Vine video has become an integral part of the video marketing scene for many brands and businesses, who love the challenge of finding new and unique ways of using their six seconds to create an unforgettable video promoting their products or services.
Today, we're focussing on three of the top Vine creators, and looking at the techniques they use to create a memorable short-form video.
Pinot
Indonesian-born, Kuwait-based Pinot is a Vine superstar thanks to his fantastic stop-motion animations and his wonderful imagination. He is famous for his trademark pencil sketch Vines, which fuse together sketch drawings with the real world - something that's led to work on Vine campaigns for the BBC, Virgin and Disney.
Pinot's love of Vine is down to its simplicity and short duration, making it easy to find the time and space to create videos. Because you can't upload pre-recorded or edited footage, Vine forces you to recreate artwork using traditional animation techniques, harking back to an era pre-CGI special effects.
Pinot's children are a source of inspiration for his work. He refers to Vine as a family playground, and this sense of fun is evident throughout his videos. Many of his initial ideas derive from something his children have seen or thought, as he loves a child's ability to see the world through fresh, wondrous eyes.
The following Vine video is a great example, born out of a comment made by his son who was looking at puddle reflections on a recent trip to London.
Once he has an idea, he sets to work on a six-second story, using various animation techniques, before preparing the material. Pre-production can take up to two or three days, depending on the technique, but recording usually takes a maximum of two hours.
Pinot believes the secret to Vine lies in the ability to tell a story in six seconds using traditional animation techniques. He encourages Vine users to see the limitations of the medium as an opportunity for creativity and to use the loop to reinforce or enhance a message - an excellent tip for marketers. He also loves inserting a little surprise at the end of the loop.
YellDesign
Matt Willis, working under the name of his design studio YellDesign, has been referred to as the 'World's Greatest Vine User'. Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, Matt has a background in graphic design and marketing, and his design studio now specialises in creating stop-motion animation and Vine videos for a number of clients including Chevrolet, Viacom and the musician Pepe Aguilar.
Matt believes that Vine is the ideal platform for stop-motion, and he delights in placing inanimate objects into unusual situations. His trademark Vines combine hi-tech features with household objects, such as these two Vines showing his idea of Google Glass and Apple TV.
Matt makes no secret of his love of Vine. He describes it as an addictive app and is constantly planning, adding to his notebook of ideas throughout the day. He looks for inspiration around him all day long, and believes the secret of a good Vine is to take a common household item, alter it with a small quirk and bring a smile to someone's face.
For Matt, the preparation and planning stage takes about one or two hours, while he takes forty minutes to shoot a single Vine.
Matt didn't set out to make money from Vine, but his style of work - placing the object in clear light and focusing on its features - is excellent for ad work, and YellDesign is a hot name for brands in the world of Vine.
Matt's advice to those wanting to break into Vine is to forget worrying about your follows and likes, and to simply concentrate on making excellent content.
Khoa
Vietnamese-American Khoa Phan is a self-proclaimed 'creative tech geek' from San Diego, famous for creating stop-motion animations using construction paper in beautiful and innovative ways. Described by Mashable as 'Vine's Most Creative Stop-Motion Animator', his awe-inspiring creations have led to work with Samsung, MTV, CNN and Peanuts Worldwide, where he created Vines of the popular cartoon strip to appeal to a young, hip crowd.
Khoa describes himself as a regular guy with no specific background in the arts or marketing. He created his first Vine the day after the app's launch last January, and has worked hard to perfect his craft.
He began working with paper simply because that was the material he had to hand, and he stuck with it because it's easy to use and manipulate. When you browse the comments on his Vines, it's clear he inspires a sense of awe from his followers. The nature of his work means he uses a lot of paper, but he makes it clear that he tries to recycle and reuse as much as possible.
Once he has an idea for a Vine, he turns to his sketchbooks, creating a storyboard which he draws out frame by frame. Then he sets up his phone, declining to use the traditional tripod, and works from there, creating a Vine in approximately forty-five minutes to an hour. He's also developed a trademark for his personal Vines, ending them with a good-natured 'Have a Good Day'.
For those interested in how he makes Vine videos, he has created a series of behind-the-scenes Vines including this one, which demonstrates how he tests angles and dimensions.
To all budding Vine users, his message is simple ¬- unlock your imagination and let it take flight.
Pinot, YellDesign and Khoa are three of the top creators working with Vine today. While they each have a unique, original style, there are several common themes running through their work. All use stop-motion animation, which is a technique that fits perfectly with the six-second timeframe and, as with all videos, they each emphasise the importance of planning and preparing before shooting to make the most of the limited timeframe.
For each of them, it's clear that Vine is more than just a job - it's great fun. Vine isn't about production quality, it's about great ideas and oodles of creativity.
How could you incorporate Vine into your marketing strategy?
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