snobs and who maintain that anything they put into a video form and post to the internet is a vlog. The problem there is that if you begin to stretch definitions so much that they’ll cover almost anything, well, they lose their definition. But it’s my guess that the non vlog snobs will be more right than the vlog snobs. If a vlog is a video “log,” then we have to look a little deeper into the question of what a “log” actually is.
According to the American Heritage dictionary, the definitions of “log” that most apply in this case (allowing for interpretation) are the following:
2. b. A record of a ship’s speed, its progress, and any shipboard events of navigational importance. c. The book in which this record is kept. 3. A record of a vehicle’s performance, as the flight record of an aircraft. 4. A record, as of the performance of a machine or the progress of an undertaking: a computer log; a trip log.
How are you going to define how someone might most effectively express the “progress” or the “events” of their internal lives, for example? I can predict many vlog snobs from the beginning insisting that a vlog will have to take on an air of nonfiction. But doesn’t a fictional story or an imaginative poem often reflect the truth better than the facts? It’s an ironic twist, of course, that it’s the artists, in this case vlogartists, who will be on the receiving end of the snobs’ disdain.
There will be many vloggers who point their cameras at their faces and either read an opinion they’ve written out, or ramble on about things they’ve been thinking about (or not, as the case may be). This is most definitely a vlog, but only one kind. I can foresee many of these straight-shooting vloggers scoffing at interpretive, though no less revealing, vlogs.
I’m sure we will also see a rise in the phenomenon of what I’ll call vlogalism practiced by vlogalists — that is, vlog journalism practiced by vlog journalists. And make no mistake, these vlogalists will change our world. Some will happen upon an event quite by accident, as in the case of the vlogalists in the middle of the recent tsunami in Asia. But there will be others who actively and aggressively pursue vlogalism, either as a means to advance their careers as mainstream journalists, or simply as a demanding “hobby,” if you will; however many who do it as something other than a career climbing maneuver may have untold hidden objectives and agendas.
The rise of vlogalists and vlogalism will be interesting to watch, but there are easily-spotted problems on the horizon – not the least of which is credibility. That “professional” news organizations are, in fact, corporate money-making machines can actually be beneficial in some respects. They are dependent on advertising, and their reputations are dependent on their credibility. People like to squawk about how News Organization A is simply a mouthpiece for Political View X, but everyone knows that when reporting the “news” they can’t outright lie time after time. Even their own choir would eventually turn on them. Their credibility is what makes them attractive to corporate money. Independent vlogalists with an axe to grind and no aspirations for a professional journalism career, however, are beholden to no one. To be sure, their vlogs, being video, will have an air of authenticity, more so than any written blog could ever hope for. And this is one of the important differences between writing a text blog and producing a video.
For the most part, with a few notable exceptions, text blogs have taken on the role of commentaries, not news stories. Vlogs will also occupy this space, but the unique power that video offers will make them more attractive to the independent journalists. With text, you can simply sit at home with a computer and make things up, but staging or manipulating video is a little more involved. That fact alone gives video its added credibility. Of course manipulating video is possible already, and it will only get easier as more people become more sophisticated with video, but for a while anyway, some disingenuous vlogalists will wreak havoc in more than one person’s life as most people still want to believe what their eyes see, or at the very least, what their brains are telling their eyes to see. What exactly will happen, who it will happen to, when it will happen, where it will happen, why it will happen, and how it will happen are all questions we’ll probably have the answers to sooner than we think.
But more on all that later. Fortunately, I believe, there’s more benefit to come from vlogs than harm. It’s an exciting time. Although vlogs have actually been around for a few years now, they’re on the cusp of an explosion. We haven’t even begun to see what vlogs will do or what they can be.