Ah, Casey Neistat. If you're on the internet, you've heard of him and are most likely in one of two camps: "Neistat fan camp," or "vehemently angry how did this guy get famous camp." A couple of months ago he told everyone that news giant CNN bought Beme, his failed app, but it seems that there is more to the story.
Neistat discloses that CNN didn't buy his app, but instead the technology company behind the app. In this video we are able to see some behind the scenes and a first sneak peek at the work he's been doing with CNN. Welcome Beme News, a YouTube channel to be launched in the next few weeks, which has very little to do with news. Watching kind of reminds me a bit of Vice News' kid brother, not very serious, but with the brains of Neistat behind it I'm sure it will be very entertaining. I hope the channel will focus on technology and from what I've seen of the sneak peek, I already like the editing style and vlog feel for "news." If you reside in vehemently angry camp, my advice is to just ignore, but if you're a fan are you excited for this new channel? Let us know what you think in the comments below. I'll definitely subscribe, I love weird news stories (helps tremendously in trivia).
i had to re-read a sentence, i thought you said that CNN has very little to do with news.
That is actually true. Regardless of which side people fall on nowadays, CNN has pretty much dedicated itself into perpetuating hate and division. So it would be difficult to categorize them as a "News" channel anymore.
That's not true, but if you have certain politics, that's the current talking point. The important thing to remember is that NO CABLE NEWS IS NEWS. They are not beholden to the FCC like the major network nightly news. Cable "news" is entertainment. If you are entertained by Right Wing Talking Points and Obama bashing - watch FoxNews, if you want to hear the daily trump nonsense presented under the guise of Progressive politics - watch MSNBC.... But don't call any of it news. It's political entertainment.
So if CNN wants to move more towards entertainment, which they have in the last few years, it's not really a big leap.
Neistat is very entertaining. I like watching his vlogs occasionally and I support they way he approaches things. He's not news, he's not a filmmaker, he's something new that only exists in the youtube era and we'll only know what to call that when we look back on the media landscape in 10 years or so.
Fstoppers is running out of photography topics lately?
This is output from the "fake news" department. :D
Neistat is a filmmaker, so I figured I'd share his newest channel, because it will probably be sharing camera news every now and then :) I guess I can start a new category of "fake photo news" if it helps you sleep at night! Anything for our readers!! ;)
I didn't have any political motives behind my post and even though I'm pretty liberal leaning I just don't get how this article has anything to do with the core audience of Fstoppers. It's not a camera review, how-to, interview with anyone worth while (clearly my own opinion). I admire Casey but I don't think many readers come to Fstoppers for this kind of content.
I was saying that totally tongue in cheek! It's more of a fringe group on Fstoppers sure, but Neistat is a name in the game when it comes to online video. We write articles that are interesting to us, and we know that there will be some readers who will find it interesting as well, but you're correct in saying it's not written to the "core audience."
Ehh I think filmmaker is a stretch. He's a vlogger. While I do think he's talented and can tell a story about his life in a unique way he's never made anything except vlog like content. I've never seen him make anything that didn't involve himself in some way.
Just a question, but just because he films himself doesn't make him a filmmaker? Before "vlog" was a word he had a series on HBO. Vlogging isn't a type of filmmaking? This is making me wonder about writing another article, or maybe even an Fstoppers Community post about what makes a filmmaker a filmmaker!
I think you should write that article actually that sounds interesting. It's only my opinion though. I consider a filmmaker someone who makes films. Short or features either a fictional narrative or documentary. I don't consider vloggings films that's all. They aren't better or worse but I've never seen any large production from Casey that doesn't involve telling a story about himself or his friends. YouTube and its vlogging is a whole other animal. A different genre than traditional filmmaking.
Nothing against Casey but when I think of a filmmaker I think of David Fincher or Paul Thomas Anderson. I think Casey is talented but not even close to the level those guys are on. It's night and day if you're calling them both filmmakers.
I'd say that vlogging is more "news reporting" than film making. The distinction is meaningless though - they're both working with a camera and editing - subjects we find interesting.
Yea, not sure you are familiar with his early work but he was a professional filmmaker for almost a decade before even starting the vlog. Def check out some of his early work, super different and inspiring stuff to see. His newer stuff is harder to see as different anymore with the influx of vloggers in the world but his word and point of view is very strong and informative still and for me, I love this stuff posted to the site. It is what fills in the gap between reviews, tutorials, and overall opinion pieces by the writers.
Is the neistat brothers what he made before? That seemed just like a precursor to his vlog. Maybe I'm ignorant on his earlier stuff but I've never seen an actual film from him. I don't dislike the guy just don't see the hype that's all.
So who's this Nestat guy? and why do we care again???
You know some people like reading about this stuff. Also you didn't have to click the link if you don't 'care' about him.
This isn't photography news though. Is this not a photography website?
Also if you wanted to hear about this guy just watch his vlog.
I know you're just being a little "troll-y" but Neistat is constantly testing new gear. I figured I'd share his new channel because I am guessing some stuff like that will be on it! Like I said, you can ignore it ;)
Chelsey I wasn't trolling you in any way. My question was quite genuine, in fact, i had to force myself to watch a few videos of this guy Neistat to find out why is it that Fstoppers writers find this guys so fascinating and worthy of continuous mentions and in all honesty didn't find anything of value for either seasoned photographers or new starting ones in my opinion. (maybe i need to watch more of his past blogs? perhaps, but right now i gotta work on my business... maybe later) Yes, he reviews a lot of gear, some of which may be of use for photographers (more videographers in my opinion). I still fail to see relevance to our field.
