On YouTube, the same video appeared a day later. This time, an extra five seconds at the end gave a hint as to how the man traversed the world: the logo for STA Travel, a student travel agency, pops up.
Before it moved to YouTube, the video — by filmmaker Rick Mereki for STA’s Australia branch — snagged links from art blogs, got raves on social media sites and won applause from hundreds of thousands of viewers.
At first, “Move” appears to document the trip of a lifetime. But in reality, it’s a deft mix of art and commerce. The man in the movie is a paid actor. The six-week trip was commissioned by STA. When it was revealed to be a commercial, the tune hardly changed: YouTube viewers c gave it 4,332 likes and 25 dislikes.
Advertisers have long seen the value in attracting audiences online. Volkswagen paid an estimated $2.6 million to air its 30-second spot starring a little Darth Vader during the Super Bowl, which was watched by about 111 million people. For exactly $0, the carmaker Volkswagen put the same ad on YouTube, where more than 41 million people watched it.
Now advertisers are looking to a small breed of filmmakers for to create immersive, viral videos. Leveraging documentary skills, these directors make ads that are more about the experience related to a product, rather than the product itself.
Technology has democratized filmmaking, perhaps more than any other art form. To film anything just two years ago, you needed money, connections, crews, $100,000 cameras, buildings full of editing equipment, and honey-eyed starlets. Now you need a $2,500 camera, an account on a video-sharing site and a good idea.
Everynone, a group of three former college classmates, began experimenting two years ago with snapshots of life in a series called “Everyone Forever Now.” The videos show scenes of neighbors sitting on stoops, sun worshipers tanning, or people shooting guns.After gaining popularity on Vimeo, Everynone partnered with Radiolab and NPR to create a film for a Radiolab show. “Words” cost less than $20,000 to make, and more than a million people watched it.
Another company, ZCDC Films, launched California is a Place, an attempt to document the sprawling Golden State “from Disneyland to farmland . . . Scientology and superstars, silicon and silicone,” as ZCDC’s mission statement reads.
After profiling failed car dealers and skaters in hollowed-out pools in five-to-10 minute videos made on their own dime, the two filmmakers started producing similar profiles for Ray-Bans, K-Swiss shoes and California Tourism.
The new admaker-artists don’t have to worry that partnering with commercial interests will sully their craft in the eyes of others. The Internet has given rise to a chaotic mix of commerce, ads and information, and sometimes that combination creates a thing of beauty.
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