We’ve all taken dodgy photos on our iPhones, right? At concerts, where we think we’re getting a close up of the main singer when actually it’s just a blurry dot; at parties, where we believe we’re shooting beautiful portraits of our friends, rather than drunken selfies – and at sporting events, where we hope we’re capturing the moment the ball goes over the line, signifying a stunning victory for the home team.
And we all have reviewed those pictures later; with the realisation some of them look as if they were created by David Blunkett rather than David Bailey.
Steve Jobs added a great feature to the iPhone – a small icon that looks like a dustbin. It’s the saving face app – it allows you to delete all those pictures that were a good idea at the time, but with hindsight should never have been taken. It’s a pity he never got the chance to show his successor, current Apple CEO Tim Cook how to use it. Mr Cook has been the subject of a great social media debate in the last week after posting a shameful picture at the Super Bowl. Out of focus and unclear – people are asking if he a) was partying a little too hard to realize what he did; b) forgot his glasses or c) just can’t use an iPhone.
Maybe it was a combination of all three; after all he runs the planet’s second most valuable company and deserves a little down time, especially when his team pulls off a spectacular win. But it demonstrates how technology is merely a tool and the person that operates it is the one that making the difference between a lasting memory and a corporate faux paux.
It’s the same in video. Technology advances on a seemingly daily basis. Auto focus, auto light correction, even stabilisation can make filming a video easy. Or at least, the illusion of filming a video. Of course you can point and shoot. But just as anyone can buy a box of paints and put colour on a canvas, it’s only when the brush is held by Monet or Picasso that it becomes art.
A highly skilled cameraman will take an iPhone or a camera costing thousands of pounds and create something that an amateur can’t. They will make the image represent your brand; ensure each frame will do credit to your company. They have the ability to make a piece of technology work for them; rather than be slaves to the equipment. Tools are important in corporate video making, but the talent is as, if not more, valuable.
Tim Cook held one of the most important tools of the 21st century in his hand; it’s a powerful computer; it has the ability to allow people on different continents to share their day to day existence; it gives the gift of knowledge the otherwise disempowered, and it’s changing lives with it’s connectivity. It’s just a pity he didn’t read the instructions on how to use it.
