How Casey Neistat Changed Vlogging Forever

INTRODUCTION

It may come as a bit of a surprise from a part time YouTuber, but I actually don’t watch many YouTube videos - well not now anyway. But there was a time when I was living in Japan around 2015 or 2016 where I’d watch every single release from one particular YouTuber every single day. Those videos were Casey Neistat’s daily vlogs. 

There were a few reasons that I, along with the rest of the online world, were drawn to Casey Neistat. For one, he’s a super charismatic and entertaining person on camera with strong opinions. For another, the non-stop freneticism that is his life, and the amazing situations that he puts himself in, was incredible to see documented. This combined with an honest, pretty intimate view of his life and daily uploads created a super close ‘relationship’ with millions of online followers. 

But there was something else that immediately drew me to his videos: the filmmaking. Although they may appear rough and handmade, if you look at his videos a bit closer you’ll quickly see that they are backed up by an array of innovative filmmaking techniques that he uses to present stories as a creative, experienced documentary filmmaker.

So let’s break down his approach, vlogging gear, some of the cinematic techniques that he uses and explain why they are the very backbone of what made Casey Neistat’s vlogs so groundbreaking.

STORY STORY STORY

You can have all the tricks in the book, but they mean nothing if they aren’t used to create some kind of narrative arc. So before we look at his specific filmmaking techniques let’s unpack how he constructs story in his films. Even his more freeform personal docs that document his day, still have a story arc to them. 

He’ll sometimes start with a cold open, cut to a hint at what will happen, the setup, they’ll have him doing something, the content, and then he’ll wrap it up, the wrap up.

Within the broader story of a video they’ll also be these little mini arcs that follow the same formula.

This is the same introduction, body and conclusion structure that academic writers use, the same setup, action and climax formula that screenwriters use and the same way that oral storytellers present fables. It’s a formulae that for whatever reason resonates with humans.

Of course, as an experienced filmmaker he also mixes things up chronologically. But the way that he structures each day, video essay, or even long take interview using this kind of formula is foundational to creating structure out of the chaos that is life that acts as a hook that the audience can relate to.

He also uses titles, physical chapter markers, visual gimmicks (tape measure plane) and handmade stop motion animation to introduce locations, context or explain concepts that enforce the structure of the story - in the same way that documentary filmmakers do.

FILMMAKING TECHNIQUES

Although what Casey mainly does in his videos has been called vlogging, what his videos really are are personal documentaries. And, as with most personal documentaries, the content is prioritised over getting technically perfect shots. This means that some moments may be out of focus, over exposed, lit using the screen of a phone or include moments of him picking up a tripod. 

Part of the appeal of his style is that he uses real filmmaking techniques but then deconstructs them a bit and leaves them rough around the edges, including moments of imperfection.

So, what are some of the practical cinematography and editing techniques that he uses to enhance his storytelling visually. One technique he uses a lot is the whip or swish pan.

For most of his techniques he shoots with the edit in mind. He quickly pans the camera off to the side to end a shot. Then in a later clip he’ll repeat this same movement as before and cut between these to get a seamless transition between locations. 

If you break it down frame by frame you can see that he cuts the two shots so that the one ends and the next begins on a blurred movement. Because this  happens so fast the eye isn’t quick enough to see exactly where the cut happens and two shots can be stitched together without it being noticeable.

This technique has been used quite often in cinema. Usually when filmmakers want a way to join two long shots together which need to be filmed in separate takes. For the smoothest transition possible it helps to make this cut during the most minimal frame possible such as a dark, blank wall - rather than a complex shot with actors.

Another editing technique he and a ton of other YouTubers use is the jump cut. This is where a cut is made that joins two shots which have the same, or similar, framing. Usually this means doing one take using a single clip and chopping out sections in the middle of it to exclude mistakes, fumbled lines of speech, or to just include the best bits of a take. 

In more formal filmmaking this is usually avoided by shooting multiple angles and shot sizes of scenes and cutting between these different angles to smooth over any mistakes. However some movies, such as the French New Wave film Breathless, have also used this technique to deliberately break down the established forms of filmmaking. It renders a more ‘breaking the fourth wall’, ‘hand made’ feeling which fits the tone of Casey’s vlogs.

He also uses jump cuts to playfully push the story forward in time. By shooting a single take shot from a locked off, still perspective, he can move himself around into different parts of the frame and then in the edit, remove all of that excess footage and quickly cut between him in different positions. This makes him whimsically bounce around the frame and gives the feeling that time is passing.  

Or he’ll sometimes combine this with a match cut where he uses an edit to transition between two frames that have similar compositional or subject traits - another technique found in cinema.

While he uses jump cuts to shorten and speed up his videos, he’s also done the exact opposite for certain videos to achieve a different effect. In some videos he has used long takes - where he lets an extended portion of a clip play without cutting. These tend to really suck the viewer into the moment and work well for heartfelt monologues - as long as those monologues don’t have any distractions or lapses in performance. 

