November Newsletter

I wanted to start today by asking a simple question. Can AI videos feel authentic?
And in my honest truth, no. Because AI videos aren’t actual captured photography or video.
They are animation. Just computer-made animation without a human hand.
And animation is great for exciting imagery. It’s great for really cool morphs or the impossible.
But a photograph, the human eyes, the expressions,
the little ticks and twitches, the human face is something that film can do better than anything
else. And that is one thing that real live video will always have over AI.
Yes, AI video is going to be getting cheaper and it’s going to be getting more and more accurate.
But you’re not going to get those little flaws that just make them so charming,
the tiny little things that make you want to watch one of your favorite YouTubers or social media
personalities, and that make listening to people live so interesting.
So thank you for watching. I’m Michael Bruner of Brogan Video, and this is November’s newsletter
about AI.
Let me share with you. Whenever I sit down with a new client, especially one that I just met for
the first time and I’m going to work with them, how many of those people do you think their first
question to me is, what format am I going to be filming in or what color profile?
Absolutely not. The technology is not the first thing on their mind. how the video is going to get
done, what the process is going to be like, what’s going to be expected of them, their own internal
thoughts and fears that come through. And that’s perfectly natural because the process of making a
video isn’t technology. It’s a personal process of a storyteller and the technology.
And what I found that has been extremely exciting is that the very process of sitting down to do a
video production is an essential part of the process. Because if you really need to figure out what
the core of your professional life is, what your drive is,
then sitting down looking at the camera and realizing, I have to get this done and I have to look
at this camera and figure this out and write it down and get those words out, it creates a pressure
inside. That pressure can be uncomfortable, but it’s creative. And if you can work with it and be
patient with yourself and not lose patience, you can find something extraordinary. As opposed to
sitting at a keyboard and typing in, This is what I want.
You’re not going to get good results that way. You’re just going to get the computer giving you
exactly what you and your very calm mind want. And it might be something that looks really nice,
but there won’t be much heart behind it. You need to challenge yourself.
And that is part of the creative process. It’s something that a lot of business owners are not
comfortable with and that’s entirely understandable because they say, you know, every business gets
started because someone had a passion, but they didn’t know all the rules of business. They didn’t
know the laws and they don’t understand the creative side of it. But I can help.
Any good creative can help with a simple tool and a lot of patience and some good support.
You can be creative and you can get your best side of your business out in video and something that
will make you proud for years to come. That’s the power of direct video.
If you’re looking for something to do with video this November to really get people excited, here’s
a couple of ideas that fit the theme of the season beautifully. For one, give thanks.
Give thanks to your customers. Give thanks to your referral partners.
thanks to your vendors. Send them a video or just put it out in the social media.
Maybe it’ll get to them organically and won’t that be a treat. But just tell them that you
appreciate them. Make it a little professional love letter and do it with a great big smile on your
face because if you value someone, just let them know that you do. A great gratitude-based video
that you can do this month is a meet the staff. Go around with a camera,
introduce everyone, have them say something. Let it be a little awkward if you want. Let it be a
little bit more professional and slick if you want. But show the people that are working there.
Show what they’re working on. Show how they work together. It’s endlessly charming.
We all love giving, we all love getting customer testimonials, but how about giving a customer
testimonial? Say some of your favorite clients. Say what you liked about them. Say what they did
for you. Say the kind of challenges that they brought to you. Let them know or put it out there in
social media. But it’s a rare idea that most people don’t do, but it’s fun.
Let clients know that you appreciate them.
My last little piece of advice for November is keep filming, keep taking pictures.
Do it every chance you get. If you have an interesting client, an interesting product,
an interesting day, take pictures and take video. It doesn’t matter if it just ends up on a great
big pile of unused and unwatched videos and photos. There will come a time in your business,
maybe years or even… decades from now, where you are going to be so very happy that you have this
media of all of your best events, your best clients, your best projects, and you get to show them
all over the course of time. It’s a beautiful thing that only happens if you are actively taking
pictures and video of everything that’s important to you and your business. So keep snapping
constantly.
I wanted to say a little thanks of my own. I am thankful to my clients,
to this wonderful job that I have, and to everything that I get to do. And my final comment on AI
is this. I have a friend who once made an entire album with all the songs on it entirely with AI.
And I don’t think anyone has listened to more than a couple minutes of it. Because people just
listen. It doesn’t sound right, and they just go away. And when they hear that it’s an AI thing,
they completely lose interest. Now, speaking to other people who have done amazing projects,
who have done great journeys, who have had extraordinary lives and done extraordinary things,
you want to talk to them. You want to hear about the fears, the doubt,
the successes. of it all. And from my own moments of life,
having started a business, having made a film, all these things, people want to hear about it.
It’s exciting because it’s nerve-wracking many times. AI.
I don’t think people are going to be that interested. You just typed in the prompt.
What was your prompt? I can’t think of anything else to ask. If somebody told me they wrote a book,
I would have a hundred questions for them. And then after talking to them through those hundred
questions, I’d have a thousand questions. AI is pretty extraordinary,
and it’s going to do great things for our businesses. But as far as replacing the human touch,
no way.
No way. It will be able to trick people, and it’s going to do amazing things. But for the longest
time, the human face and… that we do is going to be so much better captured through the simple
lens of video. Thank you so much for watching. I’m Michael Brunner of Brogan Video. Have a great
November. Happy Thanksgiving.