The Rise of DSLR Filmmakers & The Next Wave Of Web Content

For the past few weeks I’ve been tooling around the web doing research on DSLR cameras, many of which now shoot shockingly crisp, professional-grade HD video. I know that I just can’t ignore the trend towards video content anymore, and I’ve decided to start investing some time building that skill-set (with a long-term view). Don’t get me wrong, I love to write and still think blogging as a great way to reach audiences. It’s just becoming clear that staying relevant and succeeding on the social web requires injecting video production creatively and cheaply into the mix – and that goes for companies as well as individuals. When you strip it down to its core, the social web is fundamentally about people and story-telling, and in just about any side-by-side comparison, when it comes to story telling, video done well beats text almost every single time, and the barriers to entry (cost, learning curve etc) for amateur filmmakers has never been lower. That’s why you’re only going to see more pro-grade video on the web in the coming years. Huge numbers of amateurs are suddenly getting access to a new world.

The barriers to entry that I’m talking about aren’t just a little bit lower, they’re A LOT lower. The technology that companies like Canon and Nikon are making available to the masses is, in many cases, tens of thousands of dollars cheaper than what professional videographers have used historically to get the same result. What’s interesting is that the latest DSLRs weren’t even made to shoot films, but spend a few days surfing around Vimeo and you’ll realize quickly that there are hundreds of classically-trained photographers that are doing just that – and they’re excited about it. A few extra buttons and menus added to the tools they’ve been using for years suddenly expands their skill sets by orders of magnitude that are making them re-think their entire approach to doing what they do (and to what services they can offer clients).

What’s great to see is the level of enthusiasm, grass-roots innovation and information sharing online around what’s happening with DSLR video. The best example I can think of is Canon, which itself has done a tremendous job leveraging Vimeo to bring its customers together to collaborate – not only do they run their own Vimeo group contests like “Beyond The Still” to encourage fans to embrace DSLR videography and collaborate, but there are user-created groups resembling some of the most popular Flickr groups around each of their HD-ready cameras (7D, 5DMKII, Rebel T2i etc) with thousands of subscribers where people are sharing their footage, as well as teaching and helping one another.

Anyway, I think I’ve made my point. I think it all comes down to the fact that video just gives audiences so much more of what they’re looking for when it’s done right, and it’s the medium that people are going to start looking for by default. YouTube has trained the next generation and set the expectation – if you can find what you’re looking for in text – you can probably find the same thing on video too if you know where to look. And THAT  is the basis for the shift in behavior that we’re seeing on the web towards video. When people expect to find content in the form they want it it (i.e. video over text), they’ll look for it in that form. So why not give them what they want? You can afford to now. :)

Below are 3 great video shorts recorded on DSLRs to complement the one at the top of the page, which was shot on an intermediate-level DSLR by Philip Bloom on a Canon Rebel T2i which you can get on Amazon for well under $1000.  I hope you enjoy these as much as I did…

Shot on a Canon 5D Mark II and edited by Jason Arthurs on Vimeo.

A Canon 7D Short: Thursday Night from gnarly bay productions, Inc. on Vimeo.

Shot on a Canon 7D

Canon 7D – Short Wedding Film from Ray Roman on Vimeo.

Shot on a Canon 7D