Like all of these techniques the long take has also been used in many films, often for moments where the filmmaker is trying to pull the audience into the world of the film and the performances on screen as much as possible without breaking the illusion with excessive cutting.

Another well worn technique he uses are timelapses. This is where footage is captured at a lower frame rate and then played back at a higher frame rate in editing software. This ramps up the motion of the footage, speeding it up. 

This technique is often used by filmmakers as a visual mechanism to illustrate the passing of time. It’s particularly useful in vlogs because they often display a lot of action over a short period of time such as a day or even a few hours. Timelapses can be placed in between two shots to visually show the passing of time and that these two moments are not continuous.

Casey shoots his vlogs with a variety of different shots from a variety of perspectives. He shoots wide establishing shots, usually in the form of overhead aerial footage to establish the space that he is in. He shoots POV or point of view shots where he’ll point the camera in front of him to capture an image that mimics his perspective on what he is seeing.

Like in most documentaries he’ll grab observational footage of people, who sometimes engage with him behind the camera, or who sometimes appear natural and unaware of its presence.

He’ll also sometimes set up a frame on a tripod, record a bit of the environment and then enter the frame and start talking in an interview style. And of course he shoots the classic vlogging shot - a self portrait with a wide angle lens capturing himself as he talks directly to the audience through the camera - which he’ll handhold.

A large part of what photographically makes his vlogs so dynamic comes from the camera movement and framing. Casey is great at finding interesting angles and frames on the fly. He’ll mix the perspective between high and low angles or use framing devices such as this shot, where he places the camera inside a phone booth, to create a natural frame for himself while at the same time showcasing the dynamic environment of the background. 

The camera moves largely come from him physically moving his body in different ways. Whether that be on his famous boosted board, a bicycle, surfboard, or just him walking. 

Part of what makes the way in which he moves the camera so effective is because of the variety. Contrasting shots with fast motion, locked off shots, high angles, low angles, create a feeling that the story, through the cinematography and editing, is constantly getting propelled forward.          

VLOGGING GEAR        

So, how does he do this? Well, the answer is with quite a few different tools and cinematic toys. The cameras and gear that he’s used has changed quite a bit over the years but let’s go over the current setup he uses.

Most of his gear is, I guess, what you’d call consumer or prosumer because its relatively reasonable price points make it accessible to the general public. As I mentioned before, getting the shot is more important in his vlogs than ‘perfect cinematography’. Function rules.

He shoots aerials with a Mavic 2 Pro drone, that comes in a tiny form factor that fits in a backpack but which also resolves great images and puts it at the top of the consumer drone market.

He’s recently taken to shooting super fisheye POV and vlogging shots with the Insta360 X3 that he attaches to a pretty ridiculous selfie stick. And for most action or water sequences he uses a GoPro. At the moment the Hero 9.

So those are some of the more niche cameras that he uses. Now let’s take a look at his main vlogging camera setup. 
For years he stayed in the Canon ecosystem, using the 6D as his main camera with either a 16-35mm or a 10-18mm wide angle zoom lens. However, he’s now moved to Sony and shoots his videos with a 4K workflow. 

His main camera is the A7S III. It’s light, shoots in 4K, has slow mo capabilities, can shoot in super low light conditions, and importantly has a swivel screen so that he can see what he’s recording when he shoots in selfie mode. This is paired with his go to lens - the Sony 12-24mm f/2.8. A large part of his look comes from using super wide angle lenses up close, that distorts the edges of the frame a bit and maximises how much background we see in a shot. 

Shooting at a wider focal length also minimises the amount of visible camera shake there will be when shooting handheld.

He attaches this setup to a GorillaPod, a lightweight, mold-able tripod which can act as a selfie stick and can also be quickly positioned in tight, small spaces as a tripod. He also carries a lightweight Manfrotto Element Traveller tripod, which is small, portable and can be used for higher elevation tripod shots. 

Finally, he’ll mount a lightweight Rode VideoMic Pro+ shotgun mic on top of the camera to capture ambient sound or when he talks directly to-camera.  

CONCLUSION

I guess the answer to the question ‘What makes Casey Neistat’s videos so groundbreaking?’ is that he effectively took a bunch of established filmmaking techniques and his own experience in documentary filmmaking and applied it to tell stories in a more deconstructed YouTube vlog format. 

Although his videos appear super improvised, rough and chaotic - and to an extent they probably are - they are also carefully and thoughtfully shot, crafted and assembled with a high degree of filmmaking know-how - which wasn’t really the norm before Casey. 

While a vlogger’s personality and the situations they put themselves in are of course a large part of the appeal, Casey’s vlogs changed the game by also applying a level of filmmaking that elevated the vlog genre as a whole.