Nearly two decades after we were presented our University degrees in Audio Visual Directing, we still look to others to learn and discover from. The world is constantly changing and learning is eternal.
Today our Uni days are behind us but to keep on learning we tap into a great source of information and inspiration from the World Wide Web and YouTube. It is filled with cool and clever people and there are some we love to spend our time with.
Learning for us is not only about something new. Sometimes it’s a reminder of a forgotten shortcut or just a reassurance that someone else thinks the same way or struggles with the same issues.
Creativity is a team sport and below are few examples of whom we have included in our team (even if they themselves don’t know it).
Matti Haapoja
Finnish born and Canadian based filmmaker Matti Haapoja launched his YouTube channel Travel Feels (at the time) in 2016 and shot to orbit in no time.
He caught our eye with his high quality aesthetic and a level headed approach to film making and in-depth tutorials of colour grading and maintaining the picture quality. And his charming and yet unnecessary self-inflation is a perfect example of how to cut through the industry as a nordic introvert.
Matti has now dropped the brand name Travel Feels and continues to provide a wealth of know-how under his own name.
YouTube: Matti Haapoja
Instagram: @mattih
Twitter: @mattihaapoja
Dunna Dit It
Justin Dunna McDonough is (another) Canadian based videographer and photographer who’s encouraging and knowledgeable tone captured our attention when we were trying to decide which best all-rounder lense to get for our Sony a7iii last year. We opted for Sony E PZ 18-105 mm F4 and Sony FE 28 mm F2 to begin with.
His tips and tricks and approachable attitude on how to get the maximum out of our Sony equipment and what equipment to buy in order to evolve our own technical park.
YouTube: Dunna Did It
Instagram: @dunnadidit
Twitter: @dunnadidit
Felicia Smith
Experienced Australian cinematographer Felicia Smith kindly walks you through all the possible nuances on the film set. If you need to know what exactly a data wrangler does and what is a camera assistant usually packing, Felicia has the answers.
From basic film set 101-s to how to prep for a commercial shoot, her cool demeanor just puts you at ease and allows you to absorb the information she gives.
Besides, seeing how things are being done down under keeps your mind active in comparing how things are done at our neck of the woods.
YouTube: Felicia Smith
Instagram: @feliciacine
Twitter: @feliciacine
Creative Rebels
Either you are a creative with no wind in your sail, or someone who just wants to start out as one (but too afraid to take the first step), Creative Rebels David Speed and Adam Brazier come to the rescue!
Creative Rebels podcast launched in January 2019 and quickly became #1 business podcast in the UK.
The Rebels share their own experiences of success and failure and their studio guest list is filled with notable creatives in the industry. The podcast is a massive weekly inspiration boost and source for unlocking your brain and seeing different perspectives.
We stumbled on their podcast in January 2020 and haven’t missed an episode since.
And as there is already one year's worth of p-casts available, there is a decent amount of relevant backlog to work through. https://creativerebels.co/ YouTube: Creative Rebels
Instagram: @rebelscreate
Vagabrothers
From a slightly retrospective angle here’s a shout out to US-based Vagabrothers Marko and Alex Ailyng, who are the reason why we started making our way back to content creation in 2016.
Although our path took a different route from pursuing the goal of becoming a full-on YouTube channel, Marko’s and Alex’s inspiring style of storytelling through travel has kept us engaged and inspired. They have given us tons of examples of how we would like to develop our own style in approaching travel content.
Earlier this year the brothers announced that they will be following their individual career paths, but it’s still great to go back and see their story playing out throughout the turbulent six years on YouTube and other social media platforms. It’s a perfect story of building one’s brand and improving the content quality over the years.
https://www.vagabrothers.com/ Instagram: @vagabrothers
Twitter: @vagabrothers
YouTube: Vagabrothers
This list is nowhere near exhaustive. Every day we discover new people who inspire us or just a random video that answers a specific question we have.
So check them out. Worst that can happen is you get inspired.
Let us know who you go to for reliable online advice?