We Want The Real Thing

When it comes to the magic of storytelling, the real thing is always best.

A little while back our founder wrote a blog post on where VidMob thinks the magic of storytelling lies. Like Magisto’s CEO and co-founder, Oren Boiman, we agree that the art of video storytelling rests largely in the skill, aesthetic, and tact behind an editor. To quote Boiman, “The emotion is in the editing. […] In order to get a very strong emotional response you need to sync the audio, the soundtrack, the pace, the cuts—everything together.”

But anyone who has ever watched good video knows that it’s about a lot more than synching. It’s about recognizing—and highlighting—the joy in the face of a child. It’s about telling a story with no words. And most of all, it’s about creating something unique; because the 100th time you see E.T. just isn’t the same as the first. And algorithms? Well, unique creativity isn’t exactly their bag. So, why would someone choose a cookie-cutter algorithm to tell their story when they could work with the real thing instead? Does. Not. Compute.

Don’t get us wrong, we recognize that technology is a beautiful, beautiful thing.

It has made the way we tell stories more complex, creative, and inventive than ever before. It has allowed what were once regionally or culturally defining stories to become part of our shared, global histories. And it has given anyone with access to the internet a chance to participate in conversation with the world at large. But the beating heart behind of all this magic, awe, and wonder that technology has allowed us—and has given our storytelling capabilities—it is still the storyteller herself.

The storyteller is and always will be the master of this craft. Because storytelling is an innate, unique characteristic to us and only us. It is we who must teach a computer to tell stories. And even then the computer’s story is a mere copy of our instruction. Original, mindful works of art don’t come from a machine—they need the mysterious, human mind to create them.

So why not make the best of both technology and human storytelling?

Let’s use technology, yet again, to spur human creativity and production, not pit it against our talent and imagination. Let’s use it to match those with video editing skills to those who need video edited. Let’s allow those creative masterminds to work from anywhere in the world. Let’s give video content creators a more dynamic and artful way of creating and telling their stories. Let’s do it all online! And let’s make it so easy that the process itself, like the art form, feels like a beautiful mystery.

Because people are not a problem to be solved. They are the artists, the visionaries, the emotionally creative masterminds. They are what make good video great.