How To Make Great Travel Videos

At the Center for Communications

Last night Lisa and I did a seminar before about 400 people at the Center for Communications on ‘How To Make Great Travel Videos’.

While we are always happy to explain the basics of what makes a great travel video (stand by!) as we got to the Q&A part, it became obvious that what people were most interested in was ‘how to make money in the travel video business’. It’s a good place to be.

We were preceeded by a panel discussion amongs working ‘professional’ journalists, from newspapers and network TV. They were also giving advice on ‘how to break into the travel journalist business’.  Personally, I found most of their advice both depressing and wrong. (OK, not wrong. Lisa is always telling me not to be so dogmatic.) Let’s say…. old school advice.  You know, get yourself an internship. Try try again. Blah blah blah. (Was that better?)

Here’s the deal, or at least how I see the lay of the land:

There has been an explosion in the online world. Every newspaper, magazine, TV show, travel agency, African Safari Compay, Resort, Cruise line – you name it – is going to the web.  The web is on screens. Screens need video. Lots of it.

Who is going to make that video?

How about you?

I mean, why not?

The number of potential clients is limitless, and if what you want to do is travel the world making video and getting paid for it (which seems to be what about 99% of the people in the room wanted to do – the other person being a homeless man who seemed to have wandered in in search of free coffee), then the opportunity is certainly here.  I don’t think that going to work as an intern at CBS and making coffee or doing ‘research’ for some on-air ‘talent’ is the way to go, personally.

So, get yourself a camera and an edit system and start making ‘stuff’. That was our advice last night and that is my advice this morning.  The more ‘stuff’ you can make, the better your odds of a) getting better with each iteration and b) finding the clients who want to pay you to make ‘stuff’ for them.

And what does that stuff have to contain?

(The title of the seminar was, after all, ‘how to make great travel videos’.)

It has to contain two things:
A compelling character
An arc of story.

Period.

Of course, it has to be well shot, well cut and so on. But the real secret to sucess is offering something someone wants to watch – wants as opposed to ‘has to’.

If you go to Paris and shoot a ‘travel video’ of a lot of building exteriors and streets and amorphous people walkind down the street and write a narration that sounds like it was copied from The World Book – you aren’t going anywhere.

On the other hand, if you can find an exciting character and tell an interesting story, it doesn’t matter where you shoot it.  Remember, your home town is some else’s destination.  But it’s all about the story – NOT the ‘information’.

So, now that you know that – get out there and start making ‘stuff’. Interseting stuff. Compelling stuff. Stuff you want to watch. Stuff other people will want to watch without having to be told ‘wait – there’s a good part coming up’.  It should all be ‘good