Sometimes I think we forget this. Although I’ve spent the last two years demonstrating ways to improve imagery, sound, editing, color, and so on, the most important thing to remember is that “content is king.”

This video has been viewed more than 30 million times. It’s not because of the lighting. It’s because of the content.

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All past Izzy Video tutorials are located in the membership area.
You can also watch free samples here.

Tim Street frequently talks about how important spectacle is in video. In fact, he says it’s one of the three key components of a viral video, along with emotion and story. The dictionary defines spectacle as “anything presented to the sight or view, especially something of a striking or impressive kind”. A more common way of describing it might be simply “something interesting to watch.” This video is certainly “interesting to watch.”

When I watch videos like this, I pay close attention to what’s happening inside me. What does the video cause me to think and feel?

The above video certainly possesses spectacle. Have you ever seen any place like this? Surely, this type of environment is rare. In fact, in the beginning I wondered if it was simply a very elaborate 3D rendered environment.

What emotions do you feel when you watch it? I feel terror. I’m held in suspense.

And the story? I have no idea what the story is, but there is one just the same. I think it’s similar to a “back story.” Why is this person here? What has happened before this event that has brought them here?

Also, what’s the story in the future? What’s going to happen?

And the big question I was wondering, “Are they going to fall?”

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All past Izzy Video tutorials are located in the membership area.
You can also watch free samples here.

A few months ago I ran a session at Podcamp AZ, and it was called “Improve Your Online Video.” It was an hour-long session, but for this installment of Izzy Video, I condensed it down to under six minutes.

Inside you’ll find suggestions for how to improve video, and three keys (which I learned from Tim Street) to creating a viral video.

You can get Izzy Video 79 here.

*This week I decided to release the free version in 640×480, which is the size normally reserved for the premium subscribers. The premium subscribers also receive access to all past Izzy Video tutorials, and two additional members-only episodes per month.

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All past Izzy Video tutorials are located in the membership area.
You can also watch free samples here.

I know this video is old, but I just saw it tonight for the first time. I love stuff like this. If you have a website, please consider embedding it.

via AmberMac

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All past Izzy Video tutorials are located in the membership area.
You can also watch free samples here.

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All past Izzy Video tutorials are located in the membership area.
You can also watch free samples here.

Proposed (Classified) Bill Will Defend Against Flesh-Eating (Classified)

I’ve been a fan of The Onion for a long time. Every once in a while, they put out a video that rises above their normal brilliance. This is such a video. Their high production value adds to the humor. I literally laughed aloud.

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All past Izzy Video tutorials are located in the membership area.
You can also watch free samples here.

Very good short film. Several funny parts. Great energy. Great characters. You need to see this.

Via Steve Garfield

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All past Izzy Video tutorials are located in the membership area.
You can also watch free samples here.

Okay, I usually try to post video-related info. This time I’m just posting a funny video which a friend sent me.

For some reason, this really tickled my funny bone. Enjoy!

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All past Izzy Video tutorials are located in the membership area.
You can also watch free samples here.

I received this great request from Izzy Video viewer, Chance:

Can you repost your tutorial on capturing fireworks again, since it’s that time again, but in Revver format please?

Great, idea, Chance. Thanks for the suggestion.

I hope that everone in the USA has a happy 4th of July!

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All past Izzy Video tutorials are located in the membership area.
You can also watch free samples here.

I love how in this show, the characters will suddenly break into song! You have to pay close attention to the lyrics…

Also, I’m thrilled that HBO is making video clips, as well as the entire episode, available for anyone to watch on their website. It’s fun to watch the show on the television, and it’s fun to revisit it again online.

I laughed so hard!

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All past Izzy Video tutorials are located in the membership area.
You can also watch free samples here.

I need all of your help with something. As you know, the Izzy Video website is more than just a place to post my video podcasts. It’s also a resource to discover additional video-related content online. This could be “how to” articles, viral videos, or a number of other things.

Where do you come in? When you see something online that I might be interested in featuring on Izzy Video, please tag it “izzyvideo” using del.icio.us. I’ve subscribed to the RSS feed for this tag and will be notified of your suggestions. Naturally I will credit you with the recommendations.

Thank you for helping me with this!

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All past Izzy Video tutorials are located in the membership area.
You can also watch free samples here.

Lip Dub - Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger on Vimeo

Thank goodness I visit www.tastyblogsnack.com everyday. If not, I might have missed this!

What a great company culture these folks have!

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All past Izzy Video tutorials are located in the membership area.
You can also watch free samples here.

My goal in this installment of Izzy Video is simply to illustrate the fundamental differences between hard and soft lighting.

To do this, I light an orange using both a hard light source and a soft light source. The results are quite different.

By the way, the lights I use are a Chimera Small Video Pro light box (for the soft light), and a Lowel Pro Light (for the hard light).

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All past Izzy Video tutorials are located in the membership area.
You can also watch free samples here.

Travel Matte - Luma is a compositing tool built into Final Cut Pro. You can use it to create custom mattes in specific shapes. In this video, I show how to use it to blur out a subject’s face. I chose this topic because it’s one of the more obscure tools in Final Cut Pro, and I haven’t seen many tutorials on the subject.

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All past Izzy Video tutorials are located in the membership area.
You can also watch free samples here.

Virb has some pretty good video clips.

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All past Izzy Video tutorials are located in the membership area.
You can also watch free samples here.