Apple has released a few videos on YouTube for their French market. The editing and use of only black and white certainly gives a different feeling than what you do when you think of Paris, and that's because they're talking to their French market, and not the rest of the world.
You've heard it all before: it's all about location, location, location. Sure, but I think it's rather what you do with that location and having the people you're shooting it for in mind when planning your shot list. This isn't aimed at or shot for the rest of the world. It's for the French Apple user and potential buyers of Apple products. Paris, Lyon, and Marseilles are the largest cities in the country, and these videos certainly resonate with the urbanite lifestyle, street culture, and city living.
If these videos didn't have the titles of the locations — Paris, Lyon, and Marseilles — as the title of the videos at the end, there are certain shots of each that shows you it's in Paris or Lyon, but in this instance, it's not about the touristic Eiffel Tower and Sacré Coeur shots, it's about the person living in the city.
The use of only black and white footage adds to this urban landscape, although it resonates with the history and past photographers who once might've lived in Paris and told their stories through photography as their medium.
Just like most brands, Apple doesn't credit the video maker although I would love to follow these creators if I knew. I like the dual shot crops in some shots, and the approach to keeping it simple and powerful with regards to single subjects and disregarding the location. The style of editing for me is one of the most important aspects of these videos.
https://youtu.be/gN6YwN1opJc
https://youtu.be/GgSAN1r7IDA
https://youtu.be/wx5_Vgsdu58
What this means is that the gear doesn't matter. It's what you see and shooting it in your unique way. Although your photo selection of a shoot is one of the most important aspects of your work, as well as the coloring and retouching to define it as being yours, video is somewhat similar. It's the editing, the selection of shots, and putting it all together in your own style.
Video can be seen as a richer form of media because it considers timing, pace, and you have the opportunity to add sound, whether it's music, sound effects, or the actual sound you caught with the video capture. We don't own an Apple Music network, so we can't license out well-known music to use in our videos, but it inspires to try see what sounds and music will work if you had to shoot the city or town you live in.
Have you ever had the location of your video be the focus of your video? If so, share how you approached it in the comments.