Time to vlog on

l Virtual world

Once upon a time, recording your thoughts in a diary was a common practice. Over the years, this has changed and blogs took the place of diaries. This medium has gone one step ahead with visuals. Called ‘vlogs’ or video blogs, these have  now become a popular mode of chronicling one’s thoughts and feelings.

The social media has also made this format easier.

Professionals and bloggers use GoPro cameras or DSLRs to create small videos or movies to talk about a particular topic while some also use their phone cameras for capturing footage. Many have realised the fact that visuals speak louder than words.

Nivedith Gajapathy is a lifestyle blogger who finds vlogging more engaging than blogging. He says, “When I have to talk about my travel experiences, I prefer to record the happenings and put them as videos than to write about it. I’ve noticed that when the content is simple and interactive, the number of viewers grows.”

While holding the phone or camera and recording might seem like a simple task, Nivedith says that there are certain challenges that he has to overcome each time he hits the record button. “Since most of the content that I capture is outdoors, chances of background noise, people walking up and down and other such distractions are high. Since the video has to reach my audience soon enough, I stitch the clips on the go and render the final output of the experience.”

Depending on the genre that one specialises in, each of them has their own set of baggage to carry. For Priya Shiva, a food blogger, it is about creating the right kind of environment to shoot her recipe videos. She has to have the ingredients and crockery ready and once the shoot is done, she has to work on the post-production to make the video blogs as short and crisp as possible. She explains, “Many find it easier to watch a video and cook. They can follow the recipe as they prepare the dish. However, the pre-shoot preparation is a tedious process. It takes at least two days to prepare a one-minute video.”

For the less professional ones, social media apps like Snapchat and Instagram are providing the opportunity to become vloggers. Kanchi Sharma, an IT professional, enjoys creating Snapchat and Instagram stories so that her friends and family know what she is doing during the day. She says, “I upload videos when I’m at the gym, at work, out with friends or when I find something interesting to share. As my family lives in New Delhi, they are kept up to date about my life through the vlogs.”

As she is also a fashion blogger, she records tutorials and trend alert videos for her viewers. Ask her about the vlogging trend and she says, “The public here is not used to seeing people hold their camera and talk when outside. They will find it bizarre and think that you are crazy. Since vlogging, in general, does not really have a storyline, it is not always accepted by everyone.”

“However, it is still a new concept and people are just learning about it. But it is making an impact as it is an easy method to communicate. Soon enough, we might all just become virtual beings,” she adds.