In contrast for example i just read a post about 3D Lut. Something i have been interested and have been researching for at least a year now. Amazing tool for videographers that has immense use even for still shooters, yet featured only once here on Fstoppers if I'm correct? In all that time i can tell you i have seen at least 5 or 6 posts at least about Neistat and what he does or sells or if he works for CNN or not and what he eats for breakfast and what time he goes to sleep.
If the reason why you posted his blog is because he showcases whatever photo or video gear he is using or reviewing at the time then once again i fail to see what relevance it has for us in the photo industry a post about what he does or does not do with CNN.
It is quite true i can just ignore this post and go to the next but i find myself ignoring more and more content here than ever before either because it has been featured to death on other websites or because it hold very little relevance to photography and the industry in general which i turn makes me visit the Fstoppers website less and less...
All fair points Percy. I shoot more video than I do photo, so I tend to write more about video. Neistat to me, well you have to look at his collection as a whole in order to understand what significance he plays in the video/vlogging world. His style of editing, obviously not created solely by him, has shaped how many vloggers including photographers edit. I guess because Fstoppers has a strong YouTube presence, and I am a constantly on there searching for videos, I forget that some people might not have heard of Neistat, he is fairly new, maybe two years since his vlog went "viral."
Honestly we do post a lot about other things you might be interested in. I would suggest that you follow writers you enjoy so that you can get a little notification for when they post! We are always looking for new ways to make sure the content readers want to see is available! I'm also in the process right now of hiring more writers!
But that is what Fstoppers does, we hire photographers who know how to write, not writers who like to shoot; we feel this way the articles will be more relevant.
I really appreciate you taking the time to give us feedback! We need it so that we know how to tailor the site better for the everyday photographer! I encourage you to keep scrolling through the main page's blog roll, sometimes some really great articles are posted and get hidden on the second or third page. You might find a treasure if you keep looking! :)
There is no excuse for misspelling words. Maybe the author needs to proofread and not rely on a spell checker or one better, doesn't Fstoppers have editors that proofread articles before they are posted? It seems almost every article has some error in it.
Well, Fstoppers is hiring people, why don't you apply instead of complaining?
The sad thing is that the article was written by an editor of Fstoppers. Stories go out without the proper disclosures and now stories with misspelling errors which still exists in the article as of this morning.
Yeah those slips were totally my fault! Sorry about that guys! I should have had another editor double check! We will stay more on top of that from here on out!
I don't get mad at these blogs when they have some typos. Sure they should be better at proofreading, but It's part of the reality of this type of blogging and they don't have the editorial resources or the editorial obligations that a newspaper has.
If you want to really see ridiculous, look at the Daily Mail. They are a huge "news" organization and they have typos in headlines and photo captions on a daily basis.
Typos happen everywhere, mainly because of that weird thing our brain does, if the first and last letter are in the correct spot, we automatically "fix" it in our brain. https://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/people/matt.davis/cmabridge/
Raelly I shuold jsut taek moor brakes frum da copmuter scren! :P
Thanks you for this post.
Glad you got your typos sorted out eventually. If you are not going to get another editor to read it first I suggest you try Grammarly. Here is a good article on why you need to if you are blogging or writing articles.
http://www.digitalmicdrop.com/2017/05/09/copywriter-grammarly/
I do have grammarly! Love it! I missed the word "bough" when it should have been "bought" but thanks for sharing the link, I think everyone should use it!
I liked the article. I don't know why people are giving you such grief. I see your point on him possibly talking about camera related topics on his show. Definitely relavent and a change in pace on fstoppers.
People are expressing their opinions nothing wrong with that. There's an article about this dude every few days. It's hardly a change of pace.
we do write a lot about him, but think for two seconds what that says about him, he's CONSTANTLY uploading new content!! Literally everyday! I think we could all learn a bit from him about crushing projects and constantly producing!
Totally wasn't calling you out or saying it's a bad thing you wrote another article about Casey. Sorry if that came off as dickish. I was just replying to the original comment that said it was a change of pace. Whether its a good or bad thing Casey is written about a lot on this website , so I'm pretty right in saying it's not a change of pace. Not saying anything bad at all, just saying.
But I also think you should think about why he's able to release that much content. I mean he's clearly talented and driven but the content he is putting out is his daily life. There's a reason guys like Fincher and PTA aren't putting out that much content. The films they do take years to construct, plan, shoot, edit, score etc. It's a whole other beast and yes I'll say it ,way more impressive than anything Casey has ever done or probably ever will do.
Yes it's impressive he's crushing that many videos but it's more of a free form kind of creation because it is about himself and his day. I like the guy but to put him up with giants like the people I've mentioned isn't fair. Honestly I don't even think he's the best creator on youtube. Maybe the busiest but his content rarely goes outside his own life and experience. While theres nothing wrong with that he's not constructing a narrative from nothing or telling anyone else story. I just don't find that as impressive but thats